EDITH VELMANS

The classic story of the Anne Frank who lived, Ediths Story is based on the diaries of a Dutch young girl who survived World War II hiding in plain sight. When Hitler invaded Holland in 1939, Edith van Hessen was a popular Dutch high school student. She also happened to be Jewish. In the same month that Anne Franks family went into hiding, Edith was sent to live with a courageous Protestant family, took a new name, and survived by posing as a gentile. Ultimately one-third of the hidden Dutch Jews were discovered and murdered; most of Ediths family perished in the camps. Velmanss memoir is based on her teenage diaries, wartime letters, and reflections as an adult survivor. In recounting wartime events and the details of her feelings as the war runs its course, Ediths Story ultimately affirms life, love, and extraordinary courage. "I never realized that there could be such suffering in the world, and that anyone could live through it." -- from the diary, July 1, 1945."The most vivid evocation of the experience of Nazi Occupation that I have ever read." - The Independent (London)."It holds you with the same intensity as the Diary of Anne Frank and leaves you heart-broken, illuminated, and amazed at the capacity for courage." - The Guardian (London)"Velmans candid portrayal of herself as a feisty, loving, sometimes self-absorbed teenager is thoroughly engaging and her story throws new light on the plight of Jews who survived the war hidden in plain sight." -- Publishers Weekly"A significant Holocaust memoir... A valuable opportunity to see the situation just outside Annes attic." -- Kirkus Reviews"Its impossible to get through this inspiring and great-hearted volume dry-eyed, or without admiration for people who so bravely persevere through unimaginable hardship and privation." -- The Washington Post"One of the best and most moving memoirs I have ever read." -- Ruth Rendell, The Sunday Times

THE EXTRAORDINARY TRUE STORY OF HOW ONE YOUNG GIRL ESCAPED THE HOLOCAUSTIt holds you with the same intensity as The Diary of Anne Frank and leaves you heart-broken, illuminated, and amazed at the capacity for courageGUARDIAN***I never realised that there could be such suffering in the world, and that anyone could live through it - from Ediths diary, 1st July 1945After Germany occupied the Netherlands in 1940, fourteen-year-old Edith was still filling her diary with carefree stories of school, parties and boys. But her entries soon record a darkening world. By 1942, as the Nazis escalated their persecution of the Jewish population, Edith began a bitter struggle to survive.Hidden in plain sight but a courageous Christian family, with a German officer billeted in the next room, Edith faced the horrors of war under constant threat of discovery and betrayal. Weaving together Ediths diaries with letters smuggled between family members and her own memories, this extraordinary memoir of the Anne Frank who lived is a profoundly moving account of grief, loss, courage - and one girls remarkable belief in humanity in the face of despair.WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ESTHER FREUD One of the best and most moving memoirs I have ever read RUTH RENDELLIts impossible to get through this inspiring and great-hearted volume dry-eyedWASHINGTON POSTBoth memoir and meditation, it is moving and wise . . . neither sanguine nor sentimental about the Holocaust and mans capacity for evil LINDA HOLT, INDEPENDENTTruly moving . . . leaving one with great hope in humanityTHE TIMESA VIRAGO MODERN CLASSIC

Dans les premiers temps de l’occupation des Pays-Bas par l’Allemagne en 1940, Edith, quatorze ans, noircissait encore les pages de son journal d’anecdotes candides, où il était question de fêtes et d

À La Haye, en 1939, Edith, jeune fille juive âgée d’à peine quatorze ans, est confrontée à la menace nazie. Quand la Hollande est envahie, au printemps 1940, elle croit encore qu’il lui sera possible