11 WWII Fiction Novels

This is part of a series called 11 Lists of 11 Books. I have read all books unless otherwise noted.

Daniel's Story by Carol Matas - Holocaust
Part Elie Wiesel and part Anne Frank, Daniel's Story is the story of young teenager Daniel. The chapters are divided into 4 chapters: Pictures of Frankfurt, Pictures of Lodz, Pictures of Auschwitz, and Pictures From Buchenwald. The story opens with 14 year old Daniel in a train, headed to a place no an unknown destination. Their journey from the Lodz Ghetto to death camp Auschwitz to concentration camp Buchenwald is told in an unflinching but age-appropriate manner. I really enjoyed this memoir, and it has a few good life lessons I really appreciated.
The USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) created an exhibit dedicated to the children of the Holocaust, and they named it Daniel's Story, after the book. Although this exhibit is no longer available, it can be seen here.

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti - German Resistance

Helmuth Hübener is my political hero. I love him so much, I featured him in my Ten World War II Heroes series. This is his fictional biography. Teenager Helmuth and two friends secretly created an anti-Nazi pamphlet and spread it all over Germany. This book gives an accurate portrayal on  how he became involved in his own resistance, what he must have felt in prison, and the courage he had that so many other adults didn't.

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz and Jack Gruener - Holocaust
If I could meet any three living Holocaust survivors, Jack Gruener would be on this list. Jack (Yanek) Gruener survived a ghetto, two death marches - and ten concentration camps. (all before his 18th birthday)
What set this apart from every other Holocaust memoir/novel I've read was Jack's humanity. He never gives up despite overwhelming odds. He has multiple chances to steal from fellow inmates, but refuses to.
This book is a true story. To make it more interesting, Gratz added some fictional dialogue but the story as a whole is true. The parts I know are true include: Jack hiding in the barracks from Amon Göth, Jack surviving ten concentration camps, Jack asking the kapo for bread on a death march, and Jack surviving.

Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff - Home Front (America)

Willow Run was a real plant in Michigan during WWII that manufactured B-24 Liberator bombers. And it is the place 11 year-old Meggie has to live after her father gets a job there. Her brother is in the army and her uncle is German, making him a target for bullies. Meggie is a relatable, very real character with struggles, dreams, and fears.

Escape from Warsaw by Ian Serraillier - Poland
Originally titled "The Silver Sword"
Joseph is sent to a prison camp for being anti-Nazi and his wife is deported to Germany. Joseph escapes and heads to Switzerland and sends his three children - Ruth, Edek, and Bronia - to meet him in Switzerland. The book is loosely based on a true story.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne - Holocaust

I'll admit, this novel is unrealistic at times. I mean, the German son of a Nazi officer doesn't know who Hitler is, children use English words unrealistically, and two children would never be able to go near barbed wire in a concentration camp without getting shot. However, I believe it is the message Boyne conveys that makes this so powerful.
Eight year-old Bruno is enjoying his privileged life in Germany. When his family moves to Out-With, (Auschwitz, an infamous concentration camp) Bruno soon becomes bored and meets a young Jewish boy across the barbed-wire fence - Shmuel. Shmuel (Hebrew for "Samuel") is 8 as well, and the two become fast friends. Shmuel and Bruno are very similar, both are the exact same age, have the same birthday, both are sweet and innocent. Their only difference is they are of a different race.
Although not gory at all, this heartbreaking story's ending will shock you. The movie very closely matches to the book. I believe everyone should read this book or watch the movie. Never forget.

MAJOR SPOILER AND LESSON: In the end, young Bruno and Shmuel are both gassed as the two search for Shmuel's father. I strongly believe the message here is prejudice hurts everyone, not just the victim. The second message is hatred is taught. Children aren't born hating another person simply because of race.

Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams - Holocaust

It's 1942. Korinna is one of millions of German children caught in the fanatical Hitler Youth. However, Korinna's parents couldn't disagree more with Hitler and his fanatical ideas - they have a Jewish family hidden in Korinna's bedroom wall. From a young age, Hitler Youth were encouraged to turn in anyone anti-Nazi, including their own parents. Will Korinna turn her parents in, or will they get caught on their own? If they do, what happens to Korinna?

