I am excited to announce that the book about my childhood in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam during WWII was published by SheWritesPress in August of 2019.
The story in this book has been gnawing at me for decades, but for a long time I hesitated putting it out into the world. Writing about my childhood always felt somewhat self-indulgent. I have lived a long and richly-textured life, where so many others suffered unspeakable torture and did not survive the brutality of those years. However, when I began to see torch-bearing neo Nazis displaying swastikas on my television screen this year and again saw women’s stories of abuse being dismissed, I realized that those of us who survived tyranny and oppression in any form have an obligation to tell our stories.
The title of my book is: When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and the Moon Broke Curfew…
The images in my title spring from true events described in the memoir. Born in a time of tyranny and violent bigotry, when traditional gender roles expected women to be domestic and obedient as a toy dog and gently reflective as the feminine moon, I was given a great gift. I would witness the fierce power of female disobedience and the mystery of the light that could pierce the darkness of oppression and light a path for a little girl to discover the woman she could one day become.
I’m so looking forward to reading your book, Hendrika! In fact, I learned–more than from any other source–about the fragility of democracy from visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. . There, on display, was a history of the slow, methodical nipping-away of human rights by the Nazis. The loss didn’t happen in one fell swoop, but by small & incremental measures. I keep this in mind as I observe our current President’s behavior (and that of his party). I’m eager to read your account as you actually lived that experience.
Thank you for your reply, Ann. Yes, it is the destruction of freedom and human rights that happen by the small and incremental measures you mention, that frighten me under our current Administration.