Escape: Children of the Holocaust

by Allan Zullo

This book features seven amazing true stories of brave boys and girls who escaped from the clutches of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Their compelling accounts are based on exclusive, personal interviews with the survivors. Using real names, dates and places, these stories are factual versions of their recollections.

You will read how a brave teenage boy who was shot by a Nazi guard still managed to escape the notorious Treblinka death camp... how a determined young girl who was repeatedly captured and tortured by the Nazis fled with her life time and again, including twice from a firing squad... how a 13-year-old boy with no possessions other than the clothes on his back survived for six months in Nazi-occupied territory... how a 12-year-old girl cheated death while she was being marched to the gas chamber... how a young Jewish girl talked her way out of a certain execution and then lived among the Nazis, pretending to be a Catholic... how a little boy survived a deadly Nazi ambush... how a young girl survived seven concentration camps, including the infamous Auschwitz II-Birkenau where she leaped out of a truck that was taking her directly to the gas chambers.

Their compelling stories reveal that even in the darkest days of humanity, when all hope appears lost, the strength of the human spirit still shines brightly.

(From Allan Zullo's website)

Genres: Holocaust, History, Nonfiction, Biography, World War II, War, Middle Grade

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Allan Zullo is an American non-fiction writer. He is the author or co-author of more than eighty paperbacks for adults and children.

A native of Rockford, Illinois, Zullo graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1969 with a degree in journalism. His books include The Baseball Hall of Shame and Baseball Confidential (both co-written with Bruce Nash), A Boomer's Guide to Grandparenting (co-written with his wife Kathryn), and the Haunted Kids series. Zullo has also written articles for The National Enquirer, The Christian Science Monitor, Ladies Home Journal, and The Palm Beach Post. His syndicated comic strip "The Ghost Story Club" ran in American newspapers from 1995 to 1998.

Zullo currently lives in Fairview, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Willow Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really sad and hard to read, but I feel that these stories are ones that are just so important to tell. Reading about the things that these survivors did with their lives despite all the hardships they had been through was so amazing, but it also made me sad for the millions of individuals who died and weren't able to continue their lives. The stories are heartbreaking, but books like this one, that tell the story of this tragedy from a personal, individual perspective are something that everyone needs to hear.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad stories because they are true. Thank you Sav for giving me this book from your book fair. WW11 intrigues me!

[Martin Wallem]

Martin Wallem
Nonfiction
Mr Herman
June 3, 2019
Spoilers
Independent Reading Book Project: Review
The book Escape is about the stories of children's journey through the Holocaust. In the book there are stories from seven different children who survived the holocaust. This book had few boring or slow parts. There were a lot of intense parts were the characters were in morbid danger. This book gave me a view into the brutal concentration camps during WW2 and I would suggest others to read it.
Since this book was composed of stories written by people people who actually experienced the holocaust it was very realistic. Unlike some other holocaust books this gives a full story through the person journey while other books miss out on important parts. This book is also very detailed and gives an almost in person view of what they experienced. “Alicia pulled her hand free and bolted. She zigzagged in a swath of bullets, trying to make it harder for the S.S. men to shot her. (Escape, Zullo, pg. 73)” Alicia is trying to escaping a mass execution and hide from the S.S. men.
This book has the dates every so often which helps understand where/when the characters are during the war. “October 1938. Two Gestapo agents, backed by several armed S.S. officers with drawn guns, storm the apartment. (Escape, Zullo, pg. 7)” This is when David and his family were deported to Poland. This also taught me some history of when certain events happened during WW2 like the Final Solution which started in 1941.
This book showed what is was like to be in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. There was minimal food and water in camps and most prisoners became skeleton looking figures because of this. Disease killed many prisoners and it easily spread because of close corters and bad to no sanitation. “Around this time, the camp was ravaged by a typhus epidemic. (Escape, Zullo, pg. 67)” But most prisoners were either worked to death, killed in gas chambers or were executed for being to weak work.
I would recommend this book for others to read, especially if they are interested in the holocaust. This book shows the journey of seven brave children who survived the holocaust, and what they had to withstand. It is a very engaging book and doesn't get boring.

[Allie Y · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Escape, Children of the Holocaust" is about true stories of real kids that were in the Holocaust. Nazis were attacking innocent lives just because of their religion. All the Jews are trying to escape, including many children. The Children fight for their lives coming up with many escape plans and strategy's to possibly save their lives. Will they Escape?

Their were many stories of innocent Children in this book. One Character that stood out to me, was a girl named Hanci. Hanci changed a lot in the book, she went from having hope, and then losing it and then regaining her hope back again. As hard as the Holocaust was for Hanci she didn't want to give up she wanted to see her family again. She had many times where she did almost give up, but because of the inspiration from others she carried on.

I really enjoyed the book "Escape" because of the history it teaches and all of the turning points in all the stories. This book was super interesting and I didn't want to put it down. It is a super inspiring book teaching who ever that reads it to be grateful for what they have. This book also teaches about history, it is always good to learn about new things. This was a super good book and I would recommend this to any body!

[Jamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escape: Children of the Holocaust by Allan Zullo is an interesting book about how seven children survived the Holocaust. Each story is about twenty-five pages full of trauma and relief.

The children are in their pre-teen years. Some get sent to camps, even when children weren’t supposed to. All of the children tried to save themselves and their families, but some had no family left after the Holocaust ended.