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - Danish Resistance
This Newbery Winner tells the story of the Danish Resistance. In real life, the Danish Resistance rescued 99% of its Jewish population. This story is about the fictional Annemarie Johansen, who helps her Jewish friend and neighbor Ellen escape to the neutral Sweden. A great story of courage!

Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff - America

Growing up on the home front, ten-year-old Lily has the perfect life. Until her father is drafted. Sent away to live with her grandmother, Lily meets young refugee, Albert, and the two become friends. Conflict centers on Lily's bad habit, lying. Patricia Reilly Giff is a very talented writer and how Lily's story unfolds is both interesting and unique.


Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev - Holocaust
Could your 8 year-old self live in a forest - alone - undercover - and with only one arm?
Srulik is a young Jew who goes undercover as a Pole. He faces many challenges - finding food, avoiding anti-Semitism, the Nazis, the harsh Polish winters. As if that wasn't hard enough, this courageous 8 year-old loses his arm in an accident. Genesis 17 was a major problem for all Jewish boys in hiding. Surlik, like every other Jewish male, is circumcised. This comes up quite a few times in the story, along with a few profanities. Taking this out, this is a fantastic novel. Oh, and did I mention it is based on a true story?


Farewell to Manzaner by Jeanne Houston - Japanese Internment Camps
The Journal of Ben Uchida, citizen #13559, Mirror Lake, California - a Dear America Book
Both of these books cover Japanese internment camps, and both of these are fiction. I haven't read either of these, but have heard nothing but positive feedback on both. If you've read these, let me know what you think!

Other WWII novels for the age range that I have read but weren't my top favorites include: 

- Once by Morris Gleitzman (I've read the sequels are better)

- Snow Treasure by McSwigan (great plot, okay writing style)

-When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr (slow, but good)

I happen to read more WWII nonfiction than WWII fiction.

What are your favorite WWII fiction novels for the designated age range?

10 WWII Heroes: Jack Werber 10/10

Historical photos are not mine. They are used for educational purposes. I own all other photographs. You may use all of my photographs, as long as proper credit is given.

This is the tenth in a ten part series about the heroes of World War II. You can view the introduction and table of contents to this series here.

At the beginning of each story I will give a maturity rating from 1-5. 1 means the story is appropriate for younger ages, and 5 means it is appropriate for teens and up. This story is rated 4.5.

Well, this is the last post! I hope you all enjoyed this series! I had lots of fun writing it! And, I learned quite a bit through my in-depth research.

Jack Werber is by far the least-known person I have featured so far. However, his story, and that of the Buchenwald Resistance is so amazing I had to include it in here.

Born in 1914, Jack Werber grew up in Radom, Poland. Out of a hundred thousand residents in pre-WWII Radom, only about a third were Jewish. His mother died when he was five, and being the youngest of eight siblings he was often spoiled.

Before the war began, Jack was active in Zionist movements, planning to get to Palestine (now Israel). To get to Palestine, each person needed a certificate from the British. (The British owned Palestine at the time) Married couples were preferred because they could share a certificate. Because of this, some people faked a marriage to share a certificate. It was in this time of his life Jack met Rachel Weintraub. She was a devoted Zionist and the two had a lot in common. They married in 1937, and planned to go to Palestine. However, Jack's father did not want his youngest child to leave so far away. So instead, the two stayed in Poland and in 1938, they had a baby girl they named Emma.

In September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland, starting World War II. Jack, among other Jews, was promptly arrested at random was was taken to the concentration camp Buchenwald. At first, Jack's only concern was working and surviving. However, in 1942, Jack was asked if he wanted to join the Buchenwald International Underground. He accepted, and his first job was to find out if inmates in charge were abusing their position. If they were, Jack would report them, and then the person would be replaced.

Liberation. Werber is on the far right. 

