Kinderblock - The Buchenwald Children

[pitfighter]

Tiger,

I was moved and informed by your post - excuse me if I don't hit like, but know that it served it's purpose, just feel a little strange hitting like, because of the heart breaking nature of the material.

Incredible and tragic - but by people like you reminding us all, you are doing your bit to keep the discussion alive, and remind us that the one thing we can do wrong is to forget these crimes.

I recently watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (2008) with my daughters and we were all affected by it.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) - IMDb

Thank you, Pit.

[Adrian Stevenson]

As ever and informative and thought provoking thread.

Cheers, Ade.

[ObKrieger]

Groupthink is a very, very dangerous thing. It will make monsters of all of us if we are not careful. Thanks for the insightful thread, as always Carl.

[SteveR]

Glad you posted this thread friend.

[CARL]

Thank you for your kind words gents.

Regards,

Carl

[ruddersrangers44]

Thank you Carl for your tireless work you do by keeping this side of history alive,thanks to people like you we shall never forget,and for me I luv the educating of your threads as I only knew the very basics and now since being on WRF have digested so much incredible history many thanks for your outstanding contribution as always.............Jake.

[saginaw]

The atrocities like these should never be forgotten, a lot of us like collecting items from the third reich but it needs to be kept in perspective. Thanks for posting.

[CARL]

Thanks again for your kind words gents - as ever, I appreciate it.

The image below (circa 1946), shows Joseph Scheifstein, born Josef (Janek) Szlajfsztajn - a young boy who experienced the horror of life at Buchenwald. Born in March 1941, he was likely the youngest prisoner at the liberation of Buchenwald. Another boy named Stefan Jerzy Zweig, born in January 1941, was also incarcerated at Buchenwald. In 1943, upon arrival at Konzentrationslager Buchenwald, Joseph Schleifstein's father Israel concealed him in a sack containing tools for his leather work. Patently, he could not be hidden for long, but the SS valued the father's work and actually regarded the boy as something of a camp mascot, paraded at roll call wearing his tiny striped uniform. He would even salute the guards and report "all prisoners accounted for". Both of the boy's parents survived the war and were reunited at Dachau - the town, not the concentration camp, where they lived until they eventually emigrated to the US. Young Joseph also took part in the Buchenwald camp trial held in Dachau during spring/summer 1947.

The official camp file for one of the youngest Polish boys held as a prisoner at Buchenwald listed them as a "partisan". At the time of entry, they were three years old.

Image from USHMM.

[StefanM]

In his photo, Joseph Scheifstein is wearing a patch on his left arm, any idea what was it for? It looks as though it might read "Buchenwald"?

[CARL]

In his photo, Joseph Scheifstein is wearing a patch on his left arm, any idea what was it for? It looks as though it might read "Buchenwald"?

Yes, I also noticed the little patch on the left arm. I believe that this was added post war. The image is circa 1946, so it is indeed quite possible that this patch was added so that photographs would forever record the locale.

Regards,

Carl