Published in 2014 (first published 1998)
276 pages
Edith Velmans became a psychologist and eventually settled in the United States. In 1996 she was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. She has three daughters and five grandchildren, and lives in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Edith’s Story was shortlisted for the 1998 Jewish Quarterly Literary Prize for nonfiction in England.
What is this book about?
When Hitler invaded Holland in 1939, Edith van Hessen was a popular Dutch high school student. She also happened to be Jewish. In the same month that Anne Frank’s family went into hiding, Edith was sent to live with a courageous Protestant family, took a new name, and survived by posing as a gentile. Ultimately one-third of the hidden Dutch Jews were discovered and murdered; most of Edith’s family perished.
Velmans’s memoir is based on her teenage diaries, wartime letters, and reflections as an adult survivor. In recounting wartime events and the details of her feelings as the war runs its course, Edith’s Story ultimately affirms life, love, and extraordinary courage.
“The most vivid evocation of the experience of Nazi Occupation that I have ever read.” – The Independent (London)
