Heppner, Max, Amichai

I Live in a Chickenhouse Heppner, Max, Amichai 2nd edition

From the time when I was 8 to 11 years old, I hid from the Nazis in a chickenhouse with my parents and their friends, Heinz and Elli Graumann. Since the personal experiences I recall are those of a preteen, I hope to connect well with children about that age. I tell about my rescue from the Holocaust based on drawings I made as a child, helped by two talented amateur artists: my father and his friend Heinz. I use both my art and theirs to help explain what life was like for us at that time.

Each chapter of the book has one or more illustrations to help me put into words what I was thinking about at the time. I describe how we ran away from our old apartment in Amsterdam because we had to hide from the Nazis, who wanted us Jews dead, or at least out of Europe. We first moved from place to place and town to town because no one wanted us to hide with them for more than a few days. We were fortunate that ultimately we were sheltered by Harry Janssen and his family, who gave us the chickenhouse to live in. A visual presentation of this tale of survival, suitable for all ages, is available in his video: "Rediscovering My Childhood-Memories of a Child Survivor." It runs for one hour. Order copies by e-mailing  Maxamichai@comcast.net.