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‘There was absolutely no chance of being a kid’: new exhibition explores how war shapes children’s lives
The Imperial War Museum in London is opening a new exhibition, Childhood in War, on 31 July, examining how conflict disrupts children's play, education and family life across generations of war. Among the objects on display for the first time is a small teddy bear belonging to 89-year-old John Hajdu, the only surviving item from his childhood, which stayed with him as his father was sent to a labour camp, his mother to a concentration camp, and he himself hid from Nazi persecution before being forced into the Budapest ghetto.
The exhibition combines hundreds of objects with immersive settings, including a full-size railway carriage, a wartime classroom and a cold war living room and kitchen, alongside testimonies from children affected by conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan and Afghanistan. Exhibits include Kindertransport items such as a red jumper given to a girl who fled Berlin for Britain, comics warning children about landmines, and objects relating to the disruption of education during the second world war, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the war in the former Yugoslavia. Hajdu, now a grandfather who speaks in schools about surviving the Holocaust, describes being isolated, banned from parks and cinemas, and forced to hide in a neighbour's cupboard with his teddy bear as his only companion.
In short
- IWM's new exhibition Childhood in War opens 31 July, London
- Displays include Holocaust survivor John Hajdu's childhood teddy bear
- Covers conflicts from WWII to Ukraine, Sudan and Afghanistan today
Explained simply
War fundamentally disrupts childhood, separating children from families, preventing schooling, and forcing them to hide from persecution or violence. These disruptions create trauma that can affect survivors throughout their lives, stealing the safety and freedom that childhood should provide.
Children in many conflicts—from the Second World War to recent fighting in Ukraine, Sudan and Afghanistan—have faced similar deprivations and dangers. Each conflict presents different challenges: some children experience displacement or forced labour, others endure bombardment or family separation, and still others face persecution based on their identity.
Documenting how children experience war helps society recognise that conflict affects entire generations, not just those directly involved in fighting. When survivors share their stories and objects from childhood are preserved, they provide evidence of the lasting human cost of warfare and help people understand what conflict means for those too young to fight.