Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories
Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories allows
readers to understand the war not as seen through the eyes of
soldiers but through the eyes of children who survived the
bombings, the blackouts, the hunger, the fear, and the loss of
loved ones caused by the war. The author shares her own
recollections of being able to see the faces of Japanese pilots as
they headed for the naval base at Pearl Harbor to drop their deadly
bombs on unsuspecting American ships and soldiers, then shares her
feelings at having to leave her father behind as the rest of the
family is evacuated to the U.S. mainland.
A few days later, in the Philippines, the family of a young British
girl is forced to turn their house over to the invading Japanese
Army and move to a detention center where breakfast is a watery
mush made with coconut milk; lunch is slimy spinach; and dinner a
thin black soup. But at least she has food and shelter.
Twelve-year-old Eiko Arai, of Tokyo, is not so fortunate. When the
American B-29 bombers began around-the-clock bombing, fires circle
the city destroying everything in their paths. She and her mother
have to step over charred bodies to get to the train station, where
she becomes separated from her mother. If it had not been for a
stranger yanking her on board a moving train, she would have been
left behind, alone.
Meanwhile in Germany, 14-year-old Hedi Wachenheimer goes to school
one day only to be sent home with the words "dirty Jew"
ringing in her ears. Worse yet, she finds her home locked and empty
and learns that her father and uncle have been taken away by the
Nazis. She eventually flees to England to live out the war never
knowing the fate of her parents.Lilly Lebovitz escapes the gas
chamber by pinching her cheeks to make herself look healthy. She
spends the war in a slave labor camp, but at least she
survives.
For Fred Losch, proud member of the Hitler Youth, the war ends in a
ditch in Berlin, where as the prisoner of
