The Hidden Children: Secret Survivors of the Holocaust - Softcover

Marks, Jane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553409360 ISBN 13: 9780553409369

Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group), 1995

Synopsis

Twenty-three adult survivors of the Holocaust share their childhood war-time experiences in this book. It tells of the loss of their early years and the struggle to rebuild their lives after the war. There is Kristine, who hid in the sewers of Lvov for 14 months; Rosa, who hid in an impoverished farmhouse, sleeping on a clay pallet behind a stove; Renee, who posed as a Catholic and was kept in a convent by nuns who knew her secret; and Richard, who, with his family, lived in a closet for 13 months.

About this title

Review

"These individuals' stories remind us that humans can survive the vilest adversity, and go on to live lives that are wholesome and good."

-- Detroit Free Press

"A stirring saga of courage...The Hidden Children prodigiously helps us to remember what we dare not forget."

-- Jewish Sentinel

"Powerful and gripping...In the literature of the Holocaust, Marks has added a remarkable contribution."

-- Booklist

"Remarkable and moving."

-- Houston Chronicle

From the Back Cover

They hid wherever they could for as long as it took the Allies to win the war - Jewish children, frightened, alone, often separated from their families. For months, even years, they lived in constant danger of discovery, fabricating new identities and sacrificing their childhoods to save their lives. They couldn't cry, it was perilous to be sick. They were innocent victims in a world gone mad.

For years, many secret survivors have suppressed these painful memories. They have kept their stories to themselves. Now, in The Hidden Children, twenty-three adult survivors share their moving wartime experiences - often for the first time. There is Kristine, who hid in the sewers of Lvov for fourteen months; Rosa, who hid in an impoverished farmhouse, sleeping on a clay pallet behind a stove; Renee, who posed as a Catholic and was kept in a convent by nuns who knew her secret; and Richard, who, with his family, lived in a closet for thirteen months.

The stories of danger and sacrifice go on. Yet the hiding and the devastation of the war are only part of the story. After the war ended, lives had to be rebuilt again. That was when the reality of survival began to sink in - when the guilt of surviving and the difficulty of living proved nearly impossible for so many.

Symbolic of the strength of the human spirit, these personal stories of belief and determination give a voice, at last, to the forgotten. Inspiring and life-affirming, The Hidden Children is an unparalled document of witness, discovery, and the miracle of human courage.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0553409360
• ISBN 13: 9780553409369
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 336