Ingrid Silvian has written a memorable story for children that will help them understand what it was really like to live through events of WWII, how children just like them adapt and survive. Through vignettes in the lives of two young girl friends, one Jewish, one Christian, we experience how everything changed when the Nazis came. Silvian provides a child’s eye view of war, both mundane and profound — a shift from marbles to shrapnel as the treasure of choice; racing to catch the last train carrying evacuees out of the city — and ultimately, who was saved and who was sacrificed.
At a time when many of the first hand witnesses of this chilling chapter of history are passing away, Silvian’s story provides a valuable link that reaches across generations that will live on in the hearts and minds of a new generation of children.
Pam Spence, editor, Ohio Jewish Chronicle, Columbus, OH.
Ingrid Silvian was born in Solingen, Germany, a small town famous for steel manufacture. She moved with her mother to Cologne, when she was four years old, where she grew up.
In 1955, Ingrid came to the U.S with her one-year old daughter as a war bride. She has three daughters and one grandson.
Ingrid was a freelance writer and wrote a monthly column for the Senior Times of Columbus, Ohio for ten years. She also wrote essays on social issues for Beacon Press (Boston) and various other publications, as well as poetry. Her book “The Piano Tuner’s Daughter” (2016) won several awards.
