AN Oxford University professor examined his own family’s history to find out more about a young girl’s struggle to survive Nazi persecution.

Now, Prof Bart van Es has told the story of his painstaking research in a new book.

The Cut Out Girl tells the story of Jewish girl Lien de Jong, who was removed from her parents’ home in The Hague and taken to a foster family to be hidden from the Nazis.

Prof van Es, who was born in the Netherlands and is now a Professor of English Literature at St Catherine’s College, is a grandson of the couple who fostered Lien, so when he discovered her story he wanted to find out more.

Lien de Jong survived the war and Prof van Es tracked her down when she was in her eighties, to chart her life through the war years and beyond.

The result of the professor’s research is The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found.

Prof van Es wrote in the book’s acknowledgements: “December 21, 2014 was the first of many days that Lien and I spent together as this book evolved.

“After hours of recorded interviews there were hours of walks, meals, Skype conversations and email exchanges over which we discussed its numerous drafts.

“It is thanks to Lien’s faith, honesty and wisdom that The Cut Out Girl has become a reality.”

Prof van Es said it was thanks to his mother that he was able to contact Lien in the first place.

He added: “She was worried that this project will upset people and damage the family’s reputation but, in spite of this, she has continued to help with my research.”

The professor also thanked experts who helped him work on the book.

These included writer Bert Jan Flim, who has conducted extensive research on the rescue of Jewish children in the Netherlands during the Second World War.

He was also assisted by staff from libraries and institutions including the National Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam.

The book’s title refers to cut out shapes of girls in hats which Lien kept in her poetry scrapbook. The Cut Out Girl is published by Penguin Fig Tree on August 2, price £16.99.