Facing the Lion review by Cynthia Yoken

Co-Chairman, Holocaust Education Committee of Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford, MA

Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe

Simone Arnold Liebster

 “Facing the Lion” is a memoir of a young girl who grew up in the 1930s in Alsace, of a French-Catholic family. This unique story focuses on Simone’s close relationship with her parents and their religious struggle facing the Nazi occupation at the outbreak of the Second World War. Simone tells her story clearly and with the sincere and innocent conviction of a schoolgirl living during that time. She was drawn to the Bible and her parents’ belief in Jehovah and this faith sustained her throughout her difficult years in school standing by her faith and refusing the Heil Hitler salute. For teenagers today, who want to be accepted by their peers, Simone’s story is an important lesson for young people who also must face decisions which will affect their entire life.

Simon’s courage after being expelled from the French school and her ability to survive in the school assigned to those who were different is certainly worthy of attention for today’s teenagers, their teachers and all those interested in knowing about Hitler’s other victims.

Cynthia Yoken
Co-chairman, Holocaust Education Committee of Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford, MA