Paperback
Alone, Jewish, and eleven: survival in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.
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Nobody Lives Here

A Jewish Childhood in the Occupied Netherlands

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$28.71

  • Paperback
  • Release Date

    24 April 2025

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Summary

The devastating tale of a young Jewish boy, coping alone on the streets of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. ‘I was on the street and I was free – but what now?’

This is the story of Lex Lesgever: a young Jewish boy who found himself alone on the streets of wartime Amsterdam, the only survivor of his large family. He was just 11 when the Germans invaded in May 1940, and less than a year later he had already been confronted with the horrific consequences of war when his eldest brother, Wolf, wa…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781803999296
ISBN-10:1803999292
Author:Lex Lesgever, Babette Lichtenstein, Jozef van der Voort
Publisher:The History Press Ltd
Imprint:The History Press Ltd
Format:Paperback
Release Date:24 April 2025
Weight:204g
Dimensions:129mm x 198mm
A-Format
B-Format
Nobody Lives Here by Lex Lesgever - ISBN: 9781803999296
129 × 198 mm
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

‘This spellbinding book will take you on the streets of 1940s Amsterdam as a Jewish boy twists and turns to remain alive. Each page immerses the reader in the sights, sounds and experiences confronting Lex everywhere he looks. A captivating account of one boy’s survival through his wit, courage and nine lives.’

– Baroness Gillian Merron

‘A vivid and moving account that offers a deeply personal reflection on the Holocaust in the Netherlands. Readers will be captivated … truly inspiring.’

– Olivia Marks-Woldman, Holocaust Memorial Day Trust

‘A compelling and devastating account that offers a profoundly personal and disarmingly honest insight into the human reality of the Holocaust. It deserves to be read widely, and repeatedly.’

– James Bulgin, Head of Public History, Imperial War Museum

‘Conveys vividly and sensitively the reality of the war years … Evocative and memorable.’

– Gaby Glassman, psychotherapist specialising in transgenerational Holocaust trauma

‘Almost an unbearably stressful read, but so extremely worth it.’

* Family Tree magazine *

About The Author

Lex Lesgever

LEX LESGEVER is the young Jewish boy whose story is unravelled within the book, a tough, resilient individual. After his ordeal in Amsterdam during the war, he spent forty years living in Leiden where he devoted himself to the Jewish community. He died on New Year’s Eve, 2019.

The translators, BABETTE LICHTENSTEIN and JOZEF VAN DER VOORT, are professionals in their field, the former also being a retired cellist and the latter presently working in the German Historical Institute, London. Babette grew up in Amsterdam just after the war and feels an intimate connection with Lex’s story and able to bring colour in English to Amsterdam’s streets.

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