Abstract
The Second World War represented a complete collapse of the ethical and moral order upon which much of Europe’s narrative had been constructed over time. As well as material and political reconstruction, postwar recovery required the creation of new narratives, able to mend the existential disarray created by the war, and to put forward a vision of a future that would significantly break with the past. The aim of this essay is to explore how references to children contributed to give meaning to a notion of postwar reconstruction that encompassed the material and symbolic realms. The argument is that in the devastated landscape left by the war, references to children were ambivalent and on the one hand stressed vulnerability and guiltlessness, while also underlining children’s threatening otherness. It was an ambiguous fascination that saw in children both the emblem of innocent martyrdom and the personification of a dangerous disorder that had to be overcome. Restoring children to their prescribed roles while also envisaging new ways of promoting their well-being became essential elements in the reconstruction of the society adults could live in comfortably.
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