Escondidos como Anne Frank

by Marcel Prins, Peter Henk Steenhuis

Jaap Sitters tenía 8 años cuando su madre cortó la estrella de David de su ropa, y lo envió a que caminara casi 30 kilómetros a la casa de unos parientes que lo esconderían. Fue una noche aterradora que nunca olvidó, pero ése solo sería el comienzo. Jaap y otros trece sobrevivientes del Holocausto narran cómo fue vivir escondidos, como Anne Frank, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Todos compartieron el dolor de perder a su familia, sus hogares e incluso sus nombres, así como la suerte de ser protegidos por una red de personas valientes y una serie de coincidencias que, milagrosamente, salvaron sus vidas.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Holocaust, World War II, War, Historical, Biography

243 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

These personal narratives of Dutch Jewish children who survived in hiding during World War II is a powerful, sobering read. At the conclusion of the book, there's an array of photographs of the children, now elderly... their faces are so beautiful, and after reading their stories, all I can think is that growing old is such a privilege-- one that many of their friends and family members never attained. This book will stay with me.

[Jillyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that will stay with me long after I've read it. It's a combination of hopeful, sorrowful, and haunting that lingers on the mind, whether you'd like it to or not.

Hidden Like Anne Frank is a collection of fourteen stories of children who were forced to go into hiding in order to survive during World War II. Different ages, different genders, and different social classes are all represented. They're told in the first person: the survivors themselves are the ones telling you their stories. While they are all hopeful to a degree (after all, these are survival stories), these people went through so much devastation. It's heartbreaking to see that so many children needed to do this just to escape with their lives, losing so much more in the process.

This book is written at an easy-to-read level, making it a great book for young adults who are wanting to learn more about the war. Each foreign word (be it in German, Hebrew, Dutch, or otherwise) was italicized and explained so that there was no confusion about terminology. Each story is also paired with photographs of the children, the places they hid, and the areas where they came from. It was fascinating to see history through their eyes.

I also thought it was nice that at the end of the book, there's photographs of each of the survivors as they are today. The photographs make it seem all the more real.

I think this book is a good one to have as a middle school or high school teacher to offer students who were interested in Anne Frank's diary. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in reading about World War II or the Holocaust. It's emotional but well done, and leaves you a bit in awe of just what some people have to do in order to survive.

Thank you to Scholastic who provided me with a copy in exchange for my honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.

[Cmrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard not to be affected by an incredible collection like this. Hidden Like Anne Frank contains 14 stories from survivors of WWII, along with amazing historical photographs that give the reader a better glimpse into each personal story. Some of these individuals were separated from parents and other family members for years, moved from home to home dozens of times, hidden in orphanages, attics, lofts, closets, stairwells, (occasionally even trash cans!), and every other place imaginable. Many of those hiding were very young children who had to be incredibly brave and quiet in their hiding places while German soldiers searched the entire home. Although many families that housed those in hiding were wonderful and kind, children were sometimes moved to homes of very cruel or strict families and were abused. The most difficult stories are those in which children were not ever really able to reconcile with their parents after being reunited, because the pain of abandonment could not be fully resolved, even though parents had the best of intentions when they made their decisions. Even decades later, older adults who had been in hiding during WWII continue to worry about the need to escape, because the trauma of being hidden for so long is not something that ever really goes away. Many other difficulties also came after the war, such as trying to rebuild and start over, and learning of loved ones who had been killed. Yet there were also some amazing stories of unexpected reunions!

Hidden Like Anne Frank is definitely a wonderful addition to a school library, and one that will give students a much better perspective on true stories of suffering and courage during WWII.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had to pick just a few words to describe this Holocaust collection, I would choose the words honest and haunting. Hidden Like Anne Frank is a collection of fourteen true stories of survival. All of these stories are set in the Netherlands during World War II. All focus on children (or teenagers) who hid from the Nazis. Anne Frank is perhaps the most famous hidden child from the war, but unlike Anne Frank, these are the survivor stories, the so-called happy-ending holocaust stories. Before I read the book, I would have considered the fact that they survived through the war enough to make it a happy ending. What I learned was that was not always the case.

