The Hidden Children

November 1, 1993
Here are the stories of 22 Holocaust survivors who, as children, hid from the Nazis. Contrary to popular belief, Marks insists, the hiding experience "was less of a safe harbor than a violent sea of constant menace, uncertainty, and fear." Some were hidden in Catholic convents, some in sewers or underground caves, some in hay lofts, in huts, in closets, in barns, and in attics. Says one survivor of hiding in a Catholic convent, "We were in plain sight, but we were hiding our Jewishness." Another survivor tells of hiding in the sewers of Lvov for 14 months in stench and darkness with very little food or clean water. In some cases, the Nazis took away their parents, leaving the young children on their own, always staying one jump ahead of the Nazi sympathizers eager to denounce them. These first-person accounts are powerful and gripping stories of how Hitler's war against the Jews included little children. In the literature of the Holocaust, Marks has added a remarkable contribution. ((Reviewed Nov. 1, 1993))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1993, American Library Association.)