Joanna Sliwa's article explores the experiences of Jewish children in the Kraków Ghetto—one of the least studied yet crucial perspectives in Holocaust research.
The author focuses on the ways children coped with the realities of life under German occupation and responded to Nazi persecution. She shows that, despite the extremely difficult conditions in which they lived, children were able to develop coping mechanisms that provided them with a semblance of normality. These included daily routines, play, friendships, secular education, and religious practices.
The article offers an in-depth study of social life under ghetto conditions and makes an important contribution to the growing field of childhood studies in the context of genocide and German occupation. It also reflects on children's agency and their ability to respond to a brutal reality in active and conscious ways.
The publication is available for download as a PDF at the link below:
Coping with Distorted Reality: Children in the Kraków Ghetto
