The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

I usually think of Sharon Cameron as a writer of science fiction not historical fiction, but she has really outdone herself with The Light in Hidden Places. It is a fictional account of the life of Stefania "Fusia" Podgorska and her yonger sister Helena who were ultimately named as Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem for hiding and saving the lives of 13 Jews during the Holocaust. 

At age 12, Fusia decides to leave her family's farm to live with the Diamants, a Jewish family that runs a grocery store in Przemsyl, Poland. Welcomed into the family, Fusia lives there for 3 happy years, during which a secret attraction developes between Catholic Fusia and Jewish Izio Diamant. But in September 1939, Poland is attacked and invaded by the Nazis and life changes for everyone. 

In April 1942, the Diamants are forced to move into the Przemsyl ghetto. Fusia is tasked with helping them survive by bringing what she could sneak in by squeezing through the fence. But then she learns that the Nazis have killed Izio, Grieving, Fusia decides to go back to the family farm. There she finds everyone gone, except her 6-year-old sister Helena, whom she brings back to Przemsyl with her. 

One night, in November 1942, Max Diamant shows up at Fusia's door and asks to stay the night. His parents and some of his siblings had already been rounded up in a Aktion, and sent to their deaths and he and his brother have escaped the ghetto. When they decide to stay with Fusia and Helena, Fusia realizes she needs a larger place for hiding them. She finds a small cottage and before she knows it, Fusia is hiding 13 Jews in it. Then, the Nazis build a hospital across the street and move three nurses into the cottage, as well. Fusia begins to panic, but the nurse only stay seven months. 

Fusia's story held me spellbound from start to finish. I kept thinking what a brave young woman she was to take the kinds of risks she continually chose to take for the family that had shown her so much more love and kindness than her own family had, spending her pay to by food for everyone, and risking death if caught. The novel reads like a taut drama, filled with tense moments and events throughout. Then I remember much of what I'm reading really happened.

Cameron's research for this story is impeccable. Through interviews, research trips to Poland and Stefania's own unpublished memoir, Cameron has woven together a coherent, reality-based Holocaust narrative. She includes extensive back matter, including photos and information about what happened to the Jews Fusia hid after the war ended and they were liberated.  

This book was gratefully received from Edelweiss+  

Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued by Peter Sís

Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and 

the Children He Rescued

written and illustrated by Peter Sís

Norton Young Readers, 2021, 64 pages

Available January 26, 2021

I remember reading about Nicholas "Nicky" Winton (1909-2015) while I was doing some dissertation research on Czechoslovakia. Nicholas is credited with saving 669 children in 1938, separate and apart from those children saved through the Kindertransport program. Now, Nicholas's act of heroism has been made accessible to today's young readers, thanks by the very talented Czech-born American artist Peter Sís.

Sís begins Nicky's story with a brief biography of Nicky's early life. Then, in  December 1938, a friend of Nicky's told him to come to Prague, Czechoslovakia. Earlier, in October 1938, Adolf Hitler's army had marched into the Sudetenland on the Czechoslovakian border. As soon as he arrived in Prague, Nicky realized that something had to be done. The world would soon be at war, but he knew that England would accept children under 17 if sponsors could be found for them and travel could be arranged, and so he set to work.

In a town outside of Prague, 10-year-old Vera Diamantova's mother heard about an Englishman who was trying to get Jewish children out of harm's way, and her parents decided to see if Vera could be one of those children.

Nicky spent most of 1939 in Prague and London preparing everything that was needed to get the children out of Czechoslovakia - making lists and getting photographs of the children, finding train connections, getting visas and advertising for families to take them in. Nicky paid for all of this himself. 

Meanwhile, in March, 1939, Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia, and Vera's family were told they must give up their home to the occupying German army. Finally, though, the day came for Vera to leave, and her father gave her a diary to record memories so they could read them after the war. Three days later, Vera arrived safely in London, one of the 669 children Nicky rescued.

After the war, Nicky lived a quiet life and no one would have learned about his act of heroism if his wife had not found his old records. Now, the world knows what this quiet, kind, unassuming man managed to accomplish against all odds. Sadly, when Vera returned to Czechoslovakia, she learned her parents and most of her family had perished in the Holocaust. 

Although I knew Nicky's story, there are lots of details I hadn't known before in this beautifully render picture book biography for older readers. And I loved the way Peter Sís intertwined Nicky's story with Vera's making it more personal and emotional, sensitive without being sentimental. 

Sís tells Nicky and Vera's stories using spare text and simple declarative sentences. Using stylized maps (see illustration above), cutaways, and color, the illustrations really moves the story along, providing a multitude of images to pour over and discuss. I'm sure you will notice immediately that blue is the dominant color for Vera, while a light green is used for Nicky, and gray for the Nazis. Two of my favorite illustrations show the readers the internal memories that are carried by Nicky after the war (above) and Vera arriving in London. I found this to be exceptionally moving and poignant.

Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued in a compelling look at these to lives. If you read the Author's Note, you will learn how and what motivated Peter Sís to write Nicky and Vera's stories. 

This book is recommended for readers age 7+

This book was gratefully received from Edelweiss+