Hiding in Plain Sight

A Holocaust survivor chronicles growing up in occupied France while hiding from the Nazis during World War II in this moving memoir.

“Today’s reader will find it hard not to be changed . . . by this haunting memoir.” —Betsy Sterman, author of Saratoga Secret

“Unpretentious and straightforward . . . a captivating read.” —Dr. Mary-Ann Stadtler-Chester, Framingham State University

Hiding in Plain Sight is an unusual memoir about the childhood and young adulthood of Sarah Lew Miller. Born in a large Orthodox Jewish family in Dereczyn, Poland, Sarah’s family moved to Paris in 1937 to escape poverty. The German Occupation of France just three years later threatened her family’s existence with repressive anti-Jewish laws and massive deportations of Jews to death camps.

With the help of Christian neighbors, they evaded arrest for several years in Paris. After Sarah’s mother was arrested and then rescued, Sarah’s parents went into deep hiding, while their eight children found refuge in rural villages scattered around France. Through the help of a French Resistance organization, the Sixième, Sarah escaped to Switzerland in May, 1944.

This personal and historical account of an era conveys the day-to-day life of a teenage girl living in Nazi-occupied France with the ever-present threat of death. Despite her loneliness, hardships and the derailment of her childhood dreams, she kept her strong family ties and maintained her faith in humanity.

This memoir demonstrates the qualities of resilience and courage that enabled individuals and families such as Sarah’s to survive. By reliving one family’s way of coping with social and political crisis, we learn about ourselves and our own society.