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The Occupied Garden: Recovering the Story of a Family in the Wartorn Netherlands
Kristen den Hartog and Tracy Kasaboski
Peter says: "Sisters den Hartog and Kasaboski have brought us the story of their grandparents, Gerrit and Cor den Hartog, an ordinary and courageous couple struggling to raise a family in the Netherlands during the occupation. They grapple with issues of survival, the borderline between cooperation and collaboration, when to resist and when to remain silent, whether to obey bad laws instituted by an unjust government, and the challenges of shielding their children from the immorality and cruelty around them. Should Gerrit grow vegetables in his market garden when many of them will go to feed the Nazis and their Dutch sympathizers? Should he continue to listen to forbidden foreign broadcasts on his hidden radio? How can they help others hiding Jewish families if they can't hide anyone themselves? The authors broaden the story by recounting the lives lead by Queen Wilhelmina in exile in London and Princess Juliana evacuated to Ottawa with her children. After the war, Gerrit and Cor bring their family to Canada for the wider opportunities, only to face more challenges in their new land." (McClelland & Stewart, 29.99) Online information

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