AcknowledgmentsPrologueBackgroundIntroductionPART 1THE NETHERLANDS 1942 - 1949PART 2ISRAEL 1949 - 1953PART 3AMERICA 1953 - 1960PART 4AMERICA 1960 - 1977PART 5AMERICA 1977 - PRESENTClosingPhotosEpilogueAbout the AuthorThe story of a child survivor, a Jewish boy who is hidden in the Netherlands during WWII and after the war is returned to his parents at age three.The war ends and Josje is returned to his parents. “Who are these people who call themselves my parents”, he imagines. He is three years old and feels abandoned, confused and angry. He wants to return to his “real” parents who loved and sheltered him during the war. “My name is Pietje Dijkstra not Josje Gosler!”, he states tearfully when goaded by his cousin.As a Jew and a Hidden Child, his innocence protected him as much as his Christian family. At seven months of age, for his own safety as well as his parents’, he was given to a young nursing student from the Dutch resistance, and placed with the Dijkstra family in Wageningen.The impact of his first separation from his parents, may not be so easily ascertained, but when he is returned to them, his porcelain psyche is damaged and his closest companions are fear and distrust.Childhood wounds never fully heal and the impact of his early life is seen through the lens of an immigrant, as he migrates with his family to Israel and subsequently to the United States.This is a personal memoir of a child survivor that spans from WWII to the late 20th century. A story of a young boy, who becomes a man, ever wandering and struggling to find himself. His parents, emotionally gutted from their own wartime experiences, are barely able to care for themselves, let alone this young stranger.The war ends and Josje is returned to his parents. “Who are these people who call themselves my parents”, he imagines. He is three years old and feels abandoned, confused and angry. He wants to return to his “real” parents who loved and sheltered him during the war. “My name is Pietje Dijkstra not Josje Gosler!”, he states tearfully when goaded by his cousin.As a Jew and a Hidden Child, his innocence protected him as much as his Christian family. At seven months of age, for his own safety as well as his parents’, he was given to a young nursing student from the Dutch resistance, and placed with the Dijkstra family in Wageningen.The impact of his first separation from his parents, may not be so easily ascertained, but when he is returned to them, his porcelain psyche is damaged and his closest companions are fear and distrust.Childhood wounds never fully heal and the impact of his early life is seen through the lens of an immigrant, as he migrates with his family to Israel and subsequently to the United States.This is a personal memoir of a child survivor that spans from WWII to the late 20th century. A story of a young boy, who becomes a man, ever wandering and struggling to find himself. His parents, emotionally gutted from their own wartime experiences, are barely able to care for themselves, let alone this young stranger.