Pearls of Childhood - Paperback

by Vera Gissing (Author)

In the classic vein of The Diary of Anne Frank and Clara's War comes a heart-wrenching and inspiring story of a life lived in fear and exiled from home-Pearls of Childhood is a true story of the Holocaust.

Czechoslovakia, 1939.

Vera Diamant is a secure and happy ten-year-old girl, loved by her family and safe in her little home town. She adores her parents and her sister, loves her horse, and takes tender care of cats she rescues and keeps in the family's barn.

But in March the Nazis invade and everything changes. Life for Jews like the Diamants quickly becomes unbearably dangerous, and her parents decide to send Vera and her older sister Eva away for their own safety.

In June, Vera and Eva board one of the last Kindertransport trains out of Prague, organised by Sir Nicholas Winton and bound for Britain.

Vera does not know it, but she will never see her beloved parents again. Her mother will die in Belsen, while her father will perish on a death march.

Based on Vera's diaries and treasured letters from her parents, Pearls of Childhood is a powerful and affecting account of a young life lived in extraordinary circumstances.

"A poignant and moving account of a young girl caught up in the midst of WWII and an incredibly important insight into the experiences of children saved by the Kindertransport." Edward Abel Smith, author of The British Oskar Schindler-The Life and Work of Nicholas Winton