The Cigarette Sellers of Three Crosses Square by Ziemian, Joseph (1975) Library Binding

by Joseph Ziemian

Describes the struggles of a group of Jewish children who escaped from the Warsaw ghetto and survived in the Polish section of the Nazi-occupied city under constant threat of capture and death

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, Poland, History, Jewish

Library Binding

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarkable true story about a group of orphaned Jewish kids who somehow survive the war in Warsaw by selling cigarettes. My only small gripe was that the narrative could have been better. Partly this was caused by the high number of the kids. It was difficult distinguishing them at times (imagine a novel with twelve major characters). Nevertheless, a moving and heartwarming read.

[Ann Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another angle of Holocaust stories. Stories of pre-teens and teenagers who escaped the Warsaw ghetto and survived by their wits and luck, selling cigarettes, newspapers, and anything else worth selling. At times it was confusing keeping up with who was who and their stories because of their Polish names, nicknames, and their Aryan names that were used, but well worth reading.

[John Gaynard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way in which Joseph Zieman describes how he came across, and subsequently protected, the young cigarette sellers of Three Crosses Square, who were often the sole survivors of their families to escape from the Warsaw ghetto, is not as harrowing as many books about this period of history (such as Yitzhak Zuckerman's A SURPLUS OF MEMORY). It brings alive the challenges these young people faced, with courage and humor, on the 'Aryan' side of Warsaw, and it is also a record of how they fought bravely through the Warsaw Uprising. This book is a testament to the indomitability of the human spirit, and I am surprised that it is no longer in print.

[Emese Elkind]

Book club 2023

[Chana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am grateful that I got to read this book while I was in Israel.
Children between the ages of seven and seventeen, who have lost all their family and possessions when they escaped the Warsaw ghetto, survive by selling cigarettes and newspapers. They are constantly in danger, often have nowhere to sleep, are usually hungry and never, never can they admit they are Jewish children. They must be extremely clever and resourceful and are on their own until Joseph Ziemian, a Jewish Resistance Fighter, is able to provide them with false identity cards and find safe havens for the youngest and most vulnerable. Many of those who survived came to the land of Israel. No wonder our country is tough. The Jews were already a tough resourceful people who lived in this land for thousands of years; the ones who returned to the ancestral land after surviving the war as children were forged tough, came here and built up an amazingly gorgeous and modern country.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

My parents were Holocaust survivors. The events have been a part of me since I was a child. But of all the stories I have heard and read, this may be the most amazing Holocaust book I have ever read.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartbreaking story of some of the children left abandoned during WWII in Poland, either because they were orphaned or their families were deported. They manage to survive and feed themselves by selling cigarettes to Poles and Germans while hiding the fact that they are Jewish. Some were as young as seven. Thankfully there were a few Poles who were willing to let them sleep in attics or crawlspaces in exchange for a bit of money, or occasionally just out of compassion. There is not much more to say about this, except that the survival instincts of humans are amazing - even of little children.

[AC Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Cigarette Sellers of Three Crosses Square," by Joseph Ziemian, is the realistic story of children living in a ghetto in WW2. Joseph is a jew "living" in a ghetto where he finds a big group of children just trying to make a living. This book shows the troubles of ww2 for jews and the compassion and will of some of the other people living there. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys to learn about ww2 and what the jews had to do to hid and live.

[Christine]

translated from polish, WWII, warsaw, jewish children, survival-against-odds, history, non-fiction, biography