What followed was years of tears. A whole lifetime. That war will not be over until I take my last breath. (211, Donald de Marcas)

The fourteen: Rita Degen, Jaap Sitters, Bloeme Emden, Jack Eljon, Rosemary Kahn, Lies Elion, Maurice Meijer, Sieny Kattenburg, Leni de Vries, Benjamin Kosses, Michael Goldsteen, Lowina de Levie, Johan Sanders, and Donald de Marcas.

I liked the fact that these were individual stories. Each writer, each survivor, has their own voice, their own story, their own message. No two stories really read alike. This is as it should be. Readers catch glimpses of what life was like before, during, and after the war.

I found Hidden Like Anne Frank was a book I had to read very slowly. To read more than two or three stories at a time proved too much. This one is not a light read. It is compelling and honest and important. But it is not easy.

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Hidden Like Anne Frank” is a very eye-opening book about what it was like to go into hiding during World War II. There are fourteen different accounts from Jewish children narrating their own experience from the war. The story includes actual photos of the characters in the story as well. This story can be emotional for some people and really shows what Central Europe was like during World War II. There isn’t one set setting because the stories are from a multitude of people, but in general the story is set in Central Europe (Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Germany) during the 1940’s. If you enjoy historical documentaries or have interest in World War II I would definitely recommend this book to you.

[IzamaRi H. Fabela · Rating 5 out of 5]

RESEÑA COMPLETA ➜ 

Ya sé que siempre lo menciono cada que reseño un libro de esta temática pero de verdad disfruto mucho leyendo libros ambientados en la Alemania Nazi y lo hago al doble si la historia fue un hecho real, como en el caso de este libro que nos cuenta catorce historias de sobrevivencia de niños de todas las edades que tuvieron que dejar todo en sus vidas para esconderse de los alemanes.
Yo tenía cinco años y no entendía claramente qué significaba ser judío, pero intuía que había algo malo en ellos.
Todos conocemos el caso de la familia Frank gracias al diario de Anne, en donde nos contó cómo fue vivir escondidos mientras los alemanes arrasaban con los judíos, pero Anne y su familia no fueron los únicos que tuvieron que esconderse pues cuanto más poder iba ganando Hitler, más peligroso era para los judíos ya que primero ordenó que fueran agrupados en guetos donde prácticamente vivían en la miseria, después vinieron los trabajos forzados hasta que finalmente fueron enviados a campos de trabajo donde su destino final era el exterminio. La gente al inicio no sabía a ciencia cierta que pasaban en estos campos pero se escuchaban rumores, así que fueron muchas las familias que decidieron esconderse. Cosa que no fue realmente fácil pues no todos tuvieron la misma suerte que la familia Frank de permanecer unidos sino que hubo muchas familias que tuvieron que separarse, madres y padres que tuvieron que dejar a sus pequeños hijos para salvarles la vida.

Es precisamente en esos pequeños en los que se enfoca este libro. Aquí conoceremos a catorce niños de distintas edades quienes nos relatan cómo fue en el momento en que se dieron cuenta de lo peligroso que era ser judío sólo porque una persona lo dictaminaba así. Ellos nos cuentan cómo fue ser marcados prácticamente como ganado con la estrella amarilla que se les imponía llevar de manera visible en la ropa y como más tarde fue que tuvieron que esconderse. Algunos de los chicos tuvieron suerte y pudieron permanecer en el mismo escondite durante toda la ocupación pero hubo quienes tuvieron más de cuarenta escondites.
Dichos escondites eran asignados por gente de la rebelión que durante toda la invasión expusieron su vida para ayudar a estas familias judías, pero aunque su principal motivación era la de salvar vidas, no todos los escondites que encontraban eran buenos pues muchas veces la gente solo aceptaba a un niño judío por los cupones de racionamiento que venían con él y poco les importaba la comodidad o seguridad de su protegido. Pero así mismo, había también personas que arriesgaban su propia seguridad por salvaguardar a su protegido.


Es decir, que en este libro encontraremos historias desgarradoras donde veremos las consecuencias de la guerra y el haber tenido que permanecer escondidos, por ejemplo, un hecho muy recurrente en las historias de este libro es que los niños eran tan pequeños cuando fueron separados de su familia que tras la liberación los hijos no reconocían a sus madres. Pero también tendremos historias esperanzadoras, como la de aquellos que arriesgaban todo para proteger a quienes más lo necesitan pese a que la guerra también trajo consecuencias para todos.
Por primera vez me di cuenta de que la gente consideraba que los judíos eran diferentes, fue la guerra la que me hizo judío.
Una de las preguntas que más me hacen es porque disfruto leer esta clase de libro y tras mucho pensarlo creo que la respuesta es la esperanza. Quiero decir, todos los libros ambientados en la Alemania Nazi siempre son historias desgarradoras pero pese a ese oscuro tiempo la humanidad ha logrado salir adelante porque siempre hay gente dispuesta ayudar a otro sin esperar nada a cambio y para mayor ejemplo está este libro.

