The moving chronicle of one family’s suffering, survival and passing in the Nazi camps.
The Journey of a Hidden Child charts the strenuous efforts of a son trying to piece together his family’s story during WWII.
Belgium, 1941. Rosa and Charles Russ give their newborn son, Jean-Pierre, to their non-Jewish friends for safekeeping; they are not aware that the couple is involved in espionage for the British, putting their baby in grave risk. In the home where they’ve placed their son, soirees are held for high-level Nazis who believe that the baby they bounce on their knees is Christian. The alcohol flows along with German secrets.
In April 1944, Rosa and Charles are arrested and sent to Auschwitz. Both endure barbaric treatment in multiple camps. One parent succumbs a mere month before the end of WWII. The other survives to reclaim Jean-Pierre. This stranger’s appearance, he recalls, is the worst day of his life. Thoroughly and meticulously researched, The Journey of a Hidden Child traces the Holocaust trajectories of Charles and Rosa, as well as Jean-Pierre’s years as a hidden child. It is a story of unimaginable sacrifice and courage, testifying to the strength of the human spirit and the ability to build a new life from scratch.
RELEASED on 1 November 2022
Harry D Pila was born in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium on March 15, 1941.
Due to the deterioration of life for Jews in Nazi-occupied Belgium, he was given to Gerard and Germaine Decraene, a childless Gentile couple at the age of 6 weeks.
Unbeknown to Harry’s parents, Gerard was a double agent working for the U.K.
Harry's parents, who were active in the underground, feared that if they were caught by the Gestapo, it would not only be the end for them, but also for their son.
They were, in fact caught, and his father was killed towards the end of the war. His mother survived Auschwitz and was reunited with Harry in at the end of WWII.
In November 1954, Harry and his mother emigrated to Fort Worth, Texas, following his stepfather Max. He continued his studies, graduating from the University of Texas, Austin with a BA in Foreign trade in 1966.
He got married to Susan in 1962, and the next year their son Jay was born. Harry and Susan share 4 grandchildren. The youngest girl is currently serving in the Israel Defense Force which makes him very proud. He has always felt that if Israel had existed in the 1930s, there never would have been a Holocaust.
Harry has been active over the years in various organizations including the International US chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club while residing and working in Taiwan from 1970 to 1981. More recently, he has been active in the Holocaust Council of Metrowest, New Jersey and various other organizations and charities. He resides in New Jersey and Florida.
