One Day. A True Story of Courage and Survival in the Holocaust

One day a father and son were spotted by security police and arrested; one day a group of internees started digging a tunnel; one day a father and son made a desperate leap to freedom….

One day at a time. One day after another

These words run through Michael Rosen’s text, a mantra, as he tells the story of Eugène Handschuh, a Hungarian Jew living in Paris during the Nazi occupation. He was captured and deported. He survived – but others did not, including Michael’s uncle and aunt. It is a stark story – and Michael’s prose reflects this, the repetition of the words ‘one day’ emphasising the only way to cope under such extreme conditions was to concentrate on the now. Drawing on the interviews given to the press by Eugène himself and other sources, Michael presents the narrative as the voice of Eugène. Details are kept to the minimum but the descriptions of the situations faced by the people are no less dramatic and immediate. We walk with Eugène and his father as they are followed and then picked up. We meet the prisoners involved in an attempt to escape – just their names but it is enough. We join the crowd waiting on the platform for a train going somewhere – somewhere bad. Short sentences, a vocabulary that is direct, contemporary and immediate, written with the repetitions and rhythms of blank verse make this a narrative that is instantly accessible to a young audience but just as moving and poignant for adults

How to illustrate this? Benjamin Phillips provides the answer. His powerful images add the perfect visual accompaniment to compliment Rosen’s style. Swiftly drawn ink outlines bring people to life, whether standing in long queues or breaking stones, faces are simplified – yet will each be distinct from others even when shown as a carpet spreading across the book covers. Colour is used sparingly but with great effect to add to the emotional impact of the illustrations.

This is an important book making use of the picture book format to bring the horror and catastrophe of The Holocaust to a wide audience. There is no glamour or excess in the telling. There are dreadful moments but there is survival and hope – and this is its power. The note provided by Rosen at the end opens the door to discussion and thought.