With the same attention to detail and straightforward writing style readers have come to appreciate from her, Deborah Hopkinson looks at how the rescue operation of Jewish children from Nazi occupied Europe, known as the Kindertransport, was able to saved approximately 10,000 young people. In the first half of this fascinating history , Hopkinson details Hitler's rise to power and ties its impact into the lives of a number of Jewish families. Most people don't realize just how widespread anti-Semitic feelings were in 1930s Germany, but as Hitler became more popular, as his followers increased, many Jews who had believed themselves to be as German as their non-Jewish neighbors began to experience a definite change. For example, Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps for no reason, prohibitions were enacted so that Jews in civil service lost their jobs, Jews couldn't go to the movies or visit a park, Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend German s...
When I was in college, I discovered a book by Studs Terkel called The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two. Terkel had collected the memories of a wide variety of people, providing a good overview of how each interviewee was impacted by the war. If you haven't read The Good War yet, I highly recommend it.
Oral histories have always fascinated me, so when I heard about Voices from the Second World War, I was pretty excited to see what it was all about. It turned out to be a unique collection of short, first person recollections (most are only 1-2 pages, some longer) told to some of today's young people, and though the book is basically Britain-centered, there is still plenty included for all children to appreciate.
The book is organized into 16 sections that follow the course of the war from outbreak to the fall of Japan. Interviewees relate their experiences in the RAF, the U.S. Navy, working as a Land Girl or a code breaker, being evacuated to London in 1938 with the Kindertransport from countries being threatened by Hitler, leaving family behind and often never seeing them again, being evacuated from London to the countryside when war was declared in 1939, fighting in the Resistance, surviving the Holocaust and POW camps. Readers will also read what the navigator of the Enola Gay has to say about the bombing Hiroshima, as well as hearing from a survivor of that bombing. It is affecting and compelling to read about how different people reacted, endured, and survived the circumstances this terrible war threw at them.
All of the stories are equally important, though some readers will surely recognize at least a few of the people interviewed. There is, for example, Sir Nicholas Winton, the humanitarian who saved 669 children in 1938 when he organized the Czechoslovakian Kindertransport to bring them to Britain and place them in homes where they would be safe from the Nazis (Sir Nicolas passed away shortly after being interviewed by Amélie Mitchell and Daniel McKeever.
Readers may also be surprised to learn that two favorite children's authors, Shirley Hughes and Judith Kerr, both had wartime experienced. Shirley was 12 when the war started, and living near Liverpool with her mother. She told her interviewer that at times the war was very frightening, at other times, it was very boring, but she had involved herself in doing things like collecting salvage for the war effort. When the Nazis started bombing the docks in Liverpool, Shirley stayed where she was rather than be evacuated to safety. Shirley Hughes has written a few books about WWII, including Whistling in the Dark, an novel based on her own wartime experiences.
Judith Kerr's experience began in Berlin almost as soon as Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Because her family was Jewish and her father was an outspoken critic of Hitler, it soon became apparent that the family needed to leave Germany. Packing only what they could carry so that they wouldn't arouse suspicion, Judith decided to leave her beloved pink bunny behind. The family made it to Switzerland, then to London in 1936. Fans of Kerr can see where the inspiration for When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit came from.
Each memory provides the reader with a personal window into the past told by those who actually lived it. What is particularly nice is that all the memories were collected by school children, some of whom you will meet at the beginning of the book.
In addition, each memory includes black and white photos, most are personal, but there are lots of photographs from the war in general. There is also an Index of Subjects, and an Index of Interviewees, as well as a useful Glossary.
As more and more of the witnesses to World War II die and take their stories with them, it is important to record their memories. Fortunately, what Terkel did for adults with The Good War, these young people have done for other children with Voices from the Second World War.
This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was provided to me by the publisher, Candlewick Press
Nhận xét
Đăng nhận xét