A lesser child

Gershon (1924-1993), writer and poet, is known for her book We Came as A Collective Autobiography (1966) which told of the traumas experienced by refugee children in Britain during WWII. This recounts her childhood as she came of age in Germany under Hitler's growing power. The granddaughter of a prominent member of the local Jewish community, and part of a close-knit and loving family, she was not only academically gifted, but also a natural poet. Still, as the youngest of three sisters, she thought of herself as a lesser child. The book is more than just an account of Gershon's childhood. She illuminates the period leading up to the Holocaust, showing how Jewish families were trapped into becoming victims, while the German people were gradually conditioned to condone it. She vividly recreates the atmosphere of the period, and her analysis of her family's psychology is beautifully and convincingly told. A searing account-unflinchingly candid."" Publishers Weekly.