Title: Scarred: A Memoir
Author: George Molho
Paperback 393 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4401-9513-6
Suggested Retail: $22.96
Summary: In 1978, seven-year-old George Molho was kidnapped by his own father. For a year, he survived mental and physical abuse to the point of torture. He found it easier to get used to hell, instead of hoping that heaven was around the corner. George eventually escaped, but surviving the aftermath proved to be much more difficult.
Review: George was taken to Greece at the age of seven and then tortured by the man that was to be his protector, his biological father. He had already endured watching the physical and verbal abuse targeted at his mother and then had to endure the horrific battle with his father, the crocodile, as his family referred to him, for an entire year. George tried to tell his mother and the psychiatrist that she brought him to that his father was going to take him and that he was going to hurt him, but he was not believed. They chalked it up as him making up stories. Many moments are otherwise happy in this story, reflecting upon wonderful interactions with his tight knit Greek-Jewish family in Texas.
My heart goes out to Mr. Molho for all he had to endure as a child. One would wish no child would ever have to experience what he did. Here is a scary statistic. ” Every day in the United States, 2,000 youngsters are reported missing, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Each year, 58,000 are taken by people unrelated to them and 200,000 are snatched by members of their own families. Sadly, there’s no relief in knowing the child may be with family.”
Scarred: A Memoir is a wonderful read that was hard for me to put down. It is an incredible, true story that shares the compilation of events that shaped Mr. Molho to the man he has found himself as today. The only thing I found as a negative is that the timeline can be a little hard to follow.
• Teach children how to fib on the phone. If they’re home alone, for instance, and someone calls asking to speak to their mother or father, they might say, “My mother’s busy in the kitchen right now and asked me to answer the phone and take a message.” Put them to the test by having someone they don’t know, one of your friends or co-workers, call.
• Make approved lists of people who will deliver any important news to them. If Mom or Dad is in trouble or hurt, only these people will know and will tell the child. Even if Uncle Bob tells them Mom is in the hospital and the child needs to go with Uncle Bob, if he’s not on the approved list, the child should not go. This is a common ploy.
• Teach them, train them and give them permission to defend themselves. This is very important and it saves lives. Most children are taught to be polite and respect adults; it’s far safer to risk offending an adult – even if it turns out the adult meant no harm. Screaming, kicking and running away are perfectly acceptable if a stranger grabs your arm – even if the stranger is smiling sweetly.
