Hidden Pearl by J E Laufer

 

This is somewhere between a novel and a short story, telling the true story of the Author's own mother in law at the the of the second world war.


The family were Jewish, and having seen first hand the terrible things that were going on in their country of Poland, they decided that the only way to survive was to run away into the forest.

Living out in the forest for a prolonged period is not easy. Pearl had to run away without shoes and her feet are a mass of sores. Her many sisters and brothers needed to eat and her parents found feeding them very hard from what they could forage. As they were blonde and blue eyed, and looked Aryan, it was decided for them to hide in plain sight by pretending to be Catholic orphans, and work on various farms in return for their keep. Their parents were heartbroken at having to separate them but knew they would have to do it in order for them to survive.

Pearl was billeted by a very unpleasant woman who wanted her as in unpaid slave, and hated Jews, however the woman had a nice daughter and that together with visits from a friend and from her brother, made life bearable. Pearl had to do what she could to survive and that included pretending to be Catholic and going to church.

Pearl and some of her family were the lucky ones. They survived the war. Some of her family were found and shot. Other friends were taken off to concentration camps to experience unspeakable horrors and never to return.

I haven't read many books written by those who escaped the camps by hiding in plain sight before, and found it very interesting. It's well written and you see the life and times through Pearl's eyes. It is suitable for both young adults and adults. I highly recommend it.