The Hidden Children of France, 1940-1945: Stories of Survival

The history of France's hidden children and of the French citizens who saved six out of seven Jewish children and three-fourths of the Jewish adult population from deportation during the Nazi occupation is little known to American readers. In The Hidden Children of France, 1940-1945, Danielle Bailly (a hidden child herself whose family travelled all over rural France before sending her to live with strangers who could protect her) reveals the stories behind the statistics of those who were saved by the extraordinary acts of ordinary people. Eighteen former hidden children describe their lives before, during, and after the war, recounting their incredible journeys and expressing their deepest gratitude to those who put themselves at risk to save others. Book jacket.

Danielle Bailly is one of the surviving hidden children. She was Professor of Linguistics at Paris Diderot University until 1998. Since then she has worked as a consultant and researcher. Betty Becker-Theye is Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Humanities at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and Adjunct Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center. She is the author of The Seducer as Mythic Figure in Richardson, Laclos, and Kierkegaard.