There are two reasons why readers would like this book. One, it stirs up emotions. It is a sad reality of their experiences. Two, the stories are very interesting. Although this book is predictable, there is some suspense.

The characters’ stories make for a sad-happy experience reading it. Most of the happiness came from the end of the stories, especially what their lives came to be. The book is about a piece of history and messes with the reader's’ emotions. People who like history or good stories would most likely enjoy this book. People who want a strong plot wouldn’t like it as much.

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Escape: Children of the Holocaust tells the story of how seven children who managed to escape and survive one of the biggest and worst genocides in history. The name of each of the seven children is displayed as they recount their experiences. While this book is very informational and gives a lot of insight into what Jewish children were experiencing during the Holocaust, it can be a very heavy read that can evoke a lot of emotions. I even found myself having to take a break while reading. Since they are the stories of children, you become even more invested in their lives as a reader and feel for them more. However, I believe these stories deserve to be heard and this would be a good addition to a classroom of older students learning about the Holocaust or World War II. I think this would be better to read in small groups or as a class rather than alone because it can bring up topics that are new for students or ones that might make some students feel uncomfortable.

[Kristin Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to read to the children or have the children read individually when learning about World War II and the Holocaust. Through these seven stories told by different children, you can really feel how terrifying and scary this time was. By reading the stories, you can start to feel the emotions these children were going through. Great descriptions of how life was before and during this time, as well as after. Sad event and sad story, but something that people need to be aware of and know about.

[Emily Younker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grades: 4+
Genre: Personal Narrative

Within this emotional text, each chapter is unique to a new child focusing on their experiences through the Holocaust. Conducting this reading as a small group read will help students understand topics they may not know much about. This book is written to be read by students with accessible language and editing for appropriate age groups. Chapters include content such as escaping camps, deportation, family death/separation and many other related topics to the Holocaust.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holocaust stories are always difficult to read...but when they are about CHILDREN...times that by a million. My heart will always hurt, no matter how many different accounts I read. Studying this book as a part of sixth grade book club was great—it’s so important that they know these stories, and that it is never okay to treat any human in such an abominable manner. “This is not just a Jewish story. It’s a human story. If people don’t know the truth about the Holocaust, then it could happen again to anybody, anywhere, at any time to any race or any color.”

[Debbie Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book that tells today’s young people the true story of some of the survivors of the worst atrocities of our history. Written with young people in mind it explores the real story without traumatising the reader. References made to the survivors own works is made for those who want to delve deeper. A must read for all.

[Maleena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very inspirational and moving. It told stories of survivors of the Holocaust with such detail, that it felt like you were experiencing those same things. Each of the seven stories was very enticing and drew the reader into what it felt like to be under the Nazi's control.

[Cipriani Graybosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

this auto biography is about the children of the Holocaust it is super sad.would not recommend reading if you tear up easily.it shows how horrible the Nazi were to the Jews. they killed moms and dads separated family'es and killed children in gas chambers.this is my review of the book.

[Reese Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really good, but super sad at the same time. World War II is a very interesting war to learn about especially the Holocaust, but it's really sad. I don't read history books very often, but when I do I love it. It's really interesting to learn about different things from the past.

[kaotickitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry. The stories which were/are true life, we informative. This is definitely a book for 4th graders to adults to read. We must learn the stories of injustice to stop it’s spreading.

[Virginia Freeman]

Nonfiction book 1 of 3... a humbling, horrible story of 7 people's account of Holocaust survival from when they were children. Each chapter narrates a different experience and provides a brief present day update at the end.

[Alexis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the writing style.I also didn't like the way that there was so many stories inside, I think I just wanted more from it and it didn't give that to me.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was very interesting. The heart-wrenching stories had a big impact on my thoughts,and previous knowledge of the Holocaust.

[Kassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought these stories in this book is a variety of different taste like survival, mystery, and it's based around true stories but putted into the authors words.

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

My final book for 2017. The stories of these brave children will take your breath away make you cry and let you know how mentally and physically strong they are.

[Amanda Mccall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad story but great in that all the stories are true. Loved hearing about where these people are now. Perseverance at its finest.

[Frankie K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda liked this book. Although I don't really like books like this, I thought it was interesting to know more facts about the Holocaust.

[Jaylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was graphic at times, and I would say Grades 5+. It is nice how it has real stories and gives afterword.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I read Escape as a book group selection with 5th grade students. Important, historical and heartbreaking

[Heyla Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was very moving, and very eye opening about what World War Two was really like. The book is about different children that were captured, and escaped during the holocaust.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gives a detailed account some children's experiences during the Holocaust. It is an important read for children in grade 6 and up.

[Nicole Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! Each chapter was a short story about a child who suffered during the holocaust. I loved reading about those events from the perspective of a child.

[k · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disheartening how inhumanely Jews were treated, not even sparing children. A reoccurrence whenever I read such nonfictions like this, my faith crumbles.

[Anthony Caracciolo]

I rate it a 4 star and I recommend to kids that are in to history and war stuff

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting stories about children who survived the Holocaust. I liked that the author included what these children became as adults.

[Hollis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zullo's Escape is a marvelous book and I would definitely recommend it. This book is great for anyone interested in the Holocaust especially the people and children of the Holocaust. This is a graphic book that contains very sad and gruesome content but if you can get past that is a very amazing book.