Miri’s story, 10 years on

For Robyn Bavati, writing a Holocaust novel for children came down to one question: what if this is the only book they ever read on the subject?

It’s a question she took from history teachers. They had told Scholastic Australia that most students reached year 10 knowing very little about the Holocaust, and those who had read something had usually read just one book, typically The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas or The Diary of Anne Frank. The first is a literary masterpiece but a fable told through the eyes of a German child. The second is a true and important account, but limited to what Anne herself saw and heard.

When the publisher approached Bavati in February 2014, they wanted more. Realistic stories for readers in years 5 to 8, written by Jewish Australian authors and told from the point of view of a Jewish child. The plan was a series of four novels, all set in Warsaw, the city with the largest Jewish population before World War II. They asked Bavati because they had admired her debut novel, Dancing in the Dark, which was critically well received and had Jewish themes.

“It seemed like a huge subject to tackle, but knowing how little most children knew about the Holocaust, and the importance of educating them, I accepted the challenge,” Bavati told The AJN.

The publisher could not find four authors, so Within These Walls was published as a standalone. Bavati held on to that question.

“When preparing to write, I asked myself how can I best educate a child who reads only this book?” she said. “That question informed the story. My hope is that after reading this one, children will be inspired to seek out others and continue their Holocaust education.”

The story she wrote is Miri’s, a Jewish girl whose happy life in Warsaw is interrupted when German troops march in. Miri is fictional, but her journey is not. Bavati found her inspiration in the real-life story of Miriam Lederman, one of only four children to escape the Warsaw Ghetto in a piece of furniture.

Everything that happens to Miri from her time with the underground fighters in the ghetto to the end of the book is drawn from Lederman’s testimony. What comes before is grounded in extensive research, including interviews with survivors.

“The book is based wholly on true events,” Bavati confirmed.

Despite the weight of the subject, she added, there are moments of optimism and joy in Miri’s story, and she hopes young readers will see themselves in her courage and humanity.

The novel was shortlisted for the 2017 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for younger readers and won the 2018 WAYRBA Book of the Year for older readers. This year, Hybrid Publishers has released a new edition, with an author’s note explaining why it has been published now and how the book was researched and written. It also includes teachers’ notes by Michelle Prawer, the child of Holocaust survivor Guta Goldstein.

A decade on, Bavati said, the need for the book hasn’t gone away.

“With the surge in antisemitism we have seen since October 7, Holocaust education is more important than ever,” she said. “We are witnessing the same normalisation of antisemitism that led to an incremental worsening of hate crimes against the Jews, culminating in mass murder and an official policy of genocide. We have seen increasing incidents of attacks against Jews (including mass shootings at Bondi), and our government’s failure to prevent them.”

Bavati hopes young readers come away understanding how hatred and discrimination can creep into a society and even be sanctioned by law, and how small acts of discrimination, left unchallenged, can grow into big ones.

A book, she explained, does something a single visit or lesson can’t.

“In addition to the powerful and memorable experiences provided by a visit to a Holocaust museum and/or a Courage to Care incursion, children benefit so much from having a book on the shelf they can come back to again and again, with each new reading giving them a deeper level of understanding.”

For teachers, she said, it offers a way into a difficult subject, prompting classroom discussion and helping young readers engage with challenging themes.

There is also the question of who will keep telling these stories.

“When the last survivor is no longer with us, it would be good to know that their stories (both individual and collective) are still being told,” Bavati said. “Books about the Holocaust will always be relevant and there will always be a new generation of readers. The world is full of antisemites who deny our history, and fabricate alternative narratives. We must not let them. History remains history. It does not change.”

Bavati said she hopes the book inspires readers and those around them to call out antisemitism and other forms of hate whenever and wherever they see it.

“I hope that through contemplating and discussing the book’s message, readers of all ages will understand the need to be upstanders rather than bystanders, and realise that hatred will never be defeated by apathy and indifference.”

Within These Walls (new edition) by Robyn Bavati is published by Hybrid Publishers, $19.99rrp.