The Children's House of Belsen

By: Hetty E. Verolme

Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein

Hetty’s family was torn apart following the German invasion of the Netherlands. Rounded up by the Nazis and then separated from their parents, Hetty and her brothers were sent to the Children’s House, within Belsen concentration camp. As one of the eldest, Hetty became the ‘Little Mother’, helping to care for not only her siblings, but the other children as well. In a direct and powerful style, Hetty recalls one of the remarkable, largely untold stories of the Holocaust – the extraordinary struggle and survival of this group of children through those terrible years.

©2000 © Hetty E Verolme, 2000, 2009. (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

‘This is an important, moving and beautifully written book and deserves to become a classic.’ (Judges report, The Fellowship of Australian Writers Christina Stead Award)

‘Overpoweringly poignant.’ ( Jewish Chronicle)

This was beautiful and so engaging

While painful to hear, the authors account of her time in the hell of the camp was nothing less than inspiring. She could have played on the gory reality of the situation, but instead she kept a neutral mixture of optimism and realism that kept the story engaging, informative and relatable, even for those of us who could only imagine the evil she survived. I wish I could send her a big hug and tell her that we see her and hear her triumph over the oppressors. I think the entire world could benefit from reading stories like this.