The true story of Hansel et Gretel
Louise Murphy2003

In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because of their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel". They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children.

A haunting novel of journey and survival, of redemption and memory, The true story of Hansel et Gretel powerfully depicts how war is experienced by families and especially by children, and tells a resonant, riveting story.