My memoir about my childhood in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam during WWII was released on August 27. But it’s not just my story. It’s the story of every child who experiences violence, deprivation, and bigotry. As we adults consume our planet’s resources and divide human beings because of the color of our skin or the deities we pray to, my heart weeps for the children. Children who are separated from parents at the border, children who go to school hungry, young girls who are being sex-trafficked by rich men in power, children who need to learn safety drills because of school shootings, and children facing a planet stripped of its natural beauty and capacity to sustain them. I survived my traumatic childhood, in part because there were enough adults around to sacrifice and fight for a more just world. I pray that today’s children will be able to say the same when they reach my age.
When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and the Moon Broke Curfew…
“Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.” – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch resistance fighter in WWII