Astonishing stories of the bravery of fledgling fighters
Pen & Sword, £12.99
Reviewed by Angela Kiverstein
It might have started with a gleeful game of smashing enemy egg supplies or graffitiing a plane. But the “children” in Monica Porter’s revelatory book soon graduated to less childlike and more remarkable acts of resistance, including hiding Jews and luring Nazis to their death. Some of the children stole guns; some had to use them.
Porter defines “children” as 18 or under — although several in the book had left school at 14 — while the youngest here is six-year-old Helena, who carried messages to and from the ghetto, swallowing the evidence if caught.
Each story is a catalogue of close escapes and reading them is at times uncomfortably thrilling — the immediate peril of a capture or betrayal momentarily eclipsing the knowledge that these were real children, not all of whom survived.
While the chapter headings play up the feeling of childhood adventure — “Stephen Grady, the boy who messed with a Messerschmitt”; “Adolfo Kaminsky, boy forger extraordinaire” — the photos bring us back to reality. Particularly moving is a picture of Dutch girls disguised as boyfriend and girlfriend, a gun concealed in their handbag. In another time, they could have been costumed for a school play.
What inspired such heroism? Porter pinpoints a variety of motivations. Some children had strong religious or political beliefs. But some simply believed in themselves.
Half-French boy Grady, for instance, was a practical joker, setting off fire hydrants at German soldiers and scavenging souvenirs from a Nazi plane. But, at 17, his boldness (and knowledge of England) marked him out as ideal for interrogation work, distinguishing spies from allies. This poignant conversion of childhood pursuits into wartime skills is a recurrent theme. Kaminsky’s story sticks in the mind — from a boy hankering after a chemistry set, he became a weary forger, creating life-saving false documents against the clock.
Parisian Jacques Lusseyran, on the other hand, was brilliant beyond his years and surely destined for greatness, in war or peace. Blind since the age of eight, he awoke by 5am each morning and had memorised the 1,050 phone numbers needed to lead a 600-boy resistance movement. A 25K hike was his idea of a break.
In an emotionally charged conclusion, Porter addresses the question of whether the children’s sacrifices were worthwhile. The answer is more complex than one might expect. This is an uplifting book, which will speak to young adults as well as adult readers. It leaves one wondering how 21st-century children would have responded to such challenges.
Angela Kiverstein is the JC’s Supplements and Children’s Books Editor