The After m ath: Life After the

Holocaust
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Marisa Melero
Julia Winfield
Sarah Hadburg
Ger m an 89HC
10 March 2010
Displaced Persons Cam ps
 Displaced Persons Cam ps
•
From 1945 to 1952, m ore than 250,000 DPs
(displaced persons) lived in cam ps and urban
centers in Germ any, Austria and Italy
•
Adm inistered by Allied authorities and the United
Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation
Adm inistration

•
Many concerns
facing Jewish DPs
were the problem s
of daily life
 Displaced Persons Cam ps
•
The cam ps were form er concentration cam ps and
Ger m an ar my cam ps
•
Wildflecken: DPs had to ask per m ission for
ever ything
•
Many
difficulties tr ying
to adapt to
nor m al life after
the cam ps
 Displaced Persons Cam ps
•
All didn’ t have dreadful
conditions
•
DP cam ps were
transfor m ed into
cultural and social
centers
•
Alm ost all of the DP
cam ps were closed by
1952
•
Jewish displaced
persons began new
lives in their new
hom elands around the
Em igration
 Em igration
•
m any DPs did want to return to their hom e
countries
•
m ost sur vivors m oved westward, towards
Allied territor y
•
organizations like the Central Zionist
m ovem ent took advantage of the general
disorganization in Europe to move people
“ I h a d n o p a p e rs …th e A m e ric a J o in t D is trib u tio n C o m m itte e b a s ic a lly
s m u g g le d m e o u t in D e c e m b e r o f 1 9 4 6 , fro m P o la n d to
C z e c h o s lo v a k ia , C ze c h o s lo v a k ia to th e A m e ric a n zo n e , a n d th e n th e
A m e ric a n z o n e to th e B ritis h z o n e in G e rm a n y ” - Th o m a s B u e rg e n th a l
( U n ite d S ta te s H o lo c a u s t M e m o ria l M u s e u m )
 Em igration
•
Britain rejected a plan
to allow 100,000 Jews
into Palestine
•
the Brihah movem ent
smuggled 100,000
Jews past British
patrols and into
Palestine
•
Great Britain captured
m any ships and
detained them on the
island of Cyprus;
 Em igration
•
m ost fam ous case: the “ Exodus 1947”
•
4,500 refugees
•
got lots of publicity; gained suppor t for
the survivors’ plight
 Em igration
•
1948: the United Nations announced
the form ation of the state of Israel
•
the United States Congress passed the
Displaced Persons Act of 1948,
allowing 200,000 DPs to enter the
United States
•
80,000 Jews em igrated to the U.S.,
136,000 to Israel, and 20,000 to other
nations, including Canada (157,000),
and Argentina (33,000)
 Fam ily

C e le b ra t io n o f t h e B irt h o f t h e 1 0 0 0 th B a b y in th e DP C a m p, B e rg e n
B e ls e n , 1 9 4 8
 Rebuilding the Fam ily Unit
•
m any survivors were willing and
anxious to begin a new life once the war
had ended
•
Marriage rates were high in DP cam ps,
followed by extraordinarily high rates of
childbir th
•
Many survivors were in need of love and
intim acy after experiencing the
Holocaust
 The Search for Fam ily and
Loved Ones Lost
•
Im m ediately after the war, it was
difficult for sur vivors to locate relatives
and loved ones
•
Som e returned to their hom etowns in
search of those with whom they had
lost touch
•
Many survivors are still searching.
 Marriage and the
Reestablishm ent of Fam ily in
DP Cam ps
•
Extrem ely high rates of m arriage in DP
cam ps, especially in 1946
•
Fueled by the individual’s need for war m th,
love, and the desire to continue the fam ily
line
•
DP Cam p at Bergen Belsen:
–
In 1946 alone, 1,070 m arriages took place
J e w is h Ma rria g e
L ic e n s e , B e rg e n
B e ls e n DP C a m p,
G e rm a n y , P o s tw a r
 Motherhood in DP Cam ps
•
In 1946-1948, th e h ig h e s t b irth ra te in th e
w o rld was that in the DP cam ps.
•
In the Am erican-occupied zone in Germ any
(1946):
–
There were 120 children under 5 yrs old in Jan
1946
–
By Septem ber 1946 (8 m onths later), there
were 4,430.
•
Bergen Belsen DP Cam p:
–
After the first few m onths of liberation, 2,000
 Building a Fam ily in DP
Cam ps
•
Difficulties:
–
DP cam ps were not conducive to raising a fam ily
or caring for children.
–
Difficult to maintain cleanliness or proper
nutritional regim ens
–
Lack of a solid education system , ver y few
intellectuals in DP camps
•
Benefits:
–
Provided an intim ate suppor t system for
sur vivors
–
Sur vivors could show the Nazis that they had n o t