Synopses & Reviews
Jaap Sitters was only eight years old when his mother cut the yellow stars off his clothes and sent him, alone, on a fifteen-mile walk to hide with relatives. It was a terrifying night, one he would never forget. Before the end of the war, he would hide in secret rooms and behind walls. He would suffer from hunger, sickness, and the looming threat of Nazi raids. But he would live.
This is just one of the true stories told in Hidden Like Anne Frank, a collection of eye-opening first-person accounts that share the experience of going into hiding to escape the Holocaust. Some were just toddlers when they were hidden; some were teenagers. Some hid with neighbors or family, while many were with complete strangers. But all know the pain of losing their homes, their families, even their own names. They describe the secret network that kept them safe. And they share the coincidences and close calls that made all the difference.
Review
Kirkus Starred Review
Dutch survivors of the Holocaust remember their years as hidden children.
During Hitler’s reign of terror, paths to survival for Jews were few and involved secrecy, danger, vigilance, and the kindness and bravery of strangers. Fourteen men and women recall their experiences with amazing clarity, detail and honesty. There are several commonalities in the accounts. Most began their ordeal at very young ages and had to take on heavy responsibilities and new identities, enduring frequent moves, incidents of near discovery, and unending fear and uncertainty. Some found compassion and love among their rescuers, and others were treated callously by sponsors who accepted them only for the stipend that the resistance organizations paid. After the war, most of them found that nearly all their family members had been killed, relationships with surviving parents were awkward, their homes had been given to other people, and postwar authorities were slow to help them resettle. The accounts are told in a matter-of-fact tone, with no attempt at sentimentality or self-pity. Photos of the survivors before the war and of some of their temporary homes and families accompany the text, and photos as they are now are shown at the end. Each memoir is poignant and heartrending on its own, and the compilation gives the reader a stunning sense of the horror of the Holocaust.
Terrifying, haunting and powerful.
Review
Publishers Weekly Starred Review 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.
A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
Review
Praise for
Hidden Like Anne Frank :
"Like Anne Frank's, these few voices stand out and speak for the millions whose stories remain untold." -- The New York Times Book Review
* "Each memoir is poignant and heartrending on its own, and the compilation gives the reader a stunning sense of the horror of the Holocaust. Terrifying, haunting and powerful." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "These first-person stories of heroism and inhumanity explore the true scope of Holocaust atrocities, while also serving as a testament to resilience." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "This moving and powerful title is an important addition to any history collection." -- School Library Journal, starred review
A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2014
A 2015 USBBY Outstanding International Book
A Bank Street College Center for Children’s Literature Best Book of the Year, Outstanding Merit
About the Author
Marcel Prins was inspired to create this project by his own mother, who went into hiding in 1942 to escape Nazi persecution. She was just six years old. Marcel Prins is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and cameraman. He lives in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Peter Henk Steenhuis is a journalist and the philosophy editor for the TROUW daily newspaper in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.