大象传媒

I was fourteen in wartime Paris. I sailed with my mother from Le Havre to Philadelphia after the death of my father who had business interests there. We left behind my two sisters, who were already married, and my brother - aged 11 - who was cared for by my grandmother.

When the Germans over-ran France in 1942, there was a communications curtain, a blackout. No news came in or out. Initially the German officers were charming and well behaved, rather like Sandhurst Officers. Some even spoke French. One of my sisters husband was taken by the Gestapo but was released.

One of my sisters remembers seeing groups of impoverished children with yellow stars on their arms. She thought they were being taken to holiday camps but they were going to concentration camps. She remembers how distressed the children's mothers were.

Everyone was very happy when Chamberlain pronounced "Peace In Our Time" but my father had prophecied war all along.

The Americans were reluctant - that's an understatement - to involve themselves in the war but eventually caved in under heavy persuasion from Winston Churchill.

I stayed in the USA and married.

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