In Hiding

1. ERYK HOLDER

Born 1937 in Stanisławów

(Statement taken by Dr Dawid Haupt, Przemyśl)

My father was an engineer at the power station in Stanisławów. Before the war my parents lived in their own house on Wysockiego Street in Stanisławów. My father worked and things were fine at home. When the Germans came my parents had to leave the house and we moved in with my grandfather and grandmother. Then things got worse but we did not go hungry, and father was still working at the power station and also trading. Mother was a cleaner at the railway generating station. I remember how one day the police took us from the flat and led us to the Jewish cemetery. When we go there there were hundreds of Jews, and more and more of them kept arriving. There were men, women and children. At one place in the cemetery there was a huge grave. The people who were standing nearest the grave had to undress and walk up to it, and one of the Germans shot them from behind. I saw that with my own eyes. The children were not shot but were thrown into the grave alive. At the cemetery my mother somehow got lost in the crowd and ended up at the front, close to where they were shooting people. So Mama was just about to get undressed to be killed, but since it was already late in the evening everyone who had not been shot was ordered to go home. We finally met up with Mama at the cemetery in the evening and we went home with grandmother (I do not remember whether grandfather was also there).

When the ghetto was formed in Stanisławów we moved to Śnieżna Street. Mama was taken while she was at work and put on a transport. On the way she jumped out of the train and broke her leg. Then she was taken to a work-camp, and soon after she was put on another transport. I never saw her again. Not long after that they shot my grandmother; I do not remember now whether it was then that they shot grandfather, or whether it had been earlier at the cemetery.

When they shot grandmother we had to leave Śnieżna Street and we moved in with a lady in the ghetto. My father went on working at the railway and brought home food home, and the lady cooked for us and did our laundry.

This did not last long. They began transporting Jews out of the ghetto again. It was at that time that my father took me with him one day as he left the ghetto on his way to work. He told me to walk a few steps behind him. When we were near the railway a man came up to me, took me by the hand and led me to my 'aunt'. I knew this man was Mr Łopatyński, because my father had told me at home that he would hide me. In the evening my father came to see my 'aunt', who was Mr Łopatyński's sister, and spent a few days with me. Father gave Mr Łopatyński all our things and our money and grandfather's, and showed him the place where he had buried some gold.

While I was at this aunt's, Mr Łopatyński built a hiding place in his garden, and when had finished it he took me to his house and hid me there. He made a wooden cot there. There was also a big opening with a grate in the hide-out, but there was no glass in it. I was not allowed to go near the opening, as children played in the garden and they would have noticed me. I knew that no one should know I was in the hide-out. Mr Łopatyński's children did not know about me either. I spent the summer and the winter there, and the next summer, until the Soviets drove the German's out. It was not bad in the hide-out. Mr Łopatyński or his wife brought me food a few times a day. I ate the same things they did. Sometimes they gave me a bath, but only when their children were not home. In the winter, I lay under the quilt all day. I don't remember whether I was cold. I was only ill once – I caught a chill.

I never went up to the opening in the hide-out, though I could hear the children playing in the garden; and I always remember that no one should see me. I was not afraid to be alone in the hide-out, and I never cried. But I missed my mother and father very much.

After the first few days, my father moved from aunt's flat to some barracks were Jews were living. For some time he continued to work on the railway. One day Mr Łopatyński came home from work and said that Germans had shot my father. They had been rounding up Jews from work to take to the cemetery; my father started to run away, and a German spotted him and shot him dead. When the Soviet army drove the Germans out of Stanisławów, Mr Łopatyński took me from the hide-out to his flat, and a week later handed me over to the Hellmans, a Jewish family who had survived. When the Hellmans left Stanisławów they took me with them and put me into a Jewish nursery in Przemyśl. I am all right here, because there are other children here with me. I am now in the first year at school.

I had no brothers and sisters. While I was at Mr Łopatyński's sister's I played with her son Ryś. Ryś loved me and never did me any harm.

My aunt taught me to say my prayers, ‘Our Father' and 'Hail Mary'. I knew that I was a Jewish boy and that because of that the Germans wanted to kill me.

