GONE CHILDHOOD": CHILDREN'S EVERYDAY LIFE DURING THE OCCUPATION OF NORTH-WEST RUSSIA (1941-1944)

Krasnozhenova Elena E.

Annotation

The relevance of studying children's everyday life during the occupation is attributed to severe repressive genocidal policies towards them in North-West Russia that was occupied from 1941 to 1944. Genocide of children and teens had been pre-planned and was a part of a broader policies aimed at a further extermination of the civilian population. This article analyzes the German-fascist occupation policy on childhood, and also the study of the peculiarities of the daily life of children and teens under occupation. This research is based on numerous archival documents, mostly acts of sub-district and territorial jurisdictions created to investigate crimes committed by the Nazi occupants, reports, memorandums, partisans bulletins, memoirs and eyewitness testimonies. This article also reviews Nazi archival documents such as orders of the occupation administration that can be found in the archives of the northwestern Russia. While analyzing historical documents and archival materials, the author used a historical-genetic method, as well as systematic and functional analysis and reconstruction of the events. The Nazi policy on children and teens aimed to exterminate all the civilian population in the North-West part Russia. Children were forced to participate in unpaid labour together with their parents and were sent to concentration camps located in the region and outside, they were deported to Germany. They were forced to donate blood to Nazi soldiers and were killed during punitive operations. Famine and absence of any medical support led to the increased morbidity and death among children and teens.

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