Stolen Childhood. Children Liberated in Auschwitz

The publication is dedicated to the fate of the youngest prisoners of the camp—750 children and minors who were present in Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau when the Red Army entered on January 27, 1945.

The book is divided into seven parts. The first part provides a historical overview, including the history of deportations of children of various nationalities to Auschwitz, the chaotic decisions made by SS officers regarding children during the evacuation of prisoners, the situation in the camp just before liberation, during liberation, and in the first weeks after, when residents of Oświęcim and the surrounding areas, as well as the medical and nursing staff of the Polish Red Cross, rushed to aid the survivors. The author also describes the challenging return to life in freedom for the surviving children, their tragedies due to the loss of all their loved ones, and the small joys of those who managed to find at least one parent or sibling. Many orphaned children were adopted and later spent years searching for their roots, while others had to grow up in sanatoriums or orphanages.

The second part consists of lists of the names of liberated children, categorized by nationality (children from Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the USSR, France, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, and Belgium). These lists include the names of 521 children under the age of 15 and 229 aged 15–18.

The most extensive chapter of the book comprises biographies of 55 liberated children and adolescents. Following these biographies, the book presents the profiles of four individuals who provided aid to the youngest victims of Auschwitz in the first months after liberation. These were primarily people involved in the treatment of sick and weakened children.

The last two sections of the publication feature a wealth of illustrative material (photographs and documents) sourced from archives as well as private collections, along with a selection of accounts and memoirs about children in Auschwitz during the evacuation and in the period following liberation.