A fine book to safely inform young minds about the Holocaust
Israeli author Malka Adler Earned her degrees in educational counseling from Bar Ilan University and serves as a family and couples’ therapist. She is a prolific writer and her books to date include THE POLISH GIRL, THE BROTHERS OF AUSCHWITZ, TOGETHER OUT OF THE NAZI INFERNO, and this novel that shares the Holocaust with children – THE BOY WHO JUMPED OFF THE TRAIN.
While there are many books explaining the Holocaust and the lasting effects on survivors and their descendants, the subject is more difficult to share with children: the ‘never, ever forget, always remember’ aspect of that historic event may be difficult for children to understand, but the importance to remember requires informing them. Malka has achieved that hurdle by relating the Holocaust through the eyes of a child and allows children to enter this important arena of history. Her book is enhanced with illustrations by Jaakov Guterman.
Condensing the story line follows: ‘Itzhak is a young teen in Hungary when the Nazis barge into his home one day and force him and his family to leave everything behind and get on a train to a concentration camp. When Itzhak is separated from his entire family, he is left feeling scared and alone. With no one to talk to and no one to look after him, Itzhak knows that he will have to be strong – and very brave – to survive the war and be reunited with his family. But can he manage to do it on his own?’
An excerpt from the book – as Grandpa relates his Holocaust experience to his grandson – indicates the sensitivity of Malka’s writing: ‘When I was a boy, Hungary was going through bad times. The Nazis got into power in Germany and declared war on other countries, The Germans occupied Hungary, and they threw us, the Jews, out of our homes. They transported us in trains to a concentration camp and there they separated the families. They sent me, papa Israel, and my older siblings, Sarah, Abraham and Dov to work in labor camps in different places. We had to work very hard. Mama Leah and my grandfather and grandmother, together with all the old people, were left in the concentration camp…’ With that degree of cautious explanation, this book informs children of the history in a manner that allows them to absorb without trauma.
The book is well written and provides an exceptionally accessible way to explain the Holocaust to children. Highly recommended.