(Archive of the CJHC, statement no. 889/II)

In Hiding

6. ŁAZARZ KRAKOWSKI

Born 23 March 1935 in Katowice; son of Chil and Necha Blumstein

(Statement taken by Professor Chaimówna, Bedzin)

. . . When my mother was sent away to do forced labour, the next day my father handed me over to Włada as she had brought me up. After I left the ghetto, on 23 June 1943, until 10 November 1944, I stayed in the flat the whole time, mostly under the bed. When there were no visitors there I would walk around the room, but quietly so that no one would hear. During the day there was no one at home as they went out to work. Mr Liwer stayed hidden at the home. He was an elderly man. We read newspapers and books together, mostly religious ones because there were not any others there. I had enough to eat; father had left some money so there was enough for me. I did not work, except that from time to time I peeled the potatoes and stoked the stove. The days were terrible, sitting the whole time without moving in that stuffy room; the worst time was when I fell ill and needed a doctor. We went to Sosnowiec to see the doctor; I was terrified, and prayed that no one would recognize me. At the doctor's I pretended to be the lady's son. The doctor said I had worms, and wrote a prescription for me. Two weeks later we had another trip like that to the doctor's; that time too everything went smoothly. On 10 November 1944 I went to live with the uncle of a lady I knew in the village of Bonowice. The uprising in Warsaw had just finished and they could take me in as a child whose parents had died during the uprising. There I came back to life. I was free. I could go wherever I wanted , and I simply gulped the air. One day a lady came to uncle's who suspected that I was Jewish. She fired off lots of questions at me, which I was able to answer because, as I said, I knew my religion well; so she decided that I was not Jewish. Here I was liberated by the Russians. I stayed in the country till 1 May 1945. I went to school; I was popular there, and I was very happy.

(Archive of the CJHC, statement no. 629)

http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/

Stefan Landsberger, Leiden University, The Netherlands

March 2008

Stefan Landsberger's Chinese Propaganda Poster Pages offers a rich collection of Chinese propaganda posters assembled by historian Stefan Landsberger (Leiden University) from his own collection of over 2,000 images. The website presents images in multiple categories related to the broader themes of politics, society, and culture. The images span a period of time ranging from 1937 to the present day, though the majority originate in the 1970s and later decades. While brief at times, Landsberger offers written introductions to the specific thematic groupings of images at the site, providing a bare-bones but useful background that illuminates their historical context. Bibliographic references and external links are also provided for sources and related readings.

The images presented offer a wonderful set of primary sources for the study of youth, children, and childhood. The category of childhood here intersects with an imagery associated with revolution, national identity, economic development, as well as themes of gender and inter-generational relationships. Both the visual imagery and the Chinese texts printed upon the posters are readily accessible with translations of the Chinese available by holding the computer cursor over the image.

The presentation of thematic categories at this site focuses upon dominant themes within state propaganda and children can be seen as both an intended audience and a primary figure within the imagery itself. Among the collections, the posters associated with "Socialist Spiritual Civilization" offer a rich sample for discussion. Here, we find the imagery of a movement that was introduced amidst the Chinese market reform of the 1980s and 1990s as an effort to instill discipline, "good character," and loyalty among school children.

While Landsberger's own discussion of childhood and the lives of Chinese youth is limited, the images and slogans themselves offer a useful case study. This selection serves explorations of childhood themes of discipline, notions of community, and the link between the child and the modern state. These posters also encourage creative insight when juxtaposed with imagery appearing in comparative settings (e.g. Boy Scout and Girl Scouts of America, Guiding organizations of the United Kingdom.)

Related themes can be found in a collection entitled "The PLA [People's Liberation Army] and Children." These images feature children in overlapping martial and domestic frames from the 1960s-1980s, inviting analysis of representations of gender, masculinity, and nation. See, in particular, the warm image of a soldier cutting his young friend's hair and the celebratory presentation of cheering children and artillery.

The collection of "New Year Prints (and Chubby Babies)" meanwhile presents images of roly-poly infants posted in households and on doorways to celebrate the hopes of prosperity, auspicious fortune, and happiness at the new year holiday. This collection nicely serves an exploration of the ways in which the image of the child (here, the infant or toddler) is framed within popular culture and then appropriated by a Chinese Communist state that sought to utilize imagery of the child to promote revolutionary themes.

Landsberger provides a background discussion of the appropriation of that genre by the state in the 1940s, as well as the 1980s and 1990s resurgence of the genre during the reform period. Comparisons of these images across time offer an opening to discussions of the ways in which the image of the child is used to present definitions of the good life, of the united concerns of a household economy and national strength, as well as a new culture of middle-class consumption. Other relevant images at the site can be found by utilizing the search terms "children" and "education."

