Becoming Janet: Finding Myself in the Holocaust, by Janet Singer Applefield (Cypress House Publishing, 2024, 180pp, $17.95) Review by Skye Anderson
You are a child.
Imagine being told you no longer have the name your parents gave you but another, along with a story you must memorize to stay alive - even under pressure and in fearful, dangerous situations. And finally, years later, being told to choose another name, a name that helps you fit in with your new life under freedom.
But, along the way, you have been passed from one person to another and very few of them were good people. You are just a little girl and find that the best way to survive is to fit in, to do as you are told regardless of what you are thinking inside. Do this, and you will live. Be obedient above all and try to not be a burden.
This is what happened to Janet during World War II, as her village in Poland was taken over by the Nazis and her Jewish family was split up. Janet was blond which may have saved her, along with moving every so often and being passed to another every so often. At times, in the middle of the night, she would be awakened and told to gather all her belongings, be very quiet, and follow the others.
Becoming Janet is a book young adults will not be able to put down plus they will learn that many people continued after the War to persecute the Jewish.
Infused with photos and the vocabulary and sentence structure of a young girl, Becoming Janet is a book you will not soon forget as it is told from the viewpoint of a child.
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