The Silver Sword

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With so many serials from this era no longer in the archives it is refreshing to note that copies of The Silver Sword are held in the National Film and Television Archive. When the NFA appointed the first Television Acquisitions Officer in 1959, this was the first serialized television drama made for children to be chosen, and the earliest in this category to be donated by the BBC. Radio Times (1957) When Edek is captured too, the girls are desperate. Then they meet orphaned street urchin Jan, who carries with him a talisman of hope: a silver sword paperknife that they recognise as having belonged to their mother.

As Nel observes, “scholars and creators of literature for young people can play at least a small role in helping readers to imagine a future that overcomes the follies of the past and present” (2018, p.360). Whilst it is depressing to say the least that, as a civilisation, we do not seem to have moved on at all in the seventy years since The Silver Sword was written, and children are still suffering the displacement and trauma described by Ian Serraillier, the fact remains that, due to the work of visionary editors such as the Serrailliers and their New Windmill Series, there is more material than ever before available to children and Young Adults, to help them understand their place in the world, and to suggest a vision of a better future. In Appenzell, Switzerland, Danes, Swedes, Brits, Austrians, Germans, Italians, and the Swiss build an international children’s village. The children who were abandoned and orphaned now have a place to call their own and try to forget the misery of the war. Joseph and Margrit become house-father and house-mother in the Polish house. The family helps build their large, comfortable home, and settles in with sixteen Polish children.Shortly after Joseph was taken to the prison camp, German soldiers had broken into the family house and taken his wife away, after the Germans had called for 1 million foreign workers to be taken to their country for the war effort. Edek had fired shots at the van in a bid to stop them from getting away. Ruth had admonished Edek for his foolishness and decided that they had to escape to avoid being captured or killed, so the children climbed along the rooftops of the adjacent houses and watched from a distance as their house was blown up by the Nazis. Anyway, I shall repeat myself. This is a short but a wonderful book. It is regarded as a YA novel, but can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The children made then made their way south through Germany. Edek, whose health was steadily worsening with tuberculosis, was arrested while following Jan – who had been stealing food from several American trains bringing supplies to the troops. Both boys were prosecuted by the military tribunal, but Edek was cleared of any crimes whilst Jan led a spirited defence, claiming that certain American troops were equally guilty of stealing from the conquered Germans. Nonetheless Jan was sentenced to a week's detention. Upon his release the children continued south and were taken in by a Bavarian farmer. All of the children were put to work on the farm except Edek, who assisted the farmer's wife with light chores. Ian Serraillier (September 24, 1912 - November 28, 1994), was a British novelist and poet. Serraillier was best known for his children's books, especially The Silver Sword (1956), a wartime adventure story which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1957 and again in 1971. Based on a true story, this novel is the story of four children travelling through war-ravaged Europe during World War Two.

Joe Wolski is an American soldier of Polish descent; because of this, he identifies with the children right away. He drives them to safety and assists in their being found by their father. The Burgomaster Of course, boys and girls read the Penguin of this book and take it in their stride. I should have no hesitation in giving it to any boy or girl to read as it stands. But to a teacher reading it aloud in a mixed class or using it as a reader, these are obvious objections. What is the standard which you, as publisher, wish to adopt? Teachers’ opinions will differ. Are you prepared to take the risk of letters objecting to damn’s, blast’s, hells and so on? or does it get a bad name for the series and put teachers off and affect sales? ( 1953) To add to the workload, there was, in many cases, considerable labour involved in editing manuscripts to make them suitable for the series. Editorial files for each title contain lists of proposed cuts and changes that were required, for reasons of length and/or content. Some of these adjustments were relatively clear cut, and combined the need to reduce the length of books as well as ensuring their contents would be suitable for the intended audience. For example, Serraillier wrote of Tschiffely’s Ride (A. F. Tschiffely): “I propose to omit whole chunks which would not be of interest to children, reducing the book to about half its present length.[…] Schoolchildren will not be interested in the lengthier descriptions and much of the lore, and the references to prostitution and suchlike would have to go” (1949). Ivan is a sentry at the Russian outpost in Warsaw. He has a soft spot for the children and is always bringing them supplies for the little school Ruth runs, or things they might need for their journey—such as shoes for Bronia, or chocolate bars. Although Jan dislikes him at first, Ivan is tolerant of Jan's combativeness and tries to reach him by fixing his broken box. Kurt and Frau Wolff the children were given blankets and straw-filled mattresses and ushered into a dark corner of the hall. Here a seedy-looking flag and a scribbled notice on the wall indicated that they were in “Poland”. […] As far as they could see, the whole floor was carpeted with mattresses. They threw down theirs where they stood – in the no-man’s-land between “Poland” and “Yugoslavia.”Whilst in this passage Joseph defers to Jan’s knowledge and experience, the perception of children’s ages changes throughout the story, according to whether the story is being told from their perspective or through adult eyes. In an Alice-like process of shrinking, Jan’s presence is diminished once more when viewed through the eyes of a British soldier: “A boy stepped out of the crowd, one of the thousands of urchins that lived?about in the ruins here – about eleven or twelve years old, I should say, but you can never tell with these kids, they’re so undernourished” (1956, p.83). Philip Nel’s observation, that “The precarity of displacement amplifies the vulnerabilities inherent to childhood, making young people feel their liminality more acutely” accurately describes the situation faced by the young protagonists of The Silver Sword, in which the naturally blurred boundaries between childhood and adulthood are problematised by the need to act and behave with maturity beyond their years ( 2018, p.359). This juxtaposition is particularly jarring in the portrayal of Ruth. Here she is described by an army officer: “She’s a remarkable girl, quiet and self-assured, with the most striking eyes – they have a deep serenity, a sense of purpose and moral authority quite unmistakable. No wonder they look up to her as a mother, and a leader, too” (1956, p.86). Four child refugees hide out in Warsaw at the end of the WW2. When it is finally over they set out on a journey across Poland and Germany to Switzerland, where they hope to meet their father, who escaped from a Nazi prisoner of war camp earlier on in the war. Once Ruth, Bronia, and Edek were reunited, they (in company with Jan) travelled by train to Berlin, intent on finding their parents. They arrived in the city during May 1945, shortly after the end of the Second World War in Europe and the death of Adolf Hitler. They stayed in a disused cinema, but Jan soon went missing in pursuit of an escaped chimpanzee, which had managed to flee from the zoo. Jan was able to befriend the chimpanzee and help it to be The siblings had a happy life in with their family in Poland. But, one day the Nazis would come for them and their world would turn upside down. Somehow they would flee and learn to survive on the streets. Ruth, the elder sister, would take on the role of the mother. The writing is gripping, fast-paced and hooks the reader. You become so invested in the characters and long for their family to reunite. It is one of the most powerful books I have ever read, and as a child it sparked my interest in finding out more about the Second World War. The subject matter is serious and the setting realistic, but it is presented in a way appropriate for children. The fact that the book depicts a Polish family in Central Europe is also refreshing, as many British children's books about the Second World War are only focused on Britain. It ties in well to a study of history - I would suggest it for at least Year 4 and up as I first read it when I was 8.