Munich, Germany, Displaced Jewish Children at the Ulm Children's Home, 1945-1948 (USHMM)

This database is an index extracted from records for Jewish children brought to the Children’s Home in Ulm, Germany, following the surrender of the Nazis during World War II. The collection contains information gathered by the CHC (Central Historical Commission of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone, Munich) about some of the child Holocaust survivors in Displaced Persons camps. The original documents are held by Yad Vashem.

There are approximately 325 questionnaires, some with photos, along with other materials such as biographies of wards of the Children’s Home in Ulm, dated 1945-1948. The children (who range in age from four to nineteen) were asked about their lives during the Nazi rule, the fate of their families, their journey to Ulm postwar, and their desired immigration location. Some of these children and their families fled to Soviet territory during World War II and were later deported by the Soviets to Middle Asia and Siberia.

This collection reveals several important and understudied aspects of Jewish life and survival both during and after the Holocaust: 1) the experience of children and the challenges in providing them with aid, shelter, education, and permanent homes; 2) Jewish life and survival under Soviet rule during the Holocaust; 3) the postwar rescue, aid, and rehabilitation efforts of Jewish organizations on behalf of survivors, and in this case, surviving orphaned children.

What You Can Find

Entries in this index may include

• name
• birth date
• birthplace
• gender
• nationality
• residence prior to displacement / last known address
• date of displacement
• religion
• occupation
• relationship to orphan
• relationship to head of household
• circumstances
• age
• family members

Ordering Records

Additional details about a child’s displacement, separation from parents, moves, school record, languages spoken, a history of the family, and a photograph may be included in the original records. While the index is freely accessible from Ancestry.com, the images of these records are not available in this database. Copies of the images can be ordered at no cost from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Click here for ordering information.

Historical Background

The Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone was organized in 1945 and represented displaced Jews in the American zone in Germany from 1945 through 1950.

More information about children’s experiences during the Holocaust is available in the online Holocaust Encyclopedia.