Friedel and Gina: A True Story of Sisterhood and Survival During the Holocaust

by Jeremy Dronfield

The bestselling author of National Jewish Book Award Finalist The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz is back with another powerful nonfiction book for young readers, this time spotlighting twin sisters whose worlds were turned upside down when Adolf Hitler assumed power.
Through trials and tribulations, hardships and disasters, the bond between twin sisters Friedel and Gina Rosenthal was unshakable. They were only nine years old when the Nazis came into power in Germany. When the girls were fourteen, they, along with their family, were deported to a refugee camp in Poland. After the Nazis invaded Poland, the family suffered even more heartache…and Friedel and Gina soon found themselves alone.

Through the atrocities that followed – the ghetto and the concentration camps – they helped each other stay alive. They grieved their losses and learned to survive…together.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Jewish, Holocaust, Historical, History

368 pages, Hardcover

Published March 10, 2026

Reviews

[Margaret Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting, fascinating, and heartbreaking look at the lives of two twin sisters during the Holocaust. There are a lot of books written about World War II. These types of stories are very common and can start to feel the same. While this one is no exception, Friedel and Gina certainly have a story that deserves to be told. I really enjoyed how the author tied the different events in their lives together and told a complete story from beginning to end. The ending was heartwarming and felt satisfying.

While this book has a lot of good things going for it, at times I feel like the writing sacrificed heart, soul, and beauty for strict accuracy. One example is how the author called the parents "father" and "mom." It felt unusual to me. Yes, yes, the author had an explanation, but it felt a bit silly and made the prose clunky. There were also a few sentences/implications towards the beginning that bothered me as a Christian, mainly the author saying that Jesus died on a cross "according to the stories." I understand that people have different beliefs and I can't expect every book I read to align with mine, however this sentence just felt dismissive, especially considering most secular scholars agree that Jesus was crucified.

Overall, while there's a few things that bothered me, there's lots of good stuff to be said about this book. I truly did come to love the characters by the end💕

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1930, the Friedel and Gina Rosenthal's family was a happy, successful Jewish family living in Dusseldorf, Germany. Their father was a successful businessman, owning three corner shops throughout the city and Friedel and Gina worked in the shops with their four siblings. When Hitler and the Nazi party came to power, the family was systematically stripped of their businesses, property and possessions. The twins, 13-years-old at the time, were even forced to leave school like many other Jewish children. One year later, the Rosenthal family was deported from Germany to Poland, forced into ghettos, and eventually sent to concentration camps. As the years of World War II grew long, Friedel and Gina found themselves alone - suffering one heartache after another. But remarkably, the twin sisters managed to survive, together.

This remarkable true story of the Holocaust is told with direct honesty, even through some of the post painful details. An author's note explains that Jeremy Dronfield learned this story after the publication of his book The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz. Relatives of Friedel and Gina wrote to the author with the story of their own family's survival during the horrors of the Holocaust. Like that book, the Rosenthal's story is heartbreaking and also full of the love and hope that family brings. For older tween readers who have expressed an interest in history, this book is a must read.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another heart-wrenching book about the Holocaust. We have sisters Friedel and Gina who already go through a lot being made fun of at school, then having to leave their home. And then they find refugee in a small town and they all start to feel okay and then their world is turned upside down again.
It is a beautiful book, a story that needs to be told and be out there. So that we can see how the Jews were treated from many different areas, but it doesn't make it any less sad or hard to read.
These characters had such fierceness, but you also see their hurt and how they are sad and scared too.
A very raw and real book.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dronfield's explanation of why he chose to write Friedel and Gina's story is as powerful as his first book about other stories from the Holocaust and one about twin sisters whose tale of survival is a continued necessity to highlight from death marches and ghettos to concentration camps and newfound relationships and discoveries of lost family members after the liberation of the camps. The hopefulness amidst the desperation is inspirational especially when they refused to leave one another behind when illness and death was knocking at the door so close to freedom. And to get to the end to see how it unfolded for them after the war ended was hopeful.

[Critter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC.

I felt that this was a pretty good book. It follows the story of two sisters in the Holocaust. This is certainly an emotional read and it really delves into how Friedel and Gina are impacted by it. It's not perfect and some of the writing felt odd. However I overall felt that this book was well written. The narrator is also great.

[Karen Reeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! You know that you are in for an emotional roller coaster given that this is based on a true story of a Jewish family during the holocaust. It is done so beautifully. The story is powerful and heart rending and thought provoking. I also really enjoyed the author notes at the end. This is an incredible and important historical fiction that you will want on your shelves.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book. The situation of the girls and their family as they fight to survive the increasing terrors of the Nazis in Germany and Poland throughout the war is in itself compelling; the writing, however, did not move me. There were moments where I felt the sorrow and fear, but mostly this read like a history summary rather than the gripping story I had expected. And this was disappointing, as all stories of those who suffered at the hands of Hitler and his cronies deserve to be told in a way that will make people feel so strongly that they think deeply about their values, emotions, and treatment of others.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this book.