Esther Filbrun

One of Dad’s coworkers—a family friend—has told a fascinating story about his family. His family lived in Holland when the Nazis took over, and his grandfather helped to hide Jews. Along with some of the family, I believe, his grandfather was arrested—and eventually died in concentration camp. Some of his family still has a hard time talking about the Germans.

While a tragic tale, it is something that seems to be very common from places affected by the Nazis. World War II stories come up frequently—especially ones coming from an Allied viewpoint. Have you ever noticed before how few books there are that show the war from the Axis point of view? Today’s collection has a few different books in it—several sharing what it was like to live under the dictatorship of the Nazis, one about the Communists, and several others about people generally affected by the war.

All of the titles below are great as read-alouds.

1. Twenty and Ten  |  Best for: Ages 5 – 12

Sister Gabriel is caring for twenty children in a house close to a remote village, where they hope to be safe until the war is over. Then a request comes to hide ten Jewish children for a while. Even though it could be extremely dangerous if they were caught, both the children and Sister Gabriel feel like it is their responsibility to try to protect these children. Then, one day, instead of seeing Sister Gabriel coming home with food from the village, the children spot two German soldiers on the road. They must hide the Jewish children, but where? And will they have enough food to last until Sister Gabriel gets back—or the soldiers leave?