All inducted songs
"A tribute to the refugee children of Europe inspired by the bestselling book"
My Sister and I
  • Year Inducted: 2008
  • Written In: 1941
Songwriters
Joan Whitney Songwriter
Hy Zaret Songwriter
Artists
Dorothy Carless
Bob Chester
Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra
Dick Jurgens
King Sisters
Jack Leonard
Martha Tilton
Bea Wain
My Sister and I is one of many hits composed by husband and wife duo Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney. The song was inspired by the 1941 American bestseller and controversial WWII diary My Sister and I, which was allegedly written by 12-year-old Dutch boy Dirk van der Heide, and recounted his escape to America with his little sister Keetje after surviving the German invasion of Rotterdam.

Famed American lyricist Hy Zaret helped pen the wartime lyrics, which allude to the catastrophic German Blitzkrieg in the lines: we’re learning to forget the fear / that came from a troubled sky.

While many artists have covered this song, it was Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra’s stunning rendition that gained momentous popularity, reaching #1 on the Billboard chart on June 7, 1941, and #2 on Your Hit Parade, an American radio show featuring the most popular songs of the week, as indicated by record sales. My Sister and I stayed at the top of the charts for 14 weeks, establishing Dorsey as one of the year’s most successful entertainers.

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