Follow for more talkers

Story of ‘male Anne Frank’ who hid from Nazis and kept diary

''They risked their own lives, and the lives of their children, to help someone who they didn't even know and let him live in their house as a member of their family."

Avatar photo

Published

on
'Tom' the Ukrainian prisoner of war and Phyliss Emily Le Breton. (Carolyn Horn via SWNS)

By Lauren Beavis via SWNS

A family has revealed the extraordinary story of 'Britain's Anne Frank' who hid from the Nazis in their home - and even kept a diary.

Phyliss Emily Le Breton and her husband John kept 'Tom' hidden away behind trap doors after he managed to flee his German captors.

The house in Haut Des Buttes where Phyliss Emily Le Breton and her husband, John, lived. (Carolyn Horn via SWNS)

Tom - real name Bokejon Akram - was a Russian soldier and school teacher taken as a POW by the Third Reich.

They took him to the occupied Channel Island of Jersey as a slave but he managed to escape and was taken in by Phyliss and John.

They risked their lives by hiding him in their house where he had trap door escape routes.

He told their five young kids fairy stories and even kept a diary - just like the teenage Anne Frank in Amsterdam.

The family called him 'Tom' and taught him English – partly by reading the Bible with him.

He survived with them for three years and was repatriated to Ukraine in 1945 by the British.

They lost touch after the war and the family's story has now emerged as officials at Jersey Heritage try to discover more about him.

Le Breton family.(Carolyn Horn via SWNS)

Phyliss and Emily's granddaughter Carolyn Horn, 52, said she was immensely proud of what her family risked to save Tom's life.

Carolyn, who lives in Cyprus with her husband and three children, said: "He became a member of the family.

''My aunt said she called him her favorite uncle, as that was how he was known - Uncle Tom.

"My grandmother used to talk about Tom all the time. It just shows what kind people they were. It makes me proud.

"It was a time of crisis and they had German soldiers walking in whenever.

''They still risked their own lives, and the lives of their children, to help someone who they didn't even know and let him live in their house as a member of their family.

"There was a little door under the staircase in the house with a trap door behind it - that is how Tom could get from one side of the house to the other.''

Phyliss and John are reported to have said: "We trusted this man, he was the sort of man we could trust.

"The children loved him and, when he could understand some English, he used to read them fairy stories."

(Carolyn Horn via SWNS)
« of 8 »

Tom's journey began in July 1941 when the young Ukrainian soldier and unmarried school teacher defended his country against German attack.

During a two-hour period, 12,000 of his colleagues died and Tom, alongside many other Ukrainians, became a PoW.

The German soldiers collected thousands of people and used them as slave laborers to quarry stone and build coastal defenses.

Tom then found himself with 2,000 others taken to St Malo in Jersey in July 1942.

He was put into hard labor but managed to run away and was found in St Mary, by Phyliss, John, and their four very young children.

They were nervous and so renamed Bokejon as Tom to reduce the risk of discovery if their kids said anything.

Tom slept in the stables behind a trap door, in a car hidden behind bales of straw and in a shed in case the Germans called.

Phyliss's daughter Dulcie, now in her 90s, remembers him reading fairy stories to the children and playing with them.

Dulcie, who was four when the Occupation began, remembers Tom like a "favorite uncle."

In May 1945, before repatriation to Ukraine by British forces, Tom promised to keep in contact.

Three letters arrived in June 1945 from Guernsey where Tom was last known to be - but then nothing.

Years later John was one of 20 Jersey men and women awarded a gold watch by the Soviet government for their courage in helping to shelter Russian and Ukrainian escapees.

Historians at Jersey Heritage have now issued a plea for anyone to come forward with more information about him.

Chris Addy, the site curator, said they were surprised how much they had been able to find out about them.

He said: "It’s always a bit of a guess. You never know what stories are going to come out after 77 years.

"It’s always fascinating to hear a new piece of information or research, and add it to the stories that we tell each year to remind people about this significant part of the Island’s history."

Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.

Top Talkers