[Hannah Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful stories! Made me want to give my children an extra cuddle.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are fourteen true stories of survival from WWII in this novel, some of the stories are from individuals who were only three-years old at the time of this horrific event and others were teenagers, nevertheless they are all true accounts of survivors. I was amazed at the similarities of the stories; it seemed that most of the survivors were passed along to their relatives multiple times and that their names were changed often. Some individuals were shuffled around so frequently I almost forgot what their birth names were and they themselves were reluctant to say it even when liberation was at their front door. I was surprised at the tone of this book as there wasn’t much emotion, scary or traumatizing details in the stories. The narratives gave the facts, remarkable portrayal of facts of what occurred in their lives as the Nazi’s invaded their lives. Some of the stories that I especially enjoyed was reading about a gentlemen who was bitter towards his parents for abandoning him when he was a child. His parents sent him off into hiding at a young age to save him and after reuniting with him after the liberation, he just couldn’t see past this resentment. I found this amazing. Even after all the stories that he has heard about the war, he still harbors these feelings towards his parents when all his parents were trying to do was to provide him a future. Then there was the story of Sieny who worked in the kindergarten which cared for newborns through older children. This was the holding area for the children who were on the way to the concentration camps while their parents were in a different area, as the children made too much noise for the soldiers. Sieny worked to move the children out secretly with the parents as the parents would not register all their children in the kindergarten. Sieny secretly talked to the parents about when they would be leaving the holding area and whether they would like to take their children with them. Sieny knew ahead of time when this time would come. Using baby dolls they could also fool the soldiers. Sieny and other individuals working alongside her saved many children. The means these individuals used to save these children while putting their own lives on the line was truly spectacular.

[Mel Raschke · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a website that goes with this book it is www.hiddenlikeannefrank.com. You can hear the actual clip of the people talking, whose stories are in this book. There is a map at the beginning of each story that marks where each person hid. There is also an interactive map on the website that when you click on the dots you hear the person talking. This is one of those books that will stay with me long after I've read it. It's a combination of hopeful, sorrowful, and haunting that lingers on the mind, whether you'd like it to or not. This book is a collection of fourteen stories of children who were forced to go into hiding in order to survive during World War II. Different ages, different genders, and different social classes are all represented. Different ages, different genders, and different social classes are all represented. They're told in the first person: the survivors themselves are the ones telling you their stories. While they are all hopeful to a degree (after all, these are survival stories), these people went through so much devastation. It's heartbreaking to see that so many children needed to do this just to escape with their lives, losing so much more in the process.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hidden- This book tells 14 true thrilling stories of survival. These stories are unforgettable. This book has children hiding during World War Two. These kids would stare, freeze, and have to keep up with beatings but they would survive. This is a collection of opening first person accounts, they share what it was like to go into hiding, seeing their loved ones picked up in Nazi raids or never seeing them again after the war. Some would live in poor conditions, some were luckier then others though. These kids were three, four years old, teenagers, and even adults, but they all went through the same thing the pain of losing their homes families, loved ones, even their own names. These kids, teens, and adults were brave. I recommend this book, it's exciting, sad, and unforgettable.

[Hannah Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers some very interesting insight into yet another aspect of the Second World War.
Inside this book are 14 stories of people who were, like Anne Frank, put into hiding to escape the Nazis.

Along with photos of each victim and the locations where they hid, a cool feature that I loved was the photos in the back of the book of the hidden children now, as elderly survivors.
It's pretty amazing!

I enjoyed the junior non-fiction piece of writing and would recommend to anyone interested in anything WW2.

[Maria Graciano]

i think i’m gonna leave this one without a rating because who am i to rate someone’s life stories? this was such a powerful book about people doing whatever it takes to save themselves and others from the nazi regime. i think everyone should read a book like this sometime in their life.

