Hidden Children: Secret Survivors Of The Holocaust Review

Title: Hidden Children: Secret Survivors Of The Holocaust

Author: Jane Marks

My Rating: 5/5

Part of a series? No

Genre(s): Non-fiction, History, Biography, WWII, Holocaust. 

Description/Blurb:

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 faced the constant danger of discovery, fabricating new identities at a young age, sacrificing their childhoods to save their lives. These secret survivors have suppressed these painful memories for decades. Now, in The Hidden Children, twenty-three adult survivors share their moving wartime experiences -- some for the first time.

There is Rosa, who hid in an impoverished one-room farmhouse with three others, 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 lived in a closet with his family for thirteen months. Their personal stories of belief and determination give a voice, at last, to the forgotten. Inspiring and life-affirming, The Hidden Children is an unparalleled document of witness, discovery, and the miracle of human courage.

My review: 

This book contains some incredibly moving accounts from people who survived the Holocaust as children, although distressing in parts the accounts show some wonderful acts of kindness and demonstrate the bravery of those who were willing to help rescue Jews despite the threat to their own lives. The book really made the Holocaust seem that more real to me while I was studying Nazi Germany as part of a history GCSE and I would recommend this book to nobody who has an interest in that period.

The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti Review

Title:  The Almond Tree

Author: Michelle Cohen Corasanti

My Rating: 4/5

Part of a series? No

Genre(s): War, Contemporary, Recent History. 

Description/Blurb:

Gifted with a mind that continues to impress the elders in his village, Ichmad Hamid struggles with the knowledge that he can do nothing to save his Palestinian friends and family. Ruled by the Israeli military government, the entire village operates in fear of losing homes, jobs, and belongings. But more importantly, they fear losing each other. On Ichmad's twelfth birthday, that fear becomes a reality. With his father imprisoned, his family's home and possessions confiscated, and his siblings quickly succumbing to the dangers of war, Ichmad begins the endless struggle to use his intellect to save his poor and dying family and reclaim a love for others that was lost when the bombs first hit."The Almond Tree" capitalizes on the reader's desire to be picked up and dropped off in another part of the world. It tackles issues that many Americans only hear about on World News or read about at The Huffington Post, such as the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the scholasticide that is being imposed upon the Palestinians in Gaza and the current Gaza blockade. But even more, it offers hope.

My review: 

I was a little but wary of starting this book after how the children's play 'Child of the Divide' (by Sudha Bhuchar if anyone is interested) had me a bit over emotional in my English lit class a few years back but today while sunning myself in the garden I settled down to read the story of the young boy named Ichmad Hamid who struggled through poverty to become an accomplished man dreaming of peace. 

I could not put this book down so I managed to read it all in one day. The story is wonderfully crafted by Michelle Cohen Corasanti to the degree where you begin to question if this is really a work of fiction at all as the characters are so believable and the tragedies they face in their war torn Palestinian village leave the reader moved, and seeing it through the eyes of Ichmad makes it all that more touching because he carries the guilt for some of the events he has witnessed despite being s victim of circumstance. 

Though at times this novel contains brutal depictions of the atrocities in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict it is also an inspirational piece. It shows how education can improve quality of life and Ichmad's father's teaching of cooperation, friendship and acceptance is something we can learn from and aspire to in order to attain peace in our own lives.