---
title: "Here are 5 incredibly brave kids we’ve seen in war movies"
date: "2019-01-28"
modified: "2020-10-22"
authors:
  - name: "Tim Kirkpatrick"
    link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/tkirkpatrick/"
url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-movies/here-are-5-incredibly-brave-kids-weve-seen-in-war-movies/"
categories:
  - "History"
  - "War History"
  - "World War II"
---

# Here are 5 incredibly brave kids we’ve seen in war movies

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17311162/origin.jpg>)

Kids in war movies have it pretty darn difficult, especially when their little fists of fury can't inflict that much damage against their adult enemies.

---

What they lack in physical strength, they make up with small stature and stealth — that is, if they decide to.

### Related: [These kids volunteered to fight in the trenches in WWI](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/these-kids-volunteered-to-fight-in-the-trenches-in-wwi/>)

So check out our list of kids who stood out in the crowd for their bravery.

## 1. Jamie Graham (Empire of the Sun)

Christian Bale plays a young British schoolboy living with family in Shangai, China, when he gets separated from his parents and now must fight to stay alive during the [Japanese](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/world-war-ii-ended-70-years-ago-heres-the-planned-us-invasion-of-japan-that-never-happened/>) occupation in World War II.

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17311163/origin.jpg>)
*(Source: WB/Screenshot)*

## 2. Sacha Filipov (Enemy at the Gates)

Played by Gabriel Thomson, this young Russian character feeds bad information to a German sharpshooter to aid in the victory of his hero, legendary sniper Vassili Zaitsev.

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17311164/origin.jpg>)
*(Source: Paramount/Screenshot)*

## 3. O.D. / Chicken Boy (Schindler's List)

Played by Adam Siemion, this intelligent and quick-thinking child managed to help Jews get into the "good lines," lied to German soldiers about clearing a building and saved about a dozen others by blaming a newly murdered Jew for killing a Nazi-owned chicken.

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17311165/origin.jpg>)
*(Source: Universal/Screenshot)*

### Also Read: [This Holocaust survivor joined the Army and earned a Medal of Honor](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/rubin-holocaust-survivor-joined-the-army/>)

## 4. The girl in the red coat (Schindler's List)

Played by [Oliwia Dabrowska](<https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287890/Schindlers-List-Trauma-girl-red-coat-holocaust-icon.html>), this young girl donned the famous red coat and courageously walked her way through the dangerous streets of a Polish ghetto as Nazi soldiers raided and tossed the area. She made it completely unnoticed to safety.

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17311166/origin.jpg>)
*(Source: Universal/Screenshot)*

## 5. Leon (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

Played by Zac Mattoon O'Brien, this brave youngster lives in a concentration camp but sneaks out regularly for small periods of peace. Leon ends up befriending a young German boy who just happens to be the son of camp's commandant but never uses that against his newly made friend.

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17311167/origin.jpg>)
*(Source: Miramax/Screenshot)*

Can you think of any others? Comment below.

## Author
Tim Kirkpatrick entered the Navy in 2007 as a Hospital Corpsman and deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion 5th Marines in the fall of 2010. Tim now has degrees in both Film Production and Screenwriting. tim.kirkpatrick@wearethemighty.com