‘There was absolutely no chance of being a kid’: new exhibition explores how war shapes children’s lives
The Imperial War Museum in London opens ‘Childhood in War’ on 31 July, featuring hundreds of objects and testimonies showing how conflict disrupts children’s lives. Among them is 89-year-old John Hajdu’s teddy bear, the only surviving object from his childhood during the Holocaust.
A new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London, titled ‘Childhood in War’, will open on 31 July, examining the impact of armed conflict on children’s lives. The exhibition brings together hundreds of objects, from toys and books to a full-size railway carriage and a reconstructed Second World War bedroom. It blends historical artefacts with contemporary accounts from children living through conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan and Afghanistan.
One of the key items on display is John Hajdu’s teddy bear, which he received when he was three years old. Now 89, Hajdu is one of the last Holocaust survivors; the bear is the only object that remains from his childhood. Before the war, his family was well-off and Jewish, living in Budapest. In 1944, his father was sent to a labour camp and his mother to a concentration camp. Hajdu was forced into hiding in a neighbour’s cupboard and later into the Budapest ghetto. “There was absolutely no chance of being a kid,” he recalls. “I had no other toys or books. I was completely isolated.”
The exhibition includes a reconstructed war-time classroom to show how conflict disrupts education, and an evacuee train carriage with letters and Kindertransport items. Visitors can explore a 360-degree virtual tour of an underground school in Ukraine, poems by Ukrainian children, and drawings by children in Sudan later used as evidence of alleged war crimes.
Curator Fran Singleton says the exhibition aims to provide a space for families to discuss these difficult topics. Hajdu, who now regularly speaks about the Holocaust in schools, hopes the younger generation will carry these stories forward. “My small story is an example that you can survive. Unfortunately, people are suffering all over the world. It’s absolutely vital that the younger generation takes on what we’re doing.”
