Behind the Secret Window Nelly S Toll Signed 1st Ed 1993 Holocaust Memoir

Nelly S. Toll's Behind the Secret Window is a deeply moving memoir recounting her childhood in hiding during the Holocaust. Just eight years old when the Nazis occupied Poland, Toll and her mother were hidden by a Catholic family in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine). During the thirteen months they remained concealed in a single room, the young Toll created a series of vivid watercolor paintings that imagined the life she longed to live outside. These paintings - many reproduced in the book - offer a rare visual testimony of a child's inner world during one of the darkest periods of the twentieth century. Published by Dial Books in 1993, this copy is the true First Edition, First Printing, confirmed by the copyright page stating 'First Edition' and the full number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. The work combines Toll's adult recollections with reproductions of the watercolor paintings she created while in hiding, forming a powerful historical document that has often been compared to other firsthand accounts of childhood during the Holocaust. This copy is signed and warmly inscribed by Nelly S. Toll, dated January 1994, and includes a small hand-drawn illustration by the author. Also laid in are two pieces of related ephemera: a postcard reproducing one of Toll's childhood paintings and a handwritten note referencing a lecture appearance, adding interesting contextual material tied to the author's later career as a lecturer and artist. Condition: Near Fine / Near Fine. The book is clean and well preserved with a tight binding and bright boards. Pages appear clean and unmarked aside from the author’s inscription. The dust jacket remains bright with only light shelf wear. Overall an attractive collectible example, enhanced by the author inscription and accompanying ephemera. Nelly S. Toll is a Holocaust survivor, educator, and artist whose childhood paintings from her time in hiding became internationally recognized historical artifacts. After emigrating to the United States in 1951, she studied art and education and later taught art history and counseling. Many of her wartime paintings are preserved in museum collections, including Yad Vashem in Israel, and her memoir has become an important educational work used in Holocaust studies and children's historical literature.…