The Jewish ghetto, the Wieliczka salt mine, concentration camps, death camps, the gas chamber, a death march ... Birkenau, Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau ... No one could survive them all. Yet somehow Yanek Gruener did.
Sound unrealistic and unbelievable? It's not. Although Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz is a fictionalized YA novel, it is based on the true life story of Jack Gruener, who at the age of 13 decided that he was not going to die at the hand of the Nazis.
"In the place of my pain, I felt the stirring of determination.
I would not give up. I would not turn myself in. No matter
what the Nazis did to me, no matter what they took from me,
I would survive."
And he did.
I loved this book. Like The Hiding Place and The Diary of Anne Frank, this is a book everyone should read. It's that good.
Other, similar books you might want to check out: Destined to Live by Ruth Gruener and The Girl in the Green Sweater by Krystyna Chiger. Both are amazing stories of hope and survival.
Sounds like a good one! Ellie Wiesel's Night is also a moving account which I very much enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteThat's another book that is on my Must-Read-Someday list. Sigh. I just need more time in my life.
DeleteThis one sounds good! I will add it to my reading list. Another one I thought was very well-written is called "Yellow Star" by Jennifer Roy. It is an account of her aunt's survival of the Lodz ghetto in Poland (only 12 children survived). It is written almost in poem form, and is recommended for ages 10 and up.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book suggestion. Can't wait to give it a try.
DeleteI'm going to add this one to my to-read as well. Love The Diary of Anne Frank and The Hiding Place. Another one I loved but it's been at least 20 years since I read it is When Hitler Stole The Pink Rabbit.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really good read. I've never read When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit, but I've heard of it. I'll have to look it up. Thanks for the suggestion. Sorry I haven't commented on your blog recently; the whole disqus thing messed me up. But I'm still reading it!
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