Hidden Like Anne Frank: 14 True Stories of Survival

Kindled by his mother’s own story and drawing from original interviews, Prins and co-author Steenhuis compile 14 accounts from Dutch-born individuals who lived in hiding as children during WWII. Rita Degen (Prins’s mother) was yanked from school and sent to a foster family where she was forced to change her name and pretend to be age five to avoid having to wear a yellow star. Jaap Sitters was harassed at school after friends’ parents became members of the National Socialist Movement; he chillingly recalls the claustrophobic crawlspace where he lay hidden in silent darkness. Auschwitz prisoner Bloeme Emden describes surviving deplorable conditions and the aftershocks of trauma after returning home: “I was bald and emaciated. He [my boyfriend] didn’t recognize me until I spoke. Everything about you can change, but voices stay the same.” These first-person stories of heroism and inhumanity explore the true scope of Holocaust atrocities, while also serving as a testament to resilience. Maps, footnotes, past and current photographs of the interviewees, and a glossary are included; additional resources are available on a companion Web site. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)