"Children’s book of war" - the ashes of Klaas, which should reach out to every heart

MOSCOW. The Children’s Book of War has been translated into English.

Last year, on the occasion of Victory Day, the diaries of children who were in besieged Leningrad, stolen in Germany, and the horrors of concentration camps and Jewish ghettos were published at the AMF publishing house. The creators of the book managed the almost impossible: to find several dozens of diaries, combining them with the common name "Children’s book of war." Those who read it experience a whole gamut of feelings - from shock and quiet sadness to gratitude. Admiration for the work done by the publishers was expressed by the head of the Anne House Foundation, Frank Theresien da Silva. There are millions of children who survived the war and were inside it. Documentary evidence, memories of the tragic time, written by a child’s hand, are only a few.

The success of the publication only confirmed the need for the appearance of its English version. Andrew Bromfield, a well-known translator and popularizer of Russian literature, worked on it, assisted by Rose Frans and Anthony Hippisley. Colleagues from Russia helped to understand difficult for foreigners abbreviations, terms and nuances found on the pages of children’s diaries. The Anne Frank Museum, UNESCO, the Bundestag, the UN, the largest universities in the world are only a small part of the recipients who have received an invaluable publication at no cost. Thousands of caring people in different countries will now be able to get to know him.

The Children’s Book of War is not only about fear of death, excruciating hunger, cruelty of torturers. But also about the little joys that brighten up the difficult life, lack of food and a terrible cold, about first love and the hope of salvation. Some young authors were not able to survive the harsh year, and their traces were lost. Someone was lucky to live to the Victory and find themselves in a peaceful life. One of them, writer and publicist Maria Rolnikaite, who was called the Lithuanian Anna Frank, passed away recently in early April 2016. The idea that she should tell about everything that she saw and experienced, because the dead could no longer do this, until the last minute as the ashes of Klaas pounded in her heart.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru