By Malka Percal

As the annihilation of Jews geared up throughout Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, a small number of parents were able to hide children away with non-Jewish families and Catholic clergy. Spirited out of ghettos and separated from their parents, most of these children never saw their families again.

The children lived among strangers, created false identities, or simply became invisible for years on end, hiding in forests and pigsties, under beds and behind wardrobes, often in close proximity to people who might betray them.

This nightmare world is the subject of "Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage through June 25. The exhibition tells the story through the children's meager mementos, including photographs, drawings, diaries and false documents. That such a fragile cache of children and objects survived the near destruction of Jewish life in Europe is astounding. While it is never easy to witness evidence of tragedy, the exhibition provides a view into an aspect of the Holocaust that is little known beyond Anne Frank's famous story. (The show

includes a first edition of her diary.)

The largest object in the exhibit is a wooden wardrobe in which Frederik Steinkeller hid, sitting in a tiny slatted chair. His father, Jakob, left him with the Nowaks, a Polish-Catholic family that lived above his workshop. The Gestapo had offices in the same building. Frederik survived, but his father perished at Auschwitz.

Most hidden children were moved frequently from place to place to avoid detection. One child was moved 30 times, never knowing the identities of the people around him. The punishment for harboring Jews was often death.

In some cases, Catholic clerics helped save Jewish children, hiding them in orphanages and schools. Pére Jacques de Jésus hid Jewish children among the war resisters he sheltered at his school in Avon, France. Discovered by the Gestapo, Pére Jacques—whose story was told in Louis Malle's film "Au Revoir, Les Enfants"—was arrested. He perished shortly after the war; the children died at Auschwitz. The diaries and drawings of several children, however, show that hope is hard to kill. An imaginative watercolor by Simon Jeruchim, a French boy,

depicts a serene flying bus in the year 2000. Another child, Nellie Landau, created more than 60 artworks during 13 months in hiding.

Nico Herschel, knowing he would not survive, created an illustrated "life calendar" for his hidden infant son, Tsewie. The unusual calendar of important events extends all the way to 1967, predicting the circumcision of a son that Tsewie would one day have. Tsewie survived, and this calendar was all he would know of his father.

About 100,000 of the estimated 1.6 million Jewish children in Europe in 1939 survived Hitler, and after the war families and relief agencies sought out hidden children, some of whom did not know their real names.

Throughout the intimate exhibition spaces, personal stories and belongings, including handmade toys and clothing, are presented alongside large photographs and film montages showing the historical context—starving children in the Warsaw ghetto, deportations, and Jews arriving at Auschwitz. Snippets of Yiddish songs and survivors' audio narratives waft from listening stations, following and haunting visitors.

Each child's story and belongings provide heartrending evidence of a larger tragedy. Seeing these objects is an experience you will never forget.

"Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl. Through June 25. Sun–Tue, Thur 10am–5:45pm; Wed 10am –8pm; Fri 10am–5pm. $10; $7 seniors; $5 students; free for 12 and under. Free Wed 4–8pm. www.mjhnyc.org, 646-437-4200.