For those of you who at some point in your life have read, The Diary of Anne Frank, you might find this book of interest. Rutka’s Notebook, by Rutka Laskier was written by a 14-year old Jewish girl from Poland during the Holocaust period in World War II. Although it’s on a much smaller scale than the Frank diary and covers only a 4-month period, it describes the activities in a small Polish town before its citizens are sent to concentration camps. The two books cover the same three topics; the girls’ relationships with family, friends, and her view of the world during this terrible time.
One remarkable thing though, is that Rutka knowing her almost certain fate of not surviving the war, made arrangements with a friend to retrieve the diary from its hiding place after the war was over. The friend did this, but kept the diary a secret for almost 60 years until she was persuaded to let it be published. At the end of the diary several surviving family members and professionals comment on Rutka’s writing. There is also a selected bibliography listing many more books written by other Jewish youth during the war years.