The Children of Willesden Lane: A True Story of Hope and Survival During World War II

The Children of Willesden Lane: A True Story of Hope and Survival During World War II (young readers edition) by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen and adapted by Emil Sher

Four Paw Prints

In the 1930s big changes were happening in Europe with the most dramatic changes happening in Germany.  Germany had lost The Great War (World War I) in 1918 and was forced to pay money back to other countries for the cost of the war.  Then the Great Depression started and this left Germany with no money to pay back its debts. The country was poor and struggling. During this time the people decided they wanted a change in government.  The change they voted for was named Adolf Hitler and his Nazi government. Hitler promised the Germans he would make the country strong again and people would get jobs. He was able to accomplish this but at a great cost.  Hitler started making life very difficult for people he felt were NOT “true” Germans. This included people were Jewish. Life became difficult for people who were Jewish. They were not allowed to have professional employment, they could only shop in certain stores, people who weren’t Jewish could no longer do business with them, and children had difficulty going to school.  Hitler then decided he would start taking over other countries. One of these countries was Austria. Lisa Jura lived in Vienna, Austria at this time and she was Jewish. The middle of three girls she hoped to someday become a concert pianist. But things changed dramatically when her father was attacked and then arrested by people in Hitler’s government. When her father was released from jail he made the decision that his daughters were going to leave the country.  They were not going to wait and see what happens. He learned that people in England were sponsoring Jewish children to leave Nazi occupied parts of Europe to the safety of England. He was going to send his daughters to England. There was just one problem. He could only secure one ticket. Which daughter would go? The decision was to send Lisa. At 14 years old she was responsible for the hopes and dreams of her family and she had to find a way to help her sisters get to England too.  Would she be able to do it? This books tells the story of Lisa’s survival of World War II and her experiences in England as a refuge. There is now a foundation started by Lisa’s family in her honor called Hold On To Your Music. To learn more about the foundation visit, https://holdontoyourmusic.org/book.html.  To learn more about the Holocaust visit https://www.ushmm.org/.  As always, please ask an adult for permission before visiting these sites.