What do you think?
Rate this book
Never Forget: Six extraordinary World War II stories of courage, survival and hope, told by the people who lived them
"The stories have amazing plots, dramatic changes of fortune, crisis, conflict and resolution, accompanied by persistent threat." IAN LATHAM, HISTORIAN
"I devoured it in one sitting. Such a wonderfully written collection of peoples' experiences. It really got under the skin of each of them." TONY WRIGHT, NZ FILMMAKER/PRODUCER
Gripping and intimate true WWII stories of bravery, resistance, and survival against the odds.
In September 1939, a Polish family is ripped from their happy home life in the dead of night by Russian soldiers, and sent to a forced labour camp in Siberia, where they are never expected to survive. When their parents die of typhoid, the six orphaned children find themelves in a battle for their lives.
In occupied Rotterdam, a young girl unwittingly becomes a courier for the Resistance, delivering secret messages across the city, right under the noses of the German soldiers who have taken over her father's farm. It wasn't until after the war that she learned just how perilous those visits to Chris, the local barber, really were.
A skilled New Zealand Air Force navigator is almost 100 years old before he tells his family about the deadly missions he flew during WWII with one of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's top secret Special Operations Executive RAF squadrons, dropping many of the war's most renowned agents, and supplies, behind enemy lines.
A young boy's privileged colonial life in the Dutch East Indies is lost forever under the Japanese occupation, when his father is sent to the infamous Pekanbaru Death Railway. The family flees with little more than they can carry, and concentrate on their own survival, as they wait to learn the father's fate.
A New Zealand soldier dodges death during four years of relentless action on the battlefields of Europe. He returns home with just one tiny nick to his ear, but after fighting in some of the fiercest battles of the war, his emotional wounds are more difficult to heal.
A young boy leads a tough wartime childhood in the slums of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, brought up by a single mother, who barely supervises her three young boys. The boy becomes part of a destructive street gang, and is later rounded up by the authorities and sent to Australia as a child migrant.
These compelling, epic stories in Never Forget highlight the massive impact of war on the average citizen. Children witness atrocities they should never see. Families are forced to leave their homes forever, or live alongside the enemy on their own land. Children lose fathers and brothers to prisoner-of-war camps. Food is scarce and they face crippling hunger. The emotional toll on the servicemen is hard for them to bear.
Many people who lived through World War II were unable to speak about what they experienced or witnessed, as the memories were too painful. Others, later in life, like the people in Never Forget , found it cathartic to tell their stories.
While these wartime reflections are often painful, the stories are inspirational too. They honour the inner strength, incredible will to survive, and hope these people were able to summons in the face of incredible odds, and their gratitude for the bright future they were able to forge in the post-war years.
Quotes from the
"Marie pulled me to the ground and told me not to look, but I did. I saw the SS man lying there dead, and the man who had shot him jump off his bike, pull off his coat and gloves, and disappear into the crowd."
Eva de Konning, child of war in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
"Lots of people died, and the hospital crawled with lice and vermin. The bedding was changed every two months, and the hospital wards were freezing. Mama and I remained together on one bed, covered with a single blanket."
Polish girl, Jozefa Węgrzyn, sick with typhoid in Uzbekistan
"I devoured it in one sitting. Such a wonderfully written collection of peoples' experiences. It really got under the skin of each of them." TONY WRIGHT, NZ FILMMAKER/PRODUCER
Gripping and intimate true WWII stories of bravery, resistance, and survival against the odds.
In September 1939, a Polish family is ripped from their happy home life in the dead of night by Russian soldiers, and sent to a forced labour camp in Siberia, where they are never expected to survive. When their parents die of typhoid, the six orphaned children find themelves in a battle for their lives.
In occupied Rotterdam, a young girl unwittingly becomes a courier for the Resistance, delivering secret messages across the city, right under the noses of the German soldiers who have taken over her father's farm. It wasn't until after the war that she learned just how perilous those visits to Chris, the local barber, really were.
A skilled New Zealand Air Force navigator is almost 100 years old before he tells his family about the deadly missions he flew during WWII with one of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's top secret Special Operations Executive RAF squadrons, dropping many of the war's most renowned agents, and supplies, behind enemy lines.
A young boy's privileged colonial life in the Dutch East Indies is lost forever under the Japanese occupation, when his father is sent to the infamous Pekanbaru Death Railway. The family flees with little more than they can carry, and concentrate on their own survival, as they wait to learn the father's fate.
A New Zealand soldier dodges death during four years of relentless action on the battlefields of Europe. He returns home with just one tiny nick to his ear, but after fighting in some of the fiercest battles of the war, his emotional wounds are more difficult to heal.
A young boy leads a tough wartime childhood in the slums of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, brought up by a single mother, who barely supervises her three young boys. The boy becomes part of a destructive street gang, and is later rounded up by the authorities and sent to Australia as a child migrant.
These compelling, epic stories in Never Forget highlight the massive impact of war on the average citizen. Children witness atrocities they should never see. Families are forced to leave their homes forever, or live alongside the enemy on their own land. Children lose fathers and brothers to prisoner-of-war camps. Food is scarce and they face crippling hunger. The emotional toll on the servicemen is hard for them to bear.
Many people who lived through World War II were unable to speak about what they experienced or witnessed, as the memories were too painful. Others, later in life, like the people in Never Forget , found it cathartic to tell their stories.
While these wartime reflections are often painful, the stories are inspirational too. They honour the inner strength, incredible will to survive, and hope these people were able to summons in the face of incredible odds, and their gratitude for the bright future they were able to forge in the post-war years.
Quotes from the
"Marie pulled me to the ground and told me not to look, but I did. I saw the SS man lying there dead, and the man who had shot him jump off his bike, pull off his coat and gloves, and disappear into the crowd."
Eva de Konning, child of war in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
"Lots of people died, and the hospital crawled with lice and vermin. The bedding was changed every two months, and the hospital wards were freezing. Mama and I remained together on one bed, covered with a single blanket."
Polish girl, Jozefa Węgrzyn, sick with typhoid in Uzbekistan
276 pages, Paperback
Published February 7, 2022
44 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 19, 2020
This is a collection of 6 stories told from different points of view through WW2. I believe all these stories and stories like them have a place and are important lest we forget our history. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to hear different points of view and how this war effected everyone - even those who weren't on the front lines. I normally am drawn in to stories like this, however, this one just didn't do that for me. The stories are definitely worth reading especially if you love history.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
July 15, 2020
The author does a fantastic job of helping to preserve several heartwrenchingly real personal accounts of what it was like to endure World War II. You will find yourself transported from one continent to another as each of her subjects relays what they, or their families endured both during and post war. While these stories are not for the faint of heart, I do recommend this book; As those who do not remember the past are bound to repeat it.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
June 30, 2023
This book gave me information about a friend I have grandmother’s. It is Story No 5- this info is so I can always find the book in my reading list
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews