What to say to a child about the Holocaust?

Question

my niece is 6 years old and has started going to an elderly womans house after school while her parents work. since i live close to the woman when i get out of work or school i go and pick Danielle up. yesterday on the drive home she said that Ms.P has a tattoo on her arm and when i picked her up today i noticed the tattoo and it is a series of numbers....she was one of the people who was in a concentration camp. Dani keeps bugging me about the tattoo and i cant think of a way to explain it to her in a way that she would understand.. please help

im afraid she is going to point it out in front of the woman and i dont want her to be embarrassed or anything. today Dani asked if it was the womans phone number (she thought since the woman is older she might forget it..typical kid comment)

Dani is 6.. what would u say?

Answer 1

Ms. P lived through a tough period in history and was held in a camp for awhile, and the tattoo was a way to identify her.  

Answer 2

I would talk to her parents, and let them know she is wondering--and see how they want to educate her on it.

Answer 3

I would tell her the truth (with the parents permission of course), look some fact up on line with her. Or if you trust the lady not to get into gory details ask her to explain it to your niece. Kids do not need to be completely sheltered from these issues. I have not had to explain the Holocaust yet, but I have been quite frank with them about slavery and racism. You can be honest without being frightening. It is a good way to help encourage them to stand up for what is right and for what they believe in.

My kids are 7 & 9 by the way and I would be honest with them about it.

Answer 4

I'm 16 and I was raised by my grandma, a survivor of the holocaust. When i was younger I was simply told that bad people did bad things to others only because of their religion. You don't have to go much further than that. I know you may think that it would be awful if your niece brought it up, but most holocaust survivors i know acutally don't mind talking about it. good luck.  

Answer 5

tell her that it is her favorite numbers

Answer 6

I would start by having a conversation with the woman to bring this to her attention. In my experience, a child's curiousity knows no boundaries and most will not give up until they have a concrete explanation. The very fact that you are finding it difficult to explain only fuels the curiousity further. Children can sense so much.

I do feel that information such as this can be upsetting and difficult to process for a child of your daughter's age. See what the woman thinks...actually, a phone number is a good explanation. Date of something significant in her family? I think explaining the Holocaust to your daughter is far too complicated and potentially distressing. Children grow up way too fast as it is. I think it's nice to prolong the magic of childhood for as long as possible. Kids are burdened enough in this day and age.

Answer 7

I would tell the truth, and go to the library to get more of the truth.  Ask the elderly lady how she feels about talking with your niece.  Of course you don't have to be graphic; but there is nothing more amazing than a child's quest for knowledge; why not give her a little education on the subject.  You should not be afraid to answer any questions a child may have; and if you don't know the answer, then find out together.

Answer 8

Tell her the truth with the level of detail that she is able to accept.

Bring up the tattoo with Mrs. P. yourself.  Ask her if she is comfortable talking  about it with you and Dani.  She has had plenty of time to have it removed, so she may keep it as a conversation starter.

If she is not comfortable talking about it, you can point this out to Dani and teach her about it yourself.

Remember that the term "Holocaust" refers to the n**i persecution of Jews.  Only half of the 12 million people killed in concentration and death camps were Jews.  The others were "undesirables" such as the mentally ill, homosexuals, gypsies, etc.

Wikipedia:

The Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston): holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt"), also known as (Ha-)Shoah (Hebrew: השואה), Churben (Yiddish: חורבן), is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a programme of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (n**i) regime in Germany led by Adolf Hitler.[2]

Other groups were persecuted and killed by the regime, including the Gypsies; Soviets, particularly prisoners of war; Communists; ethnic Poles; other Slavic people; the disabled; homosexuals; and political and religious dissidents.[3][4] Many scholars do not include these groups in the definition of the Holocaust, defining it as the genocide of the Jews,[5] or what the n***s called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." Taking into account all the victims of n**i persecution, the total number of victims is estimated to be nine to 11 million.[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocau...