RESCUED IMAGES: Memories of a Childhood in Hiding

Jacobsen, a Jewish artist, was six or seven years old when her parents fled with her from Germany to Holland in 1939, taking only the clothes on their backs. They survived the war in hiding, but to minimize the risks, Ruth was parted from her parents and sheltered by a long succession of people. Both parents would later commit suicide after the war. Astonishingly, neighbors had saved the family albums, but 40 years passed before Jacobsen, who had emigrated to the U.S. and had been producing collages and "constructions," could bear to look at them. When she finally did look, she writes, "The photographs evoked feelings I could only express in collage form. I needed to move the photographs out of the albums and into my life." The collages she made with the photos (and with often unsettling painted compositions), appear here in color, along with her episodic and sometimes elliptical recollections. Jacobsen writes with intelligence and unusual frankness. However, the author's voice is invariably that of her adult self, and she appears to take for granted that readers will understand not only the historical context but the psychological forces that affect her memory (for example, after a visit from her hiding place to her parents', "I felt my only option was to hate my parents. That way I wouldn't have to think about their helplessness or worry about them"). Accordingly, this poignant volume may be better directed toward adults than young people. Ages 12-up. (Dec.)