The Red Ball

"A small red ball that goes through the greatest of twentieth century tragedies to tell us of its experience... Is that so impossible? And yet... Sam, a small boy who lived happily with his father Joshua and his mother Sarah, was given that very ball for his birthday and it became his best friend. Then catastrophe struck: the Vel d'Hiv Roundup. This Jewish family was taken, with thousands of others, to join the road to horror. After days and nights of misery in wagons only fit for animals, they arrived at the"sorting" dock. Women, children and the elderly on one side, able-bodied men on the other... But the little red ball was there! Always. It carefully kept all the secrets, and brought hope... When, years later, Joshua's own granddaughter Lucy asked him to tell her his story, the red ball was still there, on her pillow, ready to share the experience..." Extract from the preface by Raymond Aubrac.