Born in the Netherlands at a time when girls are to be housewives and mothers and nothing else, Hendrika de Vries is a “daddy’s girl” until her father is deported from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to a POW camp in Germany and her mother joins the Resistance. In the aftermath of her father’s departure, Hendrika watches as freedoms formerly taken for granted are eroded with escalating brutality by men … men with swastika armbands who aim to exterminate those they deem “inferior” and those who do not obey.
As time goes on, Hendrika absorbs her mother’s strength and faith, and learns about moral choice and forced silence. She sees her hidden Jewish “stepsister” betrayed, and her mother interrogated at gunpoint. She and her mother suffer near starvation, and they narrowly escape death on the day of liberation. But they survive it all—and through these harrowing experiences, Hendrika discovers the woman she wants to become.
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This memoir of life in Amsterdam during World War II and Nazi occupation is a captivating story of courage, family, resilience, community, and integrity. And it’s skillfully and beautifully told. Hendrika de Vries is a gifted writer and a tremendous storyteller. I was often wiping away tears as I savored the poignancy of interactions, or on the edge of my chair waiting to see what comes next. The story is seamlessly told from the perspective of the author as a young child living through unspeakable times, and from the woman and therapist who, decades later, reflects back on what it all means and how it contributed to the woman she became. It is also a powerful reminder that the sins of the past still threaten us. A beautiful book that will stay with me for a long time.
WWII impacted so many people’s lives. Showing how people fought cruelty and hatred with courage and love gives hope for the future of our world today.
It told the story of a young child during the German occupation during WWII. The toy dog had special meaning – a thread that remained throughout. It was interesting from the historical aspect as well as the strength of people in desperate circumstances who willed themselves to keep up the hope and effort to survive – for another day.
I have read widely about the Holocaust and how innocent people suffered privation and indescribable cruelty at the hands of the Nazis. Here the story revolves around a young Netherlands girl and her mother who hide a Jewish girl and are found out. The Netherlands father was taken away to a work camp. The story revolves around starvation and other pain, and when the father returns after liberation , problems of a different nature rear their ugly heads. This book goes beyond the Holocaust itself and delves into the aftermath of lives, families, and neighborhoods torn asunder . How can the father survive when he sees his wife and daughter reduced to pale skeletons? What happens when a new baby is conceived in a family once destroyed by the war? This book shows yet another level of pain and yet gives another level of hope, to those treated so cruelly in so many ways. However dim is that flicker of hope, love can nurture it and help it grow, one molecule at a time. A good read.
One of those books that will stir your anger about the Nazis.
This is the best book I have read in years. I don’t say you should read this book, I say you MUST read this book for many many reasons
It gave great insight into the horrors the prisoners suffered at the hands of the Nazi’s. These stories were related to the author but some of the survivors of the first 1,000 women to be sent to the camps
Very informative and interesting. Unequal perspective. Didn’t sugar coat that just because war was over, problems didn’t just disappear.
Beautiful insight into the real-life experience of WWII in Denmark.
This is a very unusual book following a life-long and often unreciprocated love. At times I thought about not finishing, but the characters were compelling enough to keep me reading until the end. I’m glad I did because the book made me think.