A war child refers to a child born to a native parent and a parent belonging to a foreign military force (usually an occupying force, but also military personnel stationed at military bases on foreign soil). Having a child by a member of a belligerent forces, throughout history and across cultures, is often considered a grave betrayal of social values. Commonly, the native parent (usually a woman) is disowned by family, friends, and society at large. The term "war child" is most commonly used for children born during World War II and its aftermath, particularly in relation to children born to fathers in German occupying forces in northern Europe. In Norway, there were also Lebensborn children.
It is also applied to other situations, such as children born following the widespread rapes during the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities associated with the war of liberation. The discrimination suffered by the native parent and child in the postwar period did not take into account widespread rapes by occupying forces, or the relationships women had to form in order to survive the war years.
[Mother] How they play, Finding treasure in the sand. They're forever hand in hand, Our children. [Tateh] How they laugh. She has never laughed like this. [Mother] Every waking moment, bliss. [Both] Our children. [Tateh] See them running down the beach. Children run so fast... [Mother] Toward the future... [Tateh] From the past. [Mother] How they dance, Unembarrassed and alone. [Both] Hearing music of their own, Our children. [Tateh] One so fair, [Mother] And the other, lithe and dark. [Both] Solemn joy and sudden spark, Our children. See them running down the beach. Children run so fast Toward the future From the past. There they stand, Making footprints in teh sand, And forever, hand in hand, Our childrn. Two small lives, Silhouetted by the blue, One like me And one like you. Our children. Our children. {speaking} [Mother] Well. [Tateh] you say that often. 'Well'. [Mother] It's because I don't know what to say, Baron. [Tateh] I'm not a Baron, of course. I'm a poor immigrant, a Jew, who points a camera so that his child can dress as beautifully as a princess. I want to drive from her memory every tenement stench and filthy immigrant street. I will buy her light and sun and clean wind of the ocean for the rest of her life. Now you know me. Now you understand. I am not Baron. I am Tateh. [Mother] Now I know even less what to say. [Tateh] Now it's my turn: Well. [Mother] Thank you for your confidence. I shall keep it here. (mother puts her hand to her heart.)
Jane Salmonson, the director of FireflyInternational, which supports children affected by war, told The National that she has been told al-Sharif is one of 20,000 men who have disappeared with no trace.
Re John Harris’s article (The culture wars are coming for children with special needs – Labour must tread carefully, 29 December), the special educational needs and disabilities ...
VATICAN CITY (AP) — PopeFrancis warned that bullying in schools prepares students for war rather than peace, in a speech to Catholic educators gathered at the Vatican on Saturday.
The United NationsChildren’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that more than 500Afghan children were killed or injured in 2024 due to explosions from unexploded ordnance and remnants of war ... children.
... genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave ... The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,800 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct.
Tension has been running high across the occupied Palestinian territories due to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 45,800 people, mostly women and children, since Oct.
An Israeli soldier accused of committing war ... The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,700 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct.
Re John Harris’s article (The culture wars are coming for children with special needs – Labour must tread carefully, 29 December), the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) problem does ...
Famed Chinese demographer Yi Fuxian (易富賢) recently wrote for The Diplomat on the effects of a cross-strait war on demography ... But here in Taiwan we are so advanced, we don’t even need a war to achieve these effects. Children on Sep.
The Biden administration has notified Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons package to Israel as the war with Hamas in Gaza shows little sign of abating ... The cemetery where Gaza’s children study for a future beyond war.
Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has claimed the lives of over 45,700 civilians, mostly women and children, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding Israel to stop its military campaign against Gaza.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,700 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct ... war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,800 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct ... war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
