Asia
During World War II conflict made a huge impact on many Asian countries. Japan attempted to conquer many places such as Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, places in China, and many more. As a result of this, many children were killed, injured, raped, or left to be orphans. In many cases, children even became soldiers or battlefield nurses. Starvation was common, as well as lack of clothing, shelter, and education. Families were torn apart and many people constantly live in fear.
Because the children were put in these situations, many were permanently traumatized mentally. Also, as a result of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, sickness such as leukemia became a big issue for children and their families who lived near these places.
Europe
European countries were arguably the most affected during World War 2. Countries spent lots of money towards the war effort, causing poverty and scarcity of food and other necessities to be prevalent. Kids' school days were dramatically altered by bomb scares and drills. Many lived in fear because they were among the groups that were being persecuted, captured and killed by Nazi forces. If they were captured, children were separated from their families and forced to do labor and live in conditions that were unsanitary in the concentration camps. They were provided little to no food or clean water.
Even if the children were in families not being hunted by the Nazis, their lives were drastically changed. Fathers were away at war, so mothers and their children were forced to take on new roles within their household and their community. Teenage boys were often drafted into the military to serve regardless of if this was what they wanted. These kids were forced to be mature beyond their age because of the emotional and mental damage they had to endure.
Credits:
Created with images by WikiImages - "soldier's grave grave war" • WikiImages - "child soldiers war china" • skeeze - "atomic bomb nuclear weapon fat man" • A.Davey - "Mother's Wartime Passport - 1941" • dalecruse - "Dachau Concentration Camp surrender" • Chris., - "World War 1 World War 2 re-enactors Rotherham (134)"