Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps

Andrea Warren

ISBN 10: 1435264924 ISBN 13: 9781435264922

Publisher: Paw Prints 2008-04-25, 2008

Synopsis

"Think of it as a game, Jack.
Play the game right and you might outlast the Nazis."

Caught up in Hitler's Final Solution to annihilate Europe's Jews, fifteen-year-old Jack Mandelbaum is torn from his family and thrown into the nightmarish world of the concentration camps. Here, simple existence is a constant struggle, and Jack must learn to live hour to hour, day to day. Despite intolerable conditions, he resolves not to hate his captors and vows to see his family again. But even with his strong will to survive, how long can Jack continue to play this life-and-death game?

Award-winning author Andrea Warren has crafted an unforgettable true story of a boy becoming a man in the shadow of the Third Reich.

About this title

About the Author:

Andrea Warren's books of nonfiction for young readers include Orphan Train Rider, Pioneer Girl, Escape from Saigon, Surviving Hitler, and Under Siege!. Warren's books have won a long list of honors, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the William Allen White Award, and the Robert F. Sibert Honor Award.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 5-8-Through the words and memories of Jack Mandelbaum, Warren presents a harrowing account of a Jewish boy's experience in Nazi prison camps. Mandelbaum had lived a comfortable life with his family in Gdynia, Poland, until the German invasion forced them to flee to a relative's village in 1939. Later, when the Jews were sent to concentration camps, the 12-year-old became separated from the rest of his family and wound up in the Blechhammer camp. By describing events through the boy's voice, the author does an excellent job of letting his words carry the power of the story. She avoids historical analysis, sticking to Mandelbaum's experiences, and brings readers into the nightmarish world of the concentration camp with a strong feeling of immediacy. As with many stories of great suffering, some of the minor details, such as risking death to steal a jar of marmalade, deliver the most impact. Besides the physical hardship, Warren conveys how frustrating and confusing it was for a child in such an environment. Once liberated, the young man learned the sad fate of his family and as he ironically observed, had he known his parents and siblings would not survive, he might not have struggled so hard to live himself. Black-and-white contemporary photographs illustrate the book. This story works as an introduction to the Holocaust and will also interest readers of Lila Perl's Four Perfect Pebbles (Greenwillow, 1996), Anne Frank's diary, and other works on the period.-Steven Engelfried, Deschutes County Library, Bend, OR

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Paw Prints 2008-04-25
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1435264924
• ISBN 13: 9781435264922
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 146