[Pumkin pie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! I enjoyed it. It was interesting how many stories there were and how each of them differed. I liked how short but informative they all were. It did sometimes get a bit confusing about who's telling the story, but like I said, I enjoyed it very much. I recommend this book to everyone 10 and up for mature references.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found on A Thousand Lives Lived, check it out for more reviews!

*3.5 star rating*

Books about the war scar me. I mean, the stories are so heart-breaking that I'm unable to stand anything any longer. Books about young children who went in hiding are so sad and this story contained 14 STORIES THAT GOT ME CRYING. Okay, I didn't really cry, but all of my feels were exploding all over the place and I was unable to deal with anything in my life any longer.

When you think about it, this book was a hit. I was overwhelmed with all of the stories, and I was so obsessed with reading on, meeting another character and try to relate to their stories although it absolutely shatters my heart completely. Prins did do a fantastic job on trying to get readers to enjoy the flaws and put themselves in the victims' shoes. It was real to the extreme.



AND YES, IT WAS REAL LIFE. NON-FICTION, GUYS! At the back of the book, you get to see photos of how the victims actually look today, and it warms my heart. They are such important people who have changed the world. The genre was gorgeous and perfect, right to the point. I keep wondering if some things were changed to look different or not, though these were real survival stories that I wouldn't change my experience of reading them for anything else.

This was powerful, it was something memorable. The plot of these stories were a little slow at times, depending on which story I was reading, but it had been a very raw bunch of stories that carried different situations and themes each time, like friendship, survival, abuse and family. And this was a quick read that left me hanging.

I guess from the moment the first story with Jaap began, I was addicted. I don't have a favourite story, and as it's been a while since I finished reading, I can't really remember what had happened in each, though it was truly something invisible to an average person's knowledge of the war and its feelings and events that scarred people.



After reading, I'm left wanting more and researching about the war and other survival stories. I just can't get enough of the subject that it's getting to an obsession that I'm unable to wait for anything else any longer. The stories here are REAL, and nothing's made up, which gives you a larger and broader imagination to want to know what's happening. Go for it, because it's not a read like any other.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put off reading this as I did not want a downer. I had to read it over several weeks – one story a week or so was enough for me!
I was most surprised by the change of the relationships with many parents after the war ended. Perhaps we imagine a ‘happy ever after’ once the war ends. How often do we think about or read about their later lives and how these experiences affected them? This describes how some children resented their parents’ decisions to separate the family, and had difficulty forgiving after the war. These stories only describe their experiences during hiding. Showing the photos of “The Children Today” makes me wonder about their later lives as teens, adults, and how they chose occupations. We are so fascinated with the stories of hiding, we forget it was just a few years of their lives, and they had many other experiences in later years.
The short sentence structure will make this accessible to middle elementary who want more stories “…Like Anne Frank.” I appreciate that the author put the definitions of unfamiliar words on the bottom of each page as well as in a glossary.

[Nellie 🌺 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of 14 short memoirs of Dutch Holocaust survivors is excellent. It includes pictures of each survivor from their childhood and pictures of them now. All but one is still living, I believe. There is a website that serves as a companion to the book that includes video clips, I believe, of the survivors speaking.

This book is very engaging for middle schoolers as The Diary of Anne Frank can be a bit of a hard read for the younger crowd. Plus, the memoirs are short and generally filled with action as most of the people in hiding moved locations frequently with the help of the Resistance. Some had more than 30 hiding places over the course of the war. It was also not overly disturbing or nightmare-inducing as so many holocaust memoirs can understandably be.

I'd recommend this book to middle schoolers (and older) who are curious about the Holocaust and eager to learn more but aren't ready for the reality of the horrific evil done to the Jews (and others) at the hands of the Nazis.

[Naaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a powerful, hard-hitting collection of short recounts of people who were hidden away as children during WW2. The daily uncertainty and fear that they lived with as well as the trauma at being separated from their families was sobering and I cannot imagine what it must have been like for some of these children to know that they were never going to see their mother or father again - or any other family member for that matter. It felt as though you were sitting down with each of these people, just asking them to tell you about life was like at that point in their lives. The writing was simple and accessible, which made the stories more authentic somehow.

I did think some of the stories ended a bit abruptly, almost as though in the middle of a thought and was often surprised to see that the next page was going to be the start of a new one. Overall, I think some of the stories could have been a page or two longer but this was still a great collection of short recounts that I would highly recommend.

