by Moya Simons
1944
19–20 February Leipzig again bombed by Allied forces in what is called ‘Big Week’.
18 March Germany occupies Hungary.
16 May Mass deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz begins.
6 June D Day—Allied invasion at Normandy.
July–December Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat in Hungary, issues Swedish ‘protective passes’ to Jews. As Sweden was a neutral country during the war, these passes saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews.
20 July Attempt to assassinate Hitler fails.
7 August Polish ghetto liquidated; more than 60,000 Jews sent to Auschwitz.
3 October Germans crush the Warsaw uprising.
7 October Revolt at Auschwitz; one crematorium destroyed.
25 November SS begins to demolish gas chambers and crematoria at Auschwitz.
1945
18 January SS abandons Auschwitz and sends about 58,000 prisoners on death marches towards the interior of Germany, away from advancing Soviet army.
27 January Soviet troops liberate 8000 remaining prisoners in Auschwitz.
14 February German city of Dresden bombed by the Allies. Death toll figures range from 35,000–100,000 or more.
11 April Americans liberate Buchenwald.
15 April British liberate Bergen–Belsen concentration camp.
20 April US troops capture Leipzig and hand it over to Soviet army.
30 April Hitler and his mistress, Eva Braun, commit suicide.
7 May Germany surrenders to Allies.
8 May Germany surrenders to the Soviets. Victory in Europe or VE Day—the war is over in Europe.
6 August Bombing of Hiroshima.
9 August Bombing of Nagasaki.
15 August Japan surrenders—effectively the end of World War II.
2 September Formal surrender is the end of World War II.
20 November Trial of 21 major Nazi leaders by Allied tribunal begins at Nuremberg.
1946
November First boat of Jewish migrants from Europe docks at Sydney, Australia. Over 17,000 more would follow over the next ten years, including refugees from the Hungarian uprising in 1956.
1947
29 November United Nations approves the Partition Plan to separate what had been British Palestine into two states, with the UN taking charge of the city of Jerusalem. Jewish community accepts this plan, but Arab league rejects it.
1948
18 May Jews declare Israel to be an independent state, and are attacked by armies from five neighbouring Arab states. The 1948 Arab–Israeli War lasts for a year. It is the first of a series of conflicts over the next six decades.
David Ben Gurion and the Zionists dominate Israeli politics. Mass migration of Holocaust survivors takes place over the next decade, increasing the population from 800,000 in 1948 to over 2 million in 1958. Many have to stay in makeshift camps.
1949
19 May United Nations accepts Israel as a member.
Words from the author
ONCE, IN A country called Germany in the 1930s, an evil man gained control of the government. His name was Adolf Hitler and, together with his followers, he told Germans that there were enemies amongst them: Jews, Communists, Gypsies, everyone who was different or opposed his laws of racial intolerance. He was particularly cruel to the German Jews, taking away their employment, their homes and eventually their lives.
The Second World War of 1939–1945 in Europe came about as Hitler ruthlessly invaded country after country.
In each country he systematically rounded up Jewish populations and sent them to labour or extermination camps. In all, some six million Jews were murdered, many just children.
This time is known as the Holocaust.
My story is about Rachel, a child of the Holocaust, who survived those years in hiding.
WHERE DO STORIES come from? This story came from many sources. I have personal friends who were child survivors of the Holocaust. I have spoken to many about their experiences in hiding.
It is important to know that not all Germans agreed with Hitler’s racial policies. It’s also important to know that those who risked their lives throughout Europe to save others set us an example in standing up for human rights that we may never be able to match. We should honour such people in our thoughts and, by their actions, learn to show compassion to others.
This story is a mixture of fiction and fact. Hartfield House is fiction but such places did exist in England after the war for Jewish orphans. The historical events really did happen.
SOME SIX YEARS ago I became involved with a group called Courage to Care, an offshoot of a worldwide benevolent organisation called B’nai B’rith. In this group we go out to various locations throughout Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria and talk to children about the Holocaust, show exhibits and tell remarkable stories of survival.
We take along survivors who tell their stories and above all, pay tribute to those wonderful people who saved their lives. The aim of such a group is to bring awareness to young people of the need to use peripheral emotional vision in their journey through life.
We encourage them to avoid being bystanders, to fight wrongdoing at a grassroots level, which for them is often taking a stand against bullying in the playground. Later on in life it may become a defining moment of speaking out against social injustice.
A BOOK IS not just written by the author. It is a journey and many people need to be thanked for their guidance along the way.
Special thanks go to the amazing Dr Michael Abrahams-Sprod of the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at the University of Sydney, Historian, Linguist and Author, Specialist in German–Jewish History, Holocaust Studies and Jewish History. He gave up so much of his time to check the historical accuracy of events and time placement and I will forever be grateful.
I’d also like to thank Lisa Berryman, Children’s Publisher at HarperCollins, Lydia Papandrea, Senior Editor, and Liz Kemp, Assistant Editor. All that ‘gentle’ pushing to get the very most out of the story was invaluable.
Every author deserves a good literary agent, and I have the best—Jacinta di Mase, a wonderful agent and encouraging in a million different ways.
The following people helped me at various times—by giving interviews about their own experiences or offering advice. So many thanks to Lexie Keston, Litzi Lemberg, Vicki Israel and Eve Thassim and also to so many child survivors of the Holocaust who, by sharing their memories, helped enrich this story. Thanks also to Susanne Gervay. Vicki, a big hug to you for knitting the ‘world’s longest scarf’ for the launch of this book. Again, thank you to the librarian at Lingfield, England, for providing stories and information about the Lingfield children, refugees from the Holocaust, who stayed in a donated home for Jewish orphans after the war.
Copyright
Angus & Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in 2010
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Moya Simons 2010
The right of Moya Simons to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Simons, Moya, 1942–
Let me whisper you my story / Moya Simons.
ISBN: 978 0 7322 8858 7 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978 0 7304 5100 6 (epub)
For primary school age.
Hidden children (Holocaust)–Juvenile fiction.
Jewish children in the Holocaust–Juvenile fiction.
A823.3
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