Saving Elli
One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger
By Doug Gold
Published by Allen and Unwin
RRP $34.99 in paperback
ISBN 9781991142054

Saving Elli is based on a true story but this book is not a definitive historical account of the Nazi atrocities in Amsterdam or the horrors of the concentration camp. Some events have been fictionalised.

What follows is a gripping story of sacrifice, sabotage, survival and impossible choices, set against the backdrop of the darkest days of World War II.

In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. 

To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens risk everything, concealing her in a secret space above the ceiling. With shrewd cunning and unflinching courage, they must outwit the Gestapo, survive relentless searches and the constant threat of betrayal posed by those they once trusted. 

By night, Frits forges ID papers; by day, he sabotages warplanes at the Luftwaffe plant. Jo works in the shadows, aiding Jewish fugitives and smuggling underground newspapers through a city crawling with enemy patrols. 

But, with the Germans closing in, how much longer can they hold out?

Verdict: This is a moving story that will bring many readers to tears. Frits and Jo Hakkens put everything on the line to save this little girl. A truly courageous and selfless act.   

*****