Dividing Hearts (The Removal of Jewish Children from Gentile Families in Poland in the Immediate Post Holocaust Years)

“It is difficult for us to agree that because of financial limitations, Jewish children will not be able to return to their people. That was undoubtedly the last wish of the parents who were martyred – that their children should return to Judaism.” [Members of the presidium of the Zionist for the Redemption of Children]. These words express the feelings of the Jewish activists in Poland after the Holocaust. Shortly after the liberation of Poland from Nazi occupation, several Jewish organizations were created in order to locate Jewish children who had been hidden during the war by Polish Christians, so as transfer them to Jewish children’s homes. Gafny’s book deals with questions posed by these operations: Why did several organizations come into being for the same purpose? What were the relations among them? What was the nature of the operations of each body? What were the reactions of the Polish rescuers? How did Polish courts view the removal of the children to Jewish orphanages? What was the attitude of the Church? How did the children themselves react? Many moving personal stories of the children are interwoven in the book.