Guardian Angel House

Plot

War stories. Twelve-year-old Susan has been forced to sit by and watch her liberties and those of other Jews be taken away as a tidal wave of anti-Semitic hatred envelops her native Budapest. Now her father has been deported to a labor camp and rumors abound about what fate lies in store for the rest of Hungary's Jewish population. Realizing the terrible danger her family is facing, Susan's mother makes the difficult decision to send her and her younger sister Vera to the nearby Sisters of Charity convent, which is providing a safe haven for Jewish girls. Although it is a difficult adjustment, Susan and Vera are soon basking in the comfort and gentle nature of the Sisters and working hard to maintain a semblance of normalcy amidst the destruction and chaos swirling around the convent walls. The nuns endeavor to ensure that the girls maintain their religious identity, even though it differs from the Sisters' own religious convictions. The girls learn to trust others again and realize that even in the face of unspeakable evil, there are people who will risk everything to do what is right. This fictionalized dramatization of a true story is written by the real-life Vera's daughter. In addition to the story, there are historical photographs and notes throughout. It is a poignant and relatively gentle introduction to the atrocities of the Holocaust that focuses on the bravery demonstrated during one of history's darkest hours.