A place where I'll post up some thoughts and ideas - especially on literature in education, children's literature in general, poetry, reading, writing, teaching and thoughts on current affairs.
Thursday, 16 January 2025
Books and a video I've made about my relatives and what happened to them in the Holocaust
'The Missing' (Walker Books) (Paperback) An autobiographical account of how I found out what happened to my relatives in the Holocaust. Suitable for children, teenagers and adults. (available in Portuguese) Contains documents, letters, photos.
'Please Write Soon (Scholastic). (Paperback) This is a fictionalised account of the lives of my father when he was a boy in London during WW2 and his cousin in Poland at the same time. It's written as letters between the two boys. The Polish boy goes through persecution, flight, and arrest by the Russians, joining the Polish Free Army and fighting at the Battle of Monte Cassino. This is suitable for 8 year olds upwards. Illustrated by Michael Foreman.
'On the Move' (Walker Books) (Paperback) This is a set of poems about growing up Jewish, finding out about my relatives in the Holocaust, and widening it out into questions of migration and persecution in general. (available in French as 'Prendre la Route'). Illustrated by Quentin Blake.
'One Day' (Walker Books). This an account of a group of French-Hungarian and French Jewish Communists in the Resistance who escaped from Convoy 62 on its way from Paris to Auschwitz. It's a true story. Convoy 62 was the transport that deported my father's uncle and aunt. (available in French and Italian). Illustrated by Benjamin Phillips.
Video: This is also called 'The Missing'. It's a 45 minute video I made for anyone of any age. It tells the story of 'The Missing' and 'On the Move' with documents, letters and photos.
It's on my YouTube Channel, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iR_GiyIJ6k
'So They Call You Pisher!' (Verso Books) - an autobiography for teens or adults, the last chapter of which is written as a letter to my father (who had died) telling him what I had found out about his relatives. Includes photos.