Rita’s War

The bombs and bullets of World War II left lingering scars on the people of Belgium, the officially neutral nation where much of the worst fighting took place.

The horror of war came home to three-year-old Rita Van Aerschot on a morning in the spring of 1940, when her father stood in the doorway, handsome in his military uniform, but changed in a way her young mind could scarcely comprehend.

As German forces occupied Belgium over the next four years, Rita’s War would devolve into a universe of shortages and oppression, set against the gnawing fear that ran as an undercurrent to all activity.

On some days, Rita could attend school, almost as if the world had returned to normal. At other times, she and her family had to shelter in a concrete bunker as their country faced bombardment from first one, and then another of the warring parties.

How could a child and a family manage to thrive in this damaged environment, where survival itself was often an act of heroism? That is the story of Rita’s War.