It is September 1939 in Lvov in the east of Poland. The Second World War is just beginning.

Jana is only six years old, but as she and her family are caught up in the conflict, her life changes completely. She has to grow up quickly and learn to fight back and survive.

The events of the following six years leave an indelible impression on her and all those around her. This is the story of the struggles, the horrors and the joys of that time.

Anna Marzec-Manser was born in Poznań and brought up in Silesia, southern Poland. She studied maritime economics and her first job was in the Gdansk Shipyard ( then the Lenin Shipyard )  a year before the formation of the Solidarity trade union. At the beginning of the 1980s, with her English husband, she moved to London. After graduating a second time (PGCE), she worked as a primary school teacher for 20 years in South East London, specializing in teaching ethnic minority children. In 2010, she founded WalkPoland Ltd, a walking tours’ operator that was in business for 5 years. Now she spends her time in both Gdansk and London and is involved in environmental causes.

Judy Cumberbatch,  editor and co-author of ” Jana’s War” is a children’s writer of Sandstorm (CUP) and  Can you hear the sea? (Bloomsbury) and others. 

Joanna Robson completed a Masters in Authorial Illustration from University College Falmouth in 2011.  She currently works as a freelance illustrator; her private commissions include merchandise designs for Swedish music festival Sandvikfest, and  historical illustrations for Cornwall Council. She is a member of Artists Books Online and has work in private collections, including the National Library of Scotland and the University of the Creative Arts.

Jana’s War

By Ania Marzec-Manser and Judy Cumberbatch

Illustrations by Joanna Robson

Published by the author

Publication date: 2017

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