Yossi, Leo and Mordecai are 3 of 300 children flying into England from Europe. All 300 are survivors from the
horrific concentration camps of the Nazi regime.
They’ve been told they will be safe in England. There are no soldiers, plenty of food, warm beds and sunshine. Yossi is half exited, half wary. Could it really be true? They were safe at last?
The promises are proven true with their own rooms, own beds with sheets and blankets and even electric lights in their rooms. The food hall provides plentiful meals and they are free to roam the Calgarth Estate and around the beautiful Lake Windemere.
Still, 5 years in the camps isn’t something that will be soon forgotten. Children hoard bread, steal the jam, and sleep like sardines in one bed, as for some this is all they’ve known.
Yossi is happy that he is with his Polish friends, but the new normal of day to day living triggers memories constantly. One that never leaves his thoughts is the memory of losing his father in a death march from Auschwitz.
The Red Cross visit and ask for names of family members. Will they be able to find his father, now that Jewish refugees are spread far and wide across the world?
Author – Tom Palmer
Reading Age 8 – Interest age 9-12
After the War is an insight to another part of WWII that is not well known. 300 concentration camp survivors – all children and teens, are flown into England in January 1945 (After the War).
They are fed, clothed and cared for on Calgarth Estate on the shores of Lake Windemere in The Lake District of England. The Red Cross does their utmost to find their relatives as they try to banish the memories of what they’ve been through and learn to trust their caregivers.
Shown through the eyes of one boy (Yossi) with his friends alongside, this emotive story held me to the end. It’s a story of loss, sadness, and mostly – hope for their future.
Published in a Dyslexic Format makes this story based on fact even more accessible to readers.
Longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2021
Read The First Chapter here
(2020, Barrington Stoke, Dyslexic, Dyslexia, War, Refugees, Survivors, Auschwitz, Memory, Family, Calgarth Estate, Lake Windemere, Summer 1945, WWII, World War II, Friendship, Family, New home, Trust, Memories, Historical, Holocaust)