Using these images in conjunction with other resources in Chinese history allows for sophisticated explorations of the visual culture of childhood. Further examples of Chinese propaganda imagery can be found online in a childhood collection at the University of Westminster, and in clips from animated features ("Heroic Little Sisters on the Grassland," "The Ferry Port") available amidst the multimedia samples at the Morning Sun website. See also Stephanie Donald's "Children as Political Messengers: Art, Childhood, and Continuity," in Harriet Evans and Stephanie Donald, eds., Picturing Power in the People's Republic of China: Posters of the Cultural Revolution (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999): 79-100.

Susan Fernsebner

University of Mary Washington

Stefan Landsberger's Chinese Propaganda Poster Pages offers a rich collection of Chinese propaganda posters assembled by historian Stefan Landsberger (Leiden University) from his own collection of over 2,000 images.

Scouting – Helping to Prepare Leaders of Tomorrow.

By the Kenya scouting movement’s Chief Commissioner, Mr. J.J.M. Nyagah East African Standard, 27 July 1971.

Can any country expect more from its citizens than complete loyalty and helpfulness?

Scouting tries to inculcate into the minds and souls of the young - the future citizens of any country - just these attributes. The Swahili saying udongo upate uli maji is very relevant to the aims of scouting which is the training of youth to grow up as men and leaders of character to assist in the building of their nation.

. . .

Today this world-wide movement is going through stages of use adaptation to suit each and every nation, while still remaining within the international framework of the noble ideals enunciated by the founder – the late Lord Baden Powell of Gilwell.

Incidentally scouting is African in origin, it was FOUNDED in Mafeking (Africa), NURSED in the United Kingdom, SPREAD all over the world and the founder decided to be buried in Nyeri (Kenya). Incidentally the highest qualification any scouter can attain is that of a Woodbadge. This originates from a wooden bead necklace worn by a brave African chief which Lord Baden Powell decided to use [a] symbol of scouting. It is still in use today.

Why, therefore, shouldn’t we Africans feel part and parcel [of] scouting? We should modernise and perfect it for others to learn and follow.

. . .

We are fortunate in that the President of our Kenya Boy Scouts Association is our national republic's beloved President, H.E. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, C.G.H, M.P., who in his own right is a brave warrior, hence the Chief of the Golden Heart.

This photograph shows a mixed-sex guerilla band led by a man wearing a scout-type shirt with scout badges running down his sleeves. Obviously staged, it was most likely taken well after the end of the Emergency in the early 1960s to remind Jomo Kenyatta’s incoming African nationalist government that it had to pay attention to the plight of impoverished young Kikuyu if it wanted to keep the peace.

The preamble to the Constitutions of the four Associations within the Boy Scouts of South Africa makes clear the movement's policy in [racial matters]. It reads:

Here then is the true conception of the Inter-relation of colour. Complete uniformity in ideals; absolute equality in the paths of knowledge and culture, equal opportunity for those who strive; equal admiration for those who achieve; in matters social and racial a separate path, each pursuing his own race purity and race pride; equality in things spiritual, agreed divergence in things physical and material.

. . .

Each of the race groups has its own Association, with its own Chief Scout's Commissioner and Headquarters Council. These Councils are empowered to make their own plans and formulate their own programmes, subject only to the overriding control of the Chief Scout, on matters of policy.

. . .

The European, Coloured and Indian sections have, despite their option to differentiate, adhered to a common form of training for boys. The African section on the other hand has exercised its option to devise a programme better suited to the background of the African boy.

Departure from East London

I left East London on Sunday, 30 January 1949 for Edwaleni Technical College. . . . The weather that day was cloudy and rain fell intermittently. I was taken by car to Down Station where I found the District [Scout] Commissioner and many scouts waiting for me. . . . The scouts and I hold [a] short farewell meeting where I was given a good sum of shillings for my provision. . . . As the train left Down Station I said goodbye to everybody who had come to see me leave for the Province and College unknown to me far, far away.

Arrival at Umtata

We arrived at Umatata at 4 a.m. on Monday. I waited at the station for a bus which was to leave for Port St. Johns. At the station there were students going to [schools] in Natal, others were going to Lovedale, St. Matthews, etc, and also workers who were going to Natal especially Durban.

Port St. Johns

We arrived at Port St. Johns at 10 a.m. on the same day. In the rail I took my luggage to a boarding house. . . . The town is full of trees. Some houses are half covered with trees and as you walk along the streets you can hear good melody from the frogs. . . . It is almost like a jungle. I found the climate here tropical. Bananas are cheap and galore. . . . The next morning I went to the Pontoon [Bridge], but the Pontoon was not working, only boats were used to take the people across. I crossed the river and waited for the bus. . . . In the bus I made friendship with T.K. Ntshiyantshiya a lawyer's interpreter who had been to Port St. Johns with his master.

