Children…

The Holocaust in other parts of Europe
Though the basic steps were always the same – identification,
segregation, assembly, deportation and extermination
– the Holocaust happened differently in every
country where it occurred.
Hungary was Germany’s ally, yet almost 1 million
Jews, including refugees from other countries, remained
physically safe there until 1944. Hungary passed anti-
Jewish laws, but resisted German pressure to deport its
Jews to the death camps. Everything changed in March
1944, when Germany occupied Hungary. Deportations
to Auschwitz began in mid-May. For 42 days,
over 437,000 Jews were deported. Every day, up to
12,000 people were gassed to death. Finally in early
July, Regent Miklós Horthy ordered the deportations
ended. Since these depended on Hungarian manpower,
this order gave respite to some 200,000 Budapest Jews.
Many received assistance from diplomats of neutral
countries like Sweden, Switzerland and the Vatican.
Yet, by December, some 30,000 Jews were killed, either
during “death marches” to Austria or were murdered by
members of the Arrow Cross (Hungarian Nazis).
Fascist Italy, another German ally, also passed anti-Jewish
“race laws”, but refused to deport its Jews.A senior minister
told Mussolini, “We know the destiny of those Jews
deported by the Germans. They are gassed. Everybody:
women, old men, children. We want nothing to do with
such evil deeds.” He demanded that Mussolini not allow
any deportations.After Mussolini’s government fell in July
1943, German troops and Italian antisemites deported
some 8,000 of Italy’s 35,000 Jews to Auschwitz.
Yugoslavia was divided after Germany’s April 1941
occupation. About 80,000 Jews lived in the country,
with most of Serbia’s 16,000 Jews in Belgrade.The Germans
plundered their property and forced them into
slave labour. In August 1941, most Serbian Jews were
shot. In spring 1942, a mobile gas van was used at the
Semlin concentration camp near Belgrade. By summer,
only a few hundred Serbian Jews remained alive.
Croatia’s new fascist Ustasha regime aligned itself
with Germany, and its Jews were forced to wear the
yellow star and had their property seized. The Ustasha
systematically slaughtered Serbs, Jews and “Gypsies”. In
Jasenovac concentration camp near Zagreb, tens of thousands
of Serbs and “Gypsies” were murdered, as were
some 20,000 of Croatia’s 30,000 Jews. By late October
1941, most were dead, with 7,000 later deported
to Auschwitz. In all, over 60,000 Yugoslavian Jews were
murdered.
Greece was occupied by both Germany and Italy.
Until 1944, Jews in Italy’s zone were safe. In the German
zone, Salonika’s Jewish community was virtually
destroyed. From March to August 1943, some 44,000
were deported Auschwitz, with only about 1,000
returning to Salonika after the war. In the Greek islands,
Jewish life was almost completely wiped out.
Bulgaria, another German ally, resisted demands to
deport its over 50,000 Jews. Hence, most survived the
war. However, Bulgaria allowed Germany to deport
Jews who were not citizens, mostly from Thrace and
Macedonia. In total, more than 11,000 Jews were
deported to Treblinka from territories controlled by
Bulgaria.
At the beginning of the war, over 750,000 Jews lived
in Romania. In Bessarabia and Bukovina, some 160,000
were starved or shot by Romanian troops aided by the
Germans. Over 150,000 were deported to Transnistria,
where most were killed along with local Jews. In central
Romania, however, some 300,000 Jews survived.
Despite Marshal Ion Antonescu’s anti-Jewish policies,
for political reasons, the Romanians did not allow their
remaining Jewish citizens to be deported.
After Finland allied itself with Germany in June
1941, a few dozen Jewish refugees and Soviet Jewish
prisoners-of-war were handed over. Finland’s tiny Jewish
minority was left unharmed.
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