Vanished Childhood and the Holocaust

Vanished Childhood Innocence And The Holocaust

        In both novels, Tzili and Wartime Lies, the child characters, Tzili and Maciek grew up in complicated, dangerous and traumatic circumstances.  Children suffered physically and emotionally during World War II.  The effects of the Holocaust on Jewish children left immense emotional scars for life, especially on those who live to tell their accounts.

        Tzili is a novel written by Aharon Appelfeld, with the protagonist as Tzili. Tzili’s story seems cold and cruel right from the start.  “Perhaps it would be better to leave the story of Tzili Krause’s life untold.  Her fate was a cruel and inglorious one” (1).  She was a young girl who got left behind by her family when the Nazi German soldiers came into town to roundup all Jews.  “When the war broke out they all ran away, leaving Tzili to look after the house.”  (7).  Tzili becomes a childhood victim of the Holocaust.   She was not a very clever girl but she manages to survive the Holocaust through a single lie.  “Tzili did not yet know that the notorious name of Maria would be her shield from danger.” (17).  She quickly realizes that lying about whose child she is, will keep her alive because everyone knew Maria’s reputation.

        As the days go by Tzili grows to be more self-sufficient, and manages to become the Jewish child that got away.  Her memories of home and her family fades with time and seasons passing.  “They’ve all gone, she said blankly to herself.” (21). This reminder to herself helps her grow into a young woman instead of a helpless girl of barely thirteen, maybe fourteen.  In order to survive the chaos caused by World War II, Tzili had no choice but to mature and accept reality.  

        As autumn came to an end, Tzili gets welcomed into Katerina’s home.  “If you see your mother tell her you saw Katerina.” Tzili stayed through winter and springtime, until summer when she finally fled after enduring too much of Katerina’s never-ending complaints and abuse.  Tzili’s suffering does not end here.  She finds shelter with an old couple in the countryside far from everyone and everything.  Tzili didn’t stay long as the physical abuse she had to endure became too much on the farm.  “When the snow began to thaw she fled.” (55).  Senseless acts of violence and physical suffering was something the mind of Tzili the child, couldn’t comprehend.  Like a lost child Tzili often finds herself wandering in nature where she felt most at peace and safe.  “For some reason she believed that nothing bad would happen to her next to the water” (55).  

        Tzili can be seen as a metaphor to describe the pain, cruelty and senseless hate crimes all Jewish children had to endure during World War II.  Tzili becomes the image reflecting suffering of children.  Throughout the novel Tzili never shows any signs of hate or anger.  She tells her story to the fat woman in the end saying: “I too have nobody left in the world.” (181).  She is acting more like a lost child in the end – providing the reader with a feel of vanished childhood innocence.  Tzili gives the reader an idea of how insignificant Jewish children was during this time.  Jewish lives did not matter, not even children could escape the wrath of the Holocaust.

        Louis Begley writes an incredible novel Wartime Lies, with Maciek as the young protagonist child character.  Wartime Lies becomes a novel exemplifying suffering and survival during World War II for a young boy.  Maciek looses his mother at birth. By the time Maciek turns 3-years old he is frequently suffering from eating disorders and nightmares, until Zosia, a soft-hearted nanny, restores him to comfort and health by taking him into her bed and mothering him with generous physical contact.  Soon Maciek’s nightmares fade away; but just as he gets used to his happy and privileged surroundings, the war begins.

        Maciek’s father decides to join the military and leaves Maciek with his aunt Tania and grandparents.  Tania soon starts working as a typist for the Germans and manages through her job to keep her, Maciek and the grandparents’ safe.  Tania enters into liaison with Reinhard, an ex-German soldier and manages to keep the family safe and unharmed for a little while. Maciek is protected by his family -- unlike Tzili’s family who abandoned her.  Reinhard helps Tania, and move her and Maciek to Lwów where they start living a lie with false papers to hide their identities as Jews.  “Just as the Germans were losing the battle of Moscow, we said good-bye to grandmother and left for Lwów.” (65).  Maciek felt indifferent towards the town of Lwów he now had to live in.  He and Tania took nightly walks when the Aryan’s were at home.  Tania felt this was the perfect time for her and Maciek to walk outside.  Maciek on the other hand felt alone and distant from his aunt.  “I suffered from her jokes.  I thought they made us feel even lonelier.  I didn’t like the thought of being a criminal.” (67).  Maciek was living in constant fear and uncertainty as a young boy.  “…we were always afraid…” (67).  He couldn’t just be himself -- act and play like a child, he had to hide himself from the world everyday.