Men Or Rats

In fear of the Nazis and their destruction of the Jews, Simonne Jameson's parents choose her out of their three children to go with the police commissioner who promised to protect her. The rest of the family fled to Bordeaux. Twelve-year-old Simonne was hidden in a rat infested cellar at the National Library in Paris. She was protected in the sense that the Nazis never found her, but she suffered in other ways. There was never enough food, and sometimes there was no food at all. Simonne was terribly lonely, but when she was visited it was usually by police officers who were not there to help her, but rather to rape her. Enduring these horrific conditions was only bearable because of the books stored in the cellar, which she read, and the rats that lived there too. The books gave her a passion for psychotherapy, art and more books and the treatment she received meant that when Simonne was released from the cellar in September 1944, she was determined to do what she could to stop child abuse. Today, Simonne Jameson was nominated for the Australian of the Year in 2006 and was awarded the Gold Medal of France for services to humanity. She is the Director of the Children's Rights Foundation and of Art Sans Frontieres Gallery, a related non-profit organisation. To buy this book, contact her directly to ensure that all profits are used to help other children who are suffering.