Childhood memoirs of World War II

Eva Edmands was born on October 27, 1929, in Vienna, Austria. In 1938, her family fled to Paris, France. Her father worked as a journalist in Paris until he was drafted into the French army and sent to southern France. Eva and her mother remained in Paris, but after a threatening visit by the Gestapo, they fled to Bordeaux, France. Eva and her mother crossed into the Free Zone of France and joined Eva's father. A Protestant pastor helped Eva's father to leave the army and gave the family false identification. Eva's family tried unsuccessfully to cross into Switzerland. They went to Annecy, France, and a Catholic priest settled them in his village. For three years, Eva's parents hid in the parish house boiler room. As a 12-year-old child, Eva could go outside and attend a local French school. After the liberation of France, Eva's family moved to Paris. In May 1948, her family immigrated to the United States. The memoirs describe how Eva Edmands emigrated with her parents from Austria to France after the Anschluss and how they lived in hiding until France's liberation.