Review: Hidden Lives

Hidden Lives: Stories from Child Survivors of the Holocaust

Edited by Rachelle L. Goldstein and the Hidden Child Foundation/ADL

Second Story Press, 2025

Category: Young Adult

Reviewer: Kathryn Hall

 

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Hidden Lives is a nonfiction collection of almost sixty biographical excerpts and essays by and about Jewish children who survived separation from their parents during the Holocaust. Many of these were first published in The Hidden Child, a newsletter published by the Hidden Child Foundation/ADL. Each voice is different, but there are several common themes in the lives of these children. Those who were able to be reunited with family had difficulty reestablishing those relationships. Many were high achievers. Many eventually moved to the United States, Canada, or Israel. The stories were all written many decades after the war, each author looking back at a traumatic childhood from the perspective of old age. The brevity of the excerpts left me wanting to know more about each person, both before and after the Shoah. 

 

This book is suitable for adults and young adults who want to get an overview of the effect of the Holocaust on children. I would recommend pairing it with a book about a single family that gives a more complete and detailed story arc.

The Jewish representation in this book is integral to the stories which are the authentic voices of European Jews who survived the Holocaust as children through separation from their families and being hidden. The variety of experiences helps expand the reader's understanding.

 

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Reviewer Kathryn Hall is a retired pediatrician, lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, volunteer librarian for her synagogue and for her local LGBT+ center, and active in her local PFLAG chapter. She has a special interest in Jewish children's literature with LGBT+ content. She lives in Central California with her husband, the youngest of her three children, and two of her eight grandchildren.