Rosie Whitehouse
Rosie Whitehouse: I am a journalist and for the last four years I have been specialising in the story of what happened to Holocaust survivors after the Second World War. My new book The People on the Beach: Journeys to Freedom After the Holocaust (Hurst, 2020) traces the story of why and how the Jews left Europe after 1945. I am currently working on a new book about my husband’s family and their experiences in France during World War II.
I graduated from the London School of Economics and have been fascinated by Eastern Europe since I was a young child. My parents best friends were Poles (Jewish and non-Jewish) who had survived the Warsaw Ghetto, the Warsaw Uprising and Auschwitz. They used to tell me stories about their lives that left me hungry to understand what had gone so devastatingly wrong in Europe in the 1930s and 40s.
I lived in Belgrade with my husband in the 1990s and witnessed the collapse of Yugoslavia and the post-war peace process. Throughout my career I have interviewed and worked with many survivors of human rights abuse and genocide. As a result I am increasingly fascinated with the nature of evil, which is a theme I want to explore in my new book about Vichy France.
Twitter: @rosiewhitehouse
Instagram: @rosieawhitehouse
Is there another profession you would like to try?
Not at all! Being a journalist gives me the opportunity to ask so many questions and discover so many things. I am fascinated by people’s experiences and how they perceive the world.
What brings you joy?
I have five children. They have opened my eyes to so many things over the last thirty odd years I can’t imagine what I would be like if I had never become a mother. Their observations and comments influence my writing and they have kept me company on many a research road trip.
What is the oddest thing a reader has ever asked you?
I am married to the foreign correspondent Tim Judah and ten years ago I wrote a book about bringing up my family while their father was on the frontline. After one book presentation, a lady came up and congratulated me on the talk and then turned to my middle daughter, then aged about 12, who was selling books and said, “Did you write this book?” What do they say – never perform with children or animals!
Do you collect anything?
Fridge magnets. I just love them. I have magnetic boards covered in them. I admit they are tacky but they encapsulate a country or city’s story and how they choose to remember the past and the present.
Favourite non-reading activity?
Getting in my car and driving off to explore the world. I hate flying so drive somewhere whenever I can. I love watching the landscapes, the food in the service stations and the radio channels change as you move from place to place. I also do a lot of writing in my head while I am driving about.
