“Remember Us”: is a Book of Children’s memories from the Holocaust, written by members of the Hungarian Hidden Children of New York, Inc. (HHC) Publisher: Authorhouse  ISBN: 978-1-4389-2905-7. Contributing editors: Judy Abrams and Evi Blaikie

30 Jewish Hungarian men and women, who survived the Holocaust as children in hiding, relate memories of their trauma filled childhood.

These are not the horror tales of the Holocaust that so much has been written about, rather they are the accounts of those experiences and memories of individuals that left indelible impressions in the minds of the storytellers and have influenced their lives.

Many of the stories are specific memories that were imprinted into the child’s mind. Some are tragic, some absurd, incomprehensible events that changed their lives; some on the other hand are sad or unexpected, but taken as a whole, they illustrate how children react to and experience of war.

Four of the storytellers were deported and they delve deeper: Perhaps to explain, to understand, or even to see in print the tragic inconceivable events that took the place of their childhood.

Most of the contributors originate from

Budapest. The rural areas, small towns and the county seats were the first to be cleared of Jews by murder or deportation. Budapest was left till last and though thousand were deported from there or shot into the Danube, the Germans and the Hungarian Fascists did not succeed in gathering them all before their defeat by the Allies. Consequently, the largest number of surviving Hungarian Jews hailed from Budapest.

Each story is accompanied by a short biography and photographs of the survivor, as a child, as a young adult in the West, and a current one.

In order to make this book a more complete historical document, the following were added:

“Borrowed Identities” A short treatise by Dr. Szekacs-Weiss, on the significance and substance of the stories.

“Common Themes in the Lives of the Hungarian Hidden Children” By Susan Bendor, PhD

(Member of the HHC)

“The Jews of

Hungary: A brief History” by Gabor Vermes, PhD

(Member of HHC)

“The Righteous” An acknowledgement and a list of known righteous individuals who helped the Hungarian Jews.

This is a book I strongly recommend; in fact I believe it should be read in all schools and colleges. The book is a testimony – if one still needs any - of how deeply affected and scared were - and still are - all the survivors of the Holocaust by their experiences, regardless whether they were survivors of the death camps, or on the run in hiding from the Nazi killing machine.