Helen
A Story of Adaptability

After Austria aligned with Nazi Germany, eleven year-old Helen and her nine year-old sister Rita boarded a train to France. Carrying one small suitcase each, the girls tearfully said goodbye to their parents. They never saw them again.

Many Jewish parents sent their children away in order to protect them from the Nazis. The Rothschild family in France generously gathered Helen, Rita and other children in a beautiful castle, creating a safe environment during dangerous times. Helen quickly learned the French language and customs, but she still missed her parents.

Helen was given a chore that she really enjoyed: she worked in the vegetable garden in the rich warm earth of the countryside. She was a city girl who didn't even know that potatoes grew in the ground! Now she proudly harvested vegetables for the Children's Home. But her contentment ended when, two years later, the Nazis invaded France.

A rescue organization successfully brought the girls to a foster home in the United States. They joined a family in Cincinnati, this time learning the English language and American customs. But in every language, Helen dreamed of her parents.