We know about children who his and didn’t survive the Holocaust. But what about those that hid and survived?

This book covers the stories of tree girls that survived the Holocaust by hiding: one as a Catholic, one with her mother with a family, and another first at a convent then with a few families before being adopted. The author also covers what happens to these girls after the war well into adulthood. The last section covers how those who hid but survived had been dismissed or not even acknowledged to have existed. Everyone knows Anne Frank but these children were unknown.

A definite recommend especially those studying World War II and the Holocaust ( )

Holocaust survivors......a phrase that encompasses a widespread mass of people. Most folks think of concentration camp victims who miraculously made it to the end of WW2.....but what about the repressed, isolated children who were hidden away during the war years? In woods, in convents, in homes with Christian families, often passed from place to place? They left behind their Jewish beginnings , were taught to embrace Catholicism and grew into angst ridden adults. Torn between what WAS and what IS, these are heart-breaking AND, at times heart-warming life stories.
A kink for me was that the first part of the book was about 3 girls/ women. It was somewhat confusing when towards the end it became more of an educational storyline involving a wide conglomerate of people....just my opinion. ( )

Such Good Girls: The Journey of the Holocaust's Hidden Child Survivors by R. D. Rosen is a very highly recommended nonfiction account of several hidden child survivors of the holocaust.

Most people know of Anne Frank, a child hidden for most of WWII who did not survive, but there were other Jewish children who were hidden and survived the Holocaust. In Such Good Girls R. D. Rosen shares the stories of three woman who survived the holocaust by hiding and how it affected their lives. The book is divided into two parts. The first tells the individual stories of the three girls, one Polish, one French, and one Dutch, and what they had to do and endure in order to survive. The second half of the book explores the lingering effects their childhood trauma has had on them as adults. The Hidden Child Survivors have been meeting since the 1980s and sharing their stories to add to the Shoah Foundation and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The numerous name changes, constant relocation and moving, the loss of family, heritage and personal identity are all heart breaking. The children may have survived the war, but at a great cost. This is not an exhausting, scholarly account of all the stories, but a selection of three that should highlight the fact that others also endured and were traumatized. Sharing and allowing these stories to reach a wider audience will shed light on a group of survivors that have been neglected in the past.

While this is not an emotionally easy book to read, the information it contains is necessary for us to always keep in mind that this must never happen again, although I know that it is, to other groups of people throughout the world. The book includes 16 pages of pictures, a bibliography, and list of documentaries and films.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of HarperCollins for review purposes. ( )

Like many survivor memoirs this tells of ath atrocities of WWII, but it goes further in its analysis of the 3 women and their beliefs about their faith later in life. A very thought provoking book. ( )

This book follows the lives of three of the hidden children during the holocaust, one hidden with her mother using forged papers and passing as Catholic. The other two in different and sometimes worse situations.
Some would not learn they were Jewish until they were grown and had trouble accepting the truth.

Although I have read many books fiction and non about the holocaust I never really thought about those that had survived because they were hidden, raised by other families or just sheltered by those who did not agree with the Nazi solution. The author does a good job presenting these cases and goes on to examine the guilt many of them have for surviving when so many of their family members did not.

I also learned a few things I had never known: Belgium sheltered over 4000 Jewish people and the Dutch had the greatest percentage of Jews lost. The bravery of all involved is considerable and I am in awe of their courage and sacrifice. If only more had felt this way.

ARC from Netgalley. ( )