≫ [PDF] The Hidden Village A Gripping and Unforgettable Story of Survival in WW2 Holland eBook Imogen Matthews

The Hidden Village A Gripping and Unforgettable Story of Survival in WW2 Holland eBook Imogen Matthews

Download As PDF : The Hidden Village A Gripping and Unforgettable Story of Survival in WW2 Holland eBook Imogen Matthews

The Hidden Village A Gripping and Unforgettable Story of Survival in WW2 Holland eBook Imogen Matthews

As a Dutchman, I am very familiar with circumstances and conditions during the war time. Although I was not born then, I was well educated in school, and heard many stories from my family and friends of the family who lived through it. My father hid in a haystack for a long time during the war. He was hungry and cold, hiding from the Germans. The books portrayal of food being loaded into vans to be taken to people hiding in the underground village is utterly ridiculous. There were severe shortages of food and other things. Gasoline was unavailable to most people. The Germans would notice vans being loaded full of food in broad daylight. People across the country were starving. The whole book is full of absurdities. In full disclosure, I read about halfway through the book, it was insulting and trivializing and I'd had enough. There was indeed a small underground community in the forest but it was hardly the easy existence that the author portrays, with reception rooms (seriously???), cake baking sessions (with ample flour and eggs!!!) and the like. It seems the author stumbled upon a historical fact, and used it to spin a cute story that is completely unrealistic. It offended me to have the author minimize the facts of the war time in order to write a fluffy story. People in in The Netherlands suffered mightily under the occupation. This should never be forgotten - or rewritten into a fantasy.


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The Hidden Village A Gripping and Unforgettable Story of Survival in WW2 Holland eBook Imogen Matthews Reviews

I really was caught up in this book and deeply involved with what was happening in this small town in Holland The bravery of all the Dutch people who fought to hide, nourish and protect their Jewish friends and neighbors is well documented in many books I've read. I had not heard of the hidden village before and it was very interesting. That interest came to an abrupt halt in the last part of the book. It would have been an extraordinary book if more had been written to explain the lives of the main characters after the war ended. A summary of a few sentences to each person left me feeling cheated..... I wanted to know what happened to them and their families. If there simply was no way to know......then tell the reader, don't just ignore family members and loved ones.
This is a compelling story about a village built by rebellious Dutch citizens to help hide their Jewish (or in other way dissident) neighbors and countrymen. Located deep in the Hoge Veluwe National Park, this village really did exist and several huts have been reconstructed in the original location.
The author wrote her book after reading a non-fiction book about this village. However, her novel is not a rehashing of history, but a suspenseful and dramatic glimpse into the lives and inner thoughts of the villagers – both those being hidden and those helping them. The story takes us into their daily lives, scares, sicknesses, and ultimately their betrayal.
It a well-written, moving story of courage, hope, and survival.
My only criticism is that it ends quite abruptly. I would have liked to learn more about what happened to the characters after the war. Perhaps the author’s leaving room for a sequel?
4.5 out of 5 stars
The Hidden Village by Imogen Matthews. This is a fictitious account of a hidden village that was actually created in Veluwe, a national park in Holland. During World War 11, a group of Jews hid from the Germans by living in underground huts in this village. They were helped by a group of men and women and children in the nearby village. This group of rescuers gathered food and other necessities for the hundreds of people who eventually lived in this hidden village. Imogen Matthews used archive materials, letters, photos, interviews, and a book called ‘Het Verscholen Dorp’ by A. Visser which was an account of this village. She also used this book as a way of writing down the stories her own mother told of the years spent in Holland during its occupation by the Germans. The result is a very unique look at this hidden village and the people who lived there and helped hide them.
The story revolves around a Holland youth, Jan, and a Jewish girl, Sofie, along with her best friend Liesbeth, a Holland girl. Sofie was in school with Jan’s brother Oscar and her best friend Liesbeth. Sofie had a crush on Oscar and he had one on her. Liesbeth, who was more outgoing than Sofie, encouraged her to get to know Oscar better. Shortly after this, Sofie’s world collapsed when she was forced into hiding because she was Jewish. She was among the first to go to live n Berkenhout woods and the last to leave. Oscar had helped build the huts they were to live in and then was sent elsewhere to help. Liesbeth worked with the underground to get food for the Jews and helped keep Sofie’s spirits up as she was separated from her parents. Jan, Oscar’s little brother, ached to help but was continually thwarted from helping by his own father. Jan didn’t understand that his father was trying to protect him. However, a ten-year-old boy finds a way to get into trouble.
The book is quite interesting and well-written. Knowing that Berkenhout did indeed exist as did the majority of the characters makes it even more interesting. It makes you wonder how many places like this existed throughout Europe and remain unknown to this day.
This is part of the story of the Holocaust I knew nothing about.
A story of ordinary human beings performing heroic acts.
The story of those who did not just sit by and do nothing while their neighbors were persecuted.
A story of Jews and gentiles together going to extraordinary lengths to save human lives.
Fascinating tale.
This historically based, yet fictional account of the atrocities suffered during WWII in Holland is exceptionally riveting. Both by being heartwarming and heartbreaking, it is a read that you won't soon forget. The strength, endurance, and generosity of the characters, which surely is an accurate depiction of the human nature of people caught up in desperate times, requires the readers avid and rapt loss of attention to their own environment. It's that good!
As a Dutchman, I am very familiar with circumstances and conditions during the war time. Although I was not born then, I was well educated in school, and heard many stories from my family and friends of the family who lived through it. My father hid in a haystack for a long time during the war. He was hungry and cold, hiding from the Germans. The books portrayal of food being loaded into vans to be taken to people hiding in the underground village is utterly ridiculous. There were severe shortages of food and other things. Gasoline was unavailable to most people. The Germans would notice vans being loaded full of food in broad daylight. People across the country were starving. The whole book is full of absurdities. In full disclosure, I read about halfway through the book, it was insulting and trivializing and I'd had enough. There was indeed a small underground community in the forest but it was hardly the easy existence that the author portrays, with reception rooms (seriously???), cake baking sessions (with ample flour and eggs!!!) and the like. It seems the author stumbled upon a historical fact, and used it to spin a cute story that is completely unrealistic. It offended me to have the author minimize the facts of the war time in order to write a fluffy story. People in in The Netherlands suffered mightily under the occupation. This should never be forgotten - or rewritten into a fantasy.