World War 2 Diaries

The boys have been writing diaries as though they were Jews in the second world war and they have just been summoned to attend a labour camp. Will they make a run for it? Will they go along with what they've been told to do? Here's two samples of their work...

My Diary By Evan Pierce

The letter I never thought would arrive to me just came. I had 2 days to think about what I was going to do. I had 2 options, I could go to the camp or hide. I chose to go to the camp.
When the day came I was really scared. When I got there I managed to get around the back of the camp where there was no guards. I hid there for a good hour or so until midnight came. I made a move to the seaside to try and hijack a boat to get to a different country. When I got the boat I headed east to England and that way I would be safe.
When I was going to hijack the boat, I met my friend and he was in the same situation as I was so I stuck with him. When we got on the boat he saw the keys on the seat. His name was Darren. HE knew how to drive boats to o. I let him drive. I just gave him directions to England. When we got to England we decided to sell the boat.

The End.


My Diary By James McCarthy

30/May/1940

Today is the day that we have to go to the concentration camp but no, I’m not going! I am going to ditch going and I am leaving with my family. WE will go to the underground railway and hope to avoid being seen to leave Germany. WE will wait until they stop searching and hopefully they will have a bit of food because we will have to leave just in the clothes on our back. I have my diary as well. Hopefully we are able to leave this torturous country. My nerves are gone. Every second I see someone I get butterflies because I think they will rat me out.

Day 2: on the run 31/Mai/1940

We found an old barn where we could stay last night. For breakfast we had to eat bits of hay to survive. After a couple of hours a strange man with a big hat and a horse and carriage came past and I ran to the man. I begged him for help. After a few minutes of telling the man what had happened he agreed to help us leave the country. He said ‘I can take you to the docks where you and your family will take a boat to England’. So the man took us there and he said, ‘I can help you no more’. Luckily we got on to the boat where we went to England. I was able to get a job in England. After months there we settled down and lived like a normal family and never went back to Germany again.