Little refugees, little soldiers, little prisoners of the camps. Children in places they don't belong. Of all the atrocities of war, these are the worst. Protect the weakest, don't let them get hurt. That's the adult view. But how do children see war?
Magdalena Grzebałkowska decided to track down survivors who could tell her about what they experienced during the Second World War when they were a few years old. A time when they should have been playing and going to school. Instead, they became orphans, had to replace their parents in caring for younger siblings, leave their safe home, stand alongside soldiers. Or find out that their loving father was a criminal and a murderer, as Niklas Frank found out. Each of the children had to cope with injustice and trauma, overcoming obstacles that would be challenging even for an adult.
At the same time, the seasoned reporter is well aware that memory is not historical truth, and shows through various fates how personal stories can differ from reality. Some of the heroes themselves tell her several versions of their "soldiering". And perhaps that's what's most interesting about the book - a sensitive, reportorial account of how human memory works when your whole world has collapsed before your eyes.
Czech edition