Smile and Wave
by Irene Glausiusz
With the help our dear friend Leslie Hershie Rubner, a book of WW2 Evacuees' stories came to fruition. Here's the sequence of events…
During the early 2020s, I was active within a group of former WW2 evacuees who met twice yearly at the Harrow Arts Centre.
The group Chairman Peter Gibbs asked the members if they would like to participate in the production of a book of their stories. Would they like to write about their evacuation experiences – and any photos would be more than welcome. The stories would be published in an A5 booklet, which they could pass on to their children or grandchildren as a lovely memento. Some of the members gave talks to schoolchildren about what it was like to be an evacuee and such a booklet would be handy for reference.
I was asked to edit the book. However, we needed someone with expertise in page layout and the ability to make the book look really attractive. Who else could I approach but our dear friend Hershie Rubner and he took on the task with enthusiasm. Thus "Smile and Wave" was born. He found a suitable photo for the front cover of children about to board a train, duly smiling and waving as instructed to do. No tears allowed, that's for sure.
