HIDING EDITH

The recent inundation of Holocaust literature draws much on personal history; Edith’s story stands out for its child-eyed perspective recounted in an easily readable and intriguing narrative. In 1938, Edith and her family wisely leave their home in Vienna, escaping the pending Nazi occupation, keeping a step ahead of the persecution as they next move to Belgium and then France. When her father is finally arrested in Paris, her mother makes the difficult decision to send Edith and her younger brother away to a safety home for Jewish children in the southern countryside. Kacer’s clear-cut, poised description magnifies a child’s emotional turmoil as she copes with fear, separation from parents, loneliness, her hidden identity and her mistrust of strangers. Edith’s survival story also illustrates the benevolent attitude of the village’s non-Jewish French citizens, who willingly took part in a conspiracy to protect the children’s secret background. As unimaginable as it may seem for today’s youngsters to comprehend the experience Edith endured, Kacer has succeeded in allowing the young reader into the apprehensive and troubled mind of this child survivor. Another sensitive addition to the Holocaust Remembrance Series. (Biography. 8-11)