The Hidden Girl
by Lola Rein Kaufman and Lois Metzger
This is a nice short story written in retrospect from an adult looking back to what she endured as she hid from the Germans in Poland. Lola looks back into a childhood, which began pretty idyllic in a Polish town. Shortly after her mother is killed she is sent to a Ukrainian women for safe keeping by her Grandmother. She stays in the countryside for a short time until the women is threatened by her son. He wants to hand over Lola to the German Police. Lola is then shipped off to another family where she is kept in a hole under the cellar and fed through a door. She is hiding with 3 other people, and they are not allowed to talk or move. They do not want Lola there and are very dismissive of her as a young child. When Germany is liberated, Lola is forced to remain with the family, since no one is left that is able to keep her. She is forced out to begin the march into Russia and finally meets up with somebody who recognizes her and is willing to help. She eventually is reunited with an uncle and they make the laborious trek to the United States.
Lola grows up and looses her childhood due to World War II. She clutches her memories to her and does not share the horrors that she endured, like the dress that she keeps. The last thing that her mother made her before she was killed. Finally, she is encouraged to meet up with other hidden children and begins to tell of her story. One person, becomes very interested and the restult is "The Hidden Girl." Lola eventually, is willing to give her beautifully embroidered dress to a museum, so that the memory will live on.
Although, this was a short read, it initially left me wanting more. I wanted more detail, I wanted to smell the dirt in the barn. Not until the end when I realized that this was a story going back in time from a memory, that I realized that over time some of the details would have faded. I ended up enjoying the story and would encourage anyone over 4th grade to grab a copy.
Links
Hidden children of the Holocaust. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006123
The Holocaust in Poland: http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/09/poland.asp
World War II: http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii
Lois Metzger: http://www.amazon.com/Lois-Metzger/e/B001HMLK6S
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