Johanna Reiss

Johanna Reiss /ˈriːs/ (born Johanna "Annie" de Leeuw, 4 April 1932) is a Dutch-American writer and longtime resident of New York City. Her most recent work, A Hidden Life, was published by Melville House Publishing in January 2009. In her books, Reiss has presented her childhood experience as a Jewish girl in the Netherlands during the Holocaust.[1]

Johanna Reiss
Born (1932-04-04) 4 April 1932
Netherlands
Occupationnovelist
Period1969 - present
SubjectThe Holocaust
Notable worksThe Upstairs Room (1972)
Notable awardsNewbery Honor, ALA Notable Book, Jewish Book Council Children's Book Award, Buxtehuder Bulle Prize
SpouseJim Reiss (1955–1969)

Biography

Johanna Reiss was born, raised, and educated in Winterswijk, but she and her older sister survived the Holocaust hidden for almost three years in the rural village of Usselo in the attic of a farmer called Johan Oosterveld.[2][3]

After teaching elementary school for several years, she moved to the United States in the early 1950s, where she married Jim Reiss. Upon the urging of her husband, she wrote a young adult novel, The Upstairs Room, sharing her personal experience of the events of the Second World War.

The Upstair Room was published in 1972. This classic YA novel won Reiss several awards. It was a Newbery Honor Book, an American Library Association Notable Children's Book, and a Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Book. It also won the National Jewish Book Award[4], the Juvenile Book Award and the Buxtehuder Bulle, a German children's book award.

Elie Wiesel considers The Upstairs Room "as important in every respect as the one bequeathed to us by Anne Frank."[5] The book was so successful that it spawned a sequel, The Journey Back, published in 1976, which tells the story of Annie de Leeuw's and her family's return to their home country of Holland in an attempt to rebuild their lives after the war.

Her book, A Hidden Life, was published by Melville House Publishing in January 2009. It is a memoir written for adults, in which Reiss confronted the memories of childhood as well as the tragedy of her husband's suicide.[6]

Reiss has two children and four grandchildren.

An active speaker, Reiss visits schools to talk to students about the historical times she lived through. For her speaking efforts both in the United States and Europe, in May 2018, Reiss was made a Knight of Order of Orange-Nassau.[7] by the Dutch government.

References
  1. "Ontmoeting met Johanna Reiss" (in Dutch). Vezetmuseum.org. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  2. Garis, Leslie (22 February 2009). "Twice Stricken". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  3. "Spotlight on Johanna Reiss". eldercountry.com. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  4. "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  5. "A Hidden Life". mhpbooks.com. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  6. "A Hidden Life: A Memoir of August 1969 (catalog entry)". Melville House Publishing. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  7. "Johanna Reiss benoemd tot Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau". 27 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
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