[Ann Woodbury Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This young adult title gives the true accounts of 14 Dutch children and teens, all Jewish, who went into hiding during World War II. Unlike Anne Frank and her family--who were well prepared and able to stay in the same place with the entire family--most of these youth were separated from parents and siblings and many moved frequently, from spot to spot, depending on safety, informants and curious neighbors, and how well they fit in physically (those who "looked" Jewish generally had more difficulty than those who could easily pass as Dutch). One hid in more than 42 different places! Some of the youth had very positive experiences and retained strong relationships with their foster families long after the War. Others were treated badly or indifferently. "Hidden Like Anne Frank" is short, thought-provoking, and moving, and would be an excellent choice to share with older elementary school students and those in middle school.

[Nya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hidden Like Anne Frank has 14 different little stories in it. I love how it talked about more than one person in the whole book because then it was like showing me the different things each person had to do! I recommend this book if you like learning about what happened during the wars/Germans invading. I love reading about these so this was one of my favorite books by far!!! It was so detailed and scary. At the end of the book it told you when the people died and it had their picture. i liked how it had their picture so it should me who this person was that I was reading about!! I think you should definitely read this book!!!


These are based on true stories!

Level X

[Betsy Brainerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are the stories of Jewish children who were hidden in the Netherlands during WWII. The difference between them and Anne Frank is that they survived. I was totally engrossed; read the book in one sitting. It is a YA book, but written at an easy reading level so suitable for upper elementary as well. I would have liked a little more detail about what each person did with their lives. Some of the snippets offered glimpses that made it clear that just surviving did not guarantee a happy ever after. The war years scarred many of them for life.

[Lauren Small · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was full of powerful stories from Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. They survived by hiding just like Anne Frank's family. Each person had a very different take on and experience with the war. I loved reading this book and took every chance I had to read it because of how thrilling and gripping the stories were. I was hooked on each plot line, especially because they were true stories. This book has great content and is very easy to understand. Hidden Like Anne Frank was well put together and was a quick read because of how intriguing the tales were.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fabulous resource for students who are studying the holocaust. It has stories of 15 different Jewish people who were children in the Netherlands during WWII and who were hidden from the Nazis so that they would not be killed. The book has photographs and maps and the accompanying website has stories told by the people from the book. This is the website http://www.hiddenlikeannefrank.com/ab... . I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

[Ricki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a powerful collection of fourteen true stories of children who were hidden during the Holocaust. This book dispels the myth that all children who were hidden had lives like Anne Frank. I thought I knew a lot about the Holocaust, but I learned so much from this title. It is a phenomenal resource for teachers. They might even choose a few stories to share with students.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a series of true stories about children who hid in Holland during the war. They are transcripts from interviews. While the stories are interesting, listening to the transcripts would probably be much better.

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stories, horribly written!

[Donnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart goes out to the Suri ors, the lost and the brave. Of those who both hid and helped to hide.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een best goed boek over verschillende onderduikkinderen die in Nederland waren ondergedoken en wat zij allemaal hebben meegemaakt. We lezen over hoe alles mis ging in het land, in hun leven, waarom ze moesten vluchten, waar ze verstopt hebben gezeten en hoe dat nou was, en aan het einde komen we te weet of alles is goed gekomen na de oorlog (familie, reünie, bevrijding). Ik vond het ook wel leuk/fijn/ik weet even het goede woord niet wat hier bij past dat er een hele range van leeftijden was. We hebben heel jong tot al tieners. Het was goed geschreven. Ik vond alleen de kleine plaatjes naast het verhaal afleidend, en ik had liever aan het einde een woordenlijst gezien dan dat we door het verhaal heen woorden werden uitgelegd (wat voornamelijk aan het begin was wat wel erg apart was).
Maar verder zou ik deze aanraden.

[Leah]

I feel uncomfortable putting a rating on this book as it is true stories but I will say that this was a very heart breaking read.

[Marieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessant om ook eens andere verhalen te lezen. De creche staat ook nog op mijn TBR. Die wordt in dit boek ook meerdere keren benoemd.

[Clarabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

While technically a kids book about kids, it is certainly a worthy read for adults. It contains 14 true stories about children in hiding during WWII. This is an amazing book and I highly recommend it!