At Lusikisiki

There are no boarding houses here, I had to sleep outside in a verandah of a shop but Ntshiyantshiya came to the rescue, took me to his relatives – 2.5 miles out of Lusikisiki. We got a bus for Port Shepstone. . . and from there to Umtamvuna, which is the boundary between Cape Province and Natal. . . . [From my destination at Rice's Halt] we went on foot to the school. . . . This is the first time [I visited] the institution. I arrived on the 3rd February 1949. The journey was one which gives one experience and many shocks, and jars I found on the way are nothing to one who has a bit of scout training. I was not disappointed on my way but I kept on saying to myself 'Be Prepared for anything you come across.'

Two photos of members of a South African scout troop specifically for blind adolescents and young men c.1950. The bottom photograph is of non-commissioned officers from the King's African Rifles in the mid-1950s. Note that both groups wear similar clothing consisting of khaki shirt and shorts, knee-length socks, clasp belts, and wide brimmed hats.

Image is a table showing the official lines of authority in the imperial Boy Scout movement. The title is: "Organization of British Imperial Scouting, c. 1951." At the top is Imperial Headquarters; below that is Local Chief Scout; below that is Chief Commissioner with Scout Council; below that are Commissioners and Local Associations (and District Scouters); below them are Assistant Commissioners; below them are Group Scoutmasters with Group Committees and Scout Groups; below that are four divisions: Cubmasters with Cubs, Scoutmasters with Scouts, Scoutmasters (S) with Senior Scouts, and Rover Scout Leaders with Rover Scouts.

http://www.uoregon.edu/~adoption/

University of Oregon

January 2008

The Adoption History Project is a superb resource for scholars and students alike. Not only does it offer a broad and consistently high-quality range of historical information, the site itself was designed with user accessibility in mind—it is easy to navigate and welcoming for students.

The home page introduces the five major categories. Of these, one that might appeal most immediately to students is the Timeline, which gives a concise, one-page overview of major developments in adoption history from 1851 to 2000. Other categories include: major people and organizations; explanations of adoption studies and adoption science; general topics in adoption history; and a rich collection of primary-source documents that, in itself, offers hours of compelling reading. See, for example, the illustrated excerpts from The Dangerous Classes of New York and Twenty Years' Work Among Them [1872] by Charles Loring Brace, a leading figure in 19th century social reform and child-rescue.

Shorter primary sources appear in full-text form; longer ones are efficiently excerpted for easy reading, with full citations provided. Further Reading offers references to many useful texts. One of the site's nicest design features is that much of this information is cross-indexed, so that visitors can find the same pages easily through a variety of different paths. To make navigation even simpler, a Site Index provides a clear and cogent list of topics.

Written in a clear and engaging style, the site offers quick access to major issues that shape the field of adoption history. For example, Adoption Studies/Adoption Science leads to a paragraph that neatly explains: "Adoption has been the subject of four major types of empirical research: field studies, outcome studies, nature-nurture studies, and psychopathology studies." Each term is hyperlinked to chronological lists of studies in the relevant area. The page also provides descriptions of particular studies and excerpts, making it relatively simple for someone new to the field to quickly grasp the general shape of the discourse of adoption history.

The overall content reflects the impact of Cultural Studies and multiculturalism on the field of adoption history. Pages on transracial adoptions, African-American adoptions, and the Indian Adoption Project complement those devoted to the more traditionally visible history of white orphans, white social workers, and white adoptive parents.

One small critique of the biographies of major figures: the pages devoted to female figures (such as Pearl S. Buck and Anna Freud) mention their marital and/or parental status, often in the very first paragraph, presenting the impression that a woman's personal relationships are the most necessary and relevant facts of her life. Meanwhile, the male figures are discussed solely for their professional importance, with little or no mention of their family life.

Feminist historians will find this irritating, especially in the case of Anna Freud, who is described reductively as an apparent victim of an Elektra complex: "She made her father's profession her own . . . . Anna Freud never married or had children. She was her father's constant companion, his colleague, and his nurse during the final years of his life." Especially because it appears in the first paragraph, this is an inappropriately condescending description of someone who deserves to have her professional accomplishments foregrounded. That flaw, however, could easily be turned into a good teaching opportunity with students who are old enough to grasp the concept of gender bias in historiography.

Overall, the Adoption History Project is among the best-designed and most succinctly comprehensive historical websites currently available. It is useful for students and scholars at all levels of academic proficiency.

Ilana Nash

Western Michigan University

Overall, the Adoption History Project is among the best-designed and most succinctly comprehensive historical websites currently available.