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A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe
by Steve Sheinkin
Book Reviewed by:From three-time National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor author Steve Sheinkin, a true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust - one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, plotting escape.
It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely.
Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe: the methodical mass killing of Jewish prisoners. As trains full of people arrive daily, Rudi knows that the murders won't stop until he reveals the truth to the world―and that each day that passes means more lives are lost.
Lives like Rudi's schoolmate Gerta Sidonová. Gerta's family fled from Slovakia to Hungary, where they live under assumed names to hide their Jewish identity. But Hungary is beginning to cave under pressure from German Nazis. Her chances of survival become slimmer by the day.
The clock is ticking. As Gerta inches closer to capture, Rudi and his friend Alfred Wetzler begin their crucial steps towards an impossible escape.
This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives.
1
RUDI WOULD FIND A WAY to fight Adolf Hitler. It can be said, without risk of exaggeration, that he would go on to be—while still a teenager—one of the great heroes of the entire Second World War.
But not in a way he ever could have imagined.
Growing up in the Central European country of Czechoslovakia, Rudolf Vrba's life was pretty good. Pretty normal. He liked school, especially science. He and his friends—some Jewish, some Christian—went to movies and soccer matches.
Sure, Rudi was aware of Europe's long history of prejudice against Jews. He'd hear the occasional antisemitic joke in the market—someone would be bargaining with a merchant, and they'd say, "What are you? A Jew or a human?"
It was ignorant and cruel. But this too was normal. All part of life for a Jewish kid.
Rudi was aware of Adolf Hitler, of course. No one could avoid hearing about Hitler, the fascist leader in Germany with the little square mustache, ranting and raving about Jews,...
Although he escapes with his friend Fred Wetzler, the book's focus remains on Rudi. This allows the reader to see Rudi's remarkable development across the book. In just two years, he is transformed from a rebellious and angsty teenager who leaves home in a rush of adrenaline with no real plan to a prison-hardened young man who has to calculate his every move to ensure he is not killed. Sheinkin's writing, while exhilarating, is also very chilling as he describes the Nazis' final solution in depth. He reminds young readers why contemplating the Holocaust is so important today...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Aditi Upadhyaya).
Alan Gratz, New York Times–bestselling author of Allies
Impossibly riveting, impossibly heartbreaking, impossibly inspiring. Impossible Escape should be required reading for every human being. Eliot Schrefer, New York Times–bestselling author of Endangered
This riveting account of individual survival amid politically motivated persecution works equally well as a thriller, as a history, and as a warning. Masterful.The Second World War has been written about extensively from many different points of view. However, the history of this war is filled with unheard stories of individual heroes who played a significant role in their own way. Here are six books, some memoirs and some fiction based on true stories, that recount the tales of these unsung bravehearts.
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
Based on true stories of female pilots in World War II, this young adult novel explores the status of women and racial minorities in the United States at the time and how their situations evolved rapidly due to the war. The protagonist, Ida Mae Jones, is a Black woman who hopes to enlist in the newly established Women Airforce Service Pilots to fight in the war...
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If you liked Impossible Escape, try these:
by Elana K. Arnold
Published 2024
From Michael L. Printz honoree & National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold comes the harrowing story of a young girl's struggle to survive the Holocaust in Romania.
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Published 2022
"All around me, my friends are talking, joking, laughing. Outside is the camp, the barbed wire, the guard towers, the city, the country that hates us.
We are not free.
But we are not alone."
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