Remembering Georgy: Letters from the House of Izieu

One of the thousands of Jewish children murdered at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators, Georges Halpern (1935–44) was torn from his parents in 1943 and spent his final two years at the children’s home in Izieu, France. While at Izieu, Georgy regularly wrote letters and sent drawings to his parents, describing his life at the children’s home, his dreams and his sorrow. Today, this remarkable collection of letters and drawings remains a testament to the courage and hope of a young boy caught in the midst of one the darkest chapters in the history of mankind. Georgy’s hopes for being reunited with his family ended with his murder at the age of eight in a gas chamber at Auschwitz. Born in Bucharest, Serge Klarsfeld was just 8 years old when his family’s home was raided by the Gestapo. While he, his mother and sister escaped, his father was killed at Auschwitz. Attorney, author and leading historian on the fate of the Jews in France during the Second World War, Klarsfeld has fought relentlessly to bring Nazi officials to justice.