Nelly’s Other World

In her paintings, Nelly Toll created a world of her own.

Unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door. Nelly and her mother glanced at each other, then quickly started gathering their things. It didn’t take long to collect their belongings because they didn’t have much—a change of underwear, scraps of paper, a diary, and a set of watercolors. In moments, all evidence of their lives was gone as they quietly and quickly moved to their hiding place in a secret window compartment.

The couple who allowed Nelly and her mother to hide in their apartment waited by the door until the small child and her mother didn’t make a sound. Then the wife answered the door. Nelly and her mother held their breath as they listened to people talking in the kitchen. Minutes later, footsteps could be heard walking away. The door was shut behind the visitors. Still, Nelly and her mother waited another half-hour before leaving their hiding place.

Though shaken, Nelly was soon sitting at a table, scribbling her thoughts in her diary. After writing, Nelly opened her set of watercolors and started to create a different world, one where danger did not exist.

Nelly Toll grew up in Poland at the time of World War II (1939-1945). Her family was Jewish. During the war, the German government under the Nazi party persecuted Jews who lived in Europe. Millions of Jews died in concentration camps. Nelly and her mother survived the war because two non-Jewish friends risked their lives to protect them. Other members of Nelly’s family did not survive the war.

Nelly created sixty-four little watercolor paintings while she was in hiding. The paintings represent her dreams of a normal life. Nelly couldn’t have a dog, but she had one in her mind. Nelly knew no other children, but she created a classroom of friends. She also went on sea adventures to exotic lands. Some of Nelly’s paintings and her descriptions of them are shown below.

Captions and paintings courtesy of Dr. Nelly S. Toll.

Kindergarten Class I never attended school. Because we were Jewish, my mother and I didn’t dare go outside. The Nazis would have arrested us immediately. I often wished that I could walk outdoors like the schoolchildren I watched as I stood at a distance from the window.

Friends Playing Dominoes This is from a story I created about two friends playing dominoes. In the long months of hiding, my mother was my only girlfriend and my teacher. We played many domino games together.

All Alone This portrait of a girl was done in 1943. I imagined and wrote a story about a girl who has to take a trip by herself. She is lonely. This is how I felt when my parents placed me with a non-Jewish family before my mother and I went into hiding. I was very lonely for my parents and dreamed of going home.

She Sells All Her Sweaters This painting is part of a series I created about an imaginary girl named Eva who knits sweaters. In real life, my mother knitted my clothing from wool remnants. We could not go outside to shop for new dresses or sweaters.

Today, Dr. Nelly Toll teaches, writes, lectures, and paints. Her book Behind the Secret Window is a memoir of her hidden childhood during World War II.
Photo by Herb Nelson, courtesy of Dr. Nelly S. Toll.

See more paintings by Nelly S. Toll in This Month’s Gallery.