Mémoire | Publication

One Day - Michael Rosen, illustrated by Benjamin Phillips

It is the true story of a father and his son, Jewish resistance fighters who escaped from a transport bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau Convoy 62, on November 20, 1943. A book for children and parents alike, in which the poetry of the words and the power of the illustrations do not conceal the harshness of reality.

Publication: Thursday, January 2, 2025, by Gründ - Meeting with the author for students in CM2, 6th and 5th grades: Monday, February 16, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Drancy Shoah Memorial

This powerful and moving picture book is based on the true story of a father and his son, Jewish resistance fighters who escaped from a transport bound for Auschwitz. Eugène Handschuh, a Hungarian Jew, and his father Oscar, both involved in the Resistance, were arrested by the Germans and imprisoned first in the Compiègne camp and then in Drancy, while awaiting deportation to an unknown destination known as Pitchipoï.

As they wait for this journey into the unknown, they and other prisoners in Drancy organize themselves and dig a tunnel meant to lead them to freedom. When the tunnel is discovered by the camp guards, their hopes of escape are crushed, and they are sent directly onto the next deportation transport, Convoy 62, which left Bobigny station on November 20, 1943.

Once inside the freight train, sensing that nothing good awaits them upon arrival, Eugène, Oscar, and 18 other prisoners manage to escape. Eugène’s father loses contact with the rest of the group after jumping from the train inside a tunnel, but he is rescued and hidden by the Médard family in the countryside near Bar-le-Duc. Father and son are eventually reunited at the end of the war.

Where was this train headed? What became of the 1,200 people crammed into the wagons? Only 39 of them would return from Auschwitz-Birkenau. An author’s note at the end of the book places the story within the historical context of the Shoah.