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A review by jacki_f
The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found by Bart van Es
4.0
Lien de Jong was a young Jewish girl living with her parents in the Hague when WW2 broke out. She was 7 when her family had to start wearing yellow stars on their clothing. Then one day in August 1942, her mother sat her down and said "I must tell you a secret. You are going to stay somewhere else for a while." Lien was taken to live with a Dutch family, Henrik and Jans van Es. It is their grandson Bart who has written this book.
Lien never saw her parents again. They died at Auschwitz only months later. She lived with the van Es family for less than a year, and from there she was shunted through a series of temporary homes. She spent a couple of years with another family where she was treated almost like a family servant and sexually abused by her foster mother's brother. She survived by compartmentalising her feelings, not thinking about the family that she lost or about anything at all really. When the war ended she went back to live with the van Es family and while externally this looked like a happy ending, in reality she still felt like an outsider and she suffered enormous survivor guilt.
Lien's story is told alternately with the story of Bart van Es's investigation, which fills out gaps in her memory and gives a different perspective on her story. It's an enormously moving book, told simply and without sentiment. The saddest part of all of course is that there are still so many children today who are separated from their families as refugees.
Lien never saw her parents again. They died at Auschwitz only months later. She lived with the van Es family for less than a year, and from there she was shunted through a series of temporary homes. She spent a couple of years with another family where she was treated almost like a family servant and sexually abused by her foster mother's brother. She survived by compartmentalising her feelings, not thinking about the family that she lost or about anything at all really. When the war ended she went back to live with the van Es family and while externally this looked like a happy ending, in reality she still felt like an outsider and she suffered enormous survivor guilt.
Lien's story is told alternately with the story of Bart van Es's investigation, which fills out gaps in her memory and gives a different perspective on her story. It's an enormously moving book, told simply and without sentiment. The saddest part of all of course is that there are still so many children today who are separated from their families as refugees.