I Am Sasha by Anita Selzer is page-turning, poignant and fascinating fictionalized story based on real events.

It’s 1942, and for a Jewish family living in Poland, every day is a search for food, and the need to hide their identity from the Nazi soldiers swarming the streets. Men, women, and children are continually harassed as the soldiers try to find Jewish people. Nazi soldiers order young boys to pull down their trousers to see if they are circumcised. Many are summarily shot or sent to the camps.

I Am Sasha is the moving account of a mother’s braveness and ingenuity in saving the life of her beloved son. To prevent Sasha being discovered, Larissa turns her 12-year-old son into a girl, Sala. Clothes, voice, hair, manners – all are a challenge to mother and son in a climate where the hunt for Jews is becoming more intense every day.

A riveting story of survival and daring in the most dangerous of circumstances, the courage and resourcefulness of the families in this remarkable story makes for enthralling reading.

 

Anita Selzer has a Bachelor of Arts (History and Politics), a Diploma of Education and a Master of Educational Studies. She has a Doctor of Philosophy in Education/History, and has been a Lecturer and tutor in Politics and English at Swinburne College. She has published numerous articles and papers, many of them on gender issues, education and educational policy.