The Buchenwald Resistance

Originally run by German communists and social democrats in the early 1940s, by the end of the war the Buchenwald Resistance ran the majority of the camp and eventually liberated it as the Americans drew near.
Since the Nazis were lazy and couldn't run the whole camp, Buchenwald was run by "prisoner functionaries", which were basically prisoners in charge of other prisoners. Many of these prisoners were criminals, mostly convicted murderers. They of course were hated by the other inmates. The Buchenwald Resistance began catching these murderers in crimes (such as stealing), get them sent to the quarry (certain death), and then the resistance would replace these inmates with political prisoners - more humane people.

Saving 700 children

The Nazis began sending masses of Jewish people to concentration camps in mid 1944 to 1945. Until then, Jack had no knowledge of his wife, Rachel or his daughter, Emma. In 1944, a friend had told him that both his wife and daughter were murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp. Jack was heart broken.

Buchenwald children at liberation

But something happened in August of that same year. A train full of about seven hundred young boys, ages six to sixteen, arrived at the camp. One of these boys was the Novel-Peace Prize winning author Elie Wiesel. Seeing these young children brought back memories of Emma, and with the resistance, Jack became fanatical about saving them. The non-Jewish underground did not oppose to this, but children were not as great a priority as politicals and other adults. Jack, however, made it his mission to save as many children as possible.
The children were hidden all over the camp, with very few actually working. For the undocumented children, food came from the medical building and the prisoners who had German wives that sent them food. Jack was a barrack secretary and cared for about 150 children in Block 23. Gustav Schiller, who many recall with kindness, was the block leader of Block 66, where Elie Wiesel was.
Starting in September 1944, there was even a makeshift school that was set up for some of the children. The children learned Yiddish, Hebrew, poetry and history. Jack remembers one eight year-old refuse to go to classes, saying, "Why should I go to school? I won't come out alive anyway."
The children were always kept in the barracks, and great measures were taken to prevent the Nazis from entering the barracks. The main excuse was with all the diseases, the Nazis were sure to catch something if they entered the barrack.

As the Americans cornered the camp, the Nazis fled. The heavily armed resistance took over the camp. At last, on April 11, 1945, they were liberated - and 700 children were saved. Jack had survived 5.5 years in Buchenwald. The Americans were met joyously and gave them food and medical relief. Photos of Buchenwald child survivors can be found here. (no graphic images)

While searching for relatives, Jack met camp survivor Millie Drezner, and married her in January 1946 and the two moved to the United States in May of that year. Jack made a huge profit from the Davy Crockett fad in the 1950s and later invested that money in real estate. He and Millie lived very happily for sixty years. Jack and Millie were interviewed by USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) in 1989. This interview can be found here.

In late November 2006, Jack died of a heart attack in New York. He was 92 years old. He has told his story in his brutal, unflinching memoir Saving Children. Millie recently wrote a memoir called Two Rings, and although I didn't like it as much as Saving Children, it includes more post-war stories than Jack's memoir. There is a documentary called The Boys of Buchenwald about the rescue, but I have not seen it. For some reason, the rescue and resistance seems to be little-known and few books or documentaries have been dedicated to the subject. Since I have and will continue to find amazing little-known stories like this, I suppose my research of World War II will never be over.

--

In memory of all the inmates in Buchenwald, the resistance, and those who lived to bear witness.

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Thank you so much!

10 WWII Heroes: Stefania Podgorska 9/10

Historical photos are not mine. They are used for educational purposes. I own all other photographs. You may use all of my photographs, as long as proper credit is given.

This is the ninth in a ten part series about the heroes of World War II. You can view the introduction and table of contents to this series here.

At the beginning of each story I will give a maturity rating from 1-5. 1 means the story is appropriate for younger ages, and 5 means it is appropriate for teens and up. This story is rated 3.

This post was originally going to be about Tuvia Bielski and the Bielski partisans. However, I have been writing all fair week for the fair newsletter and didn't have the time to research for the Bielski's.  There are many resources on the Bielski's and I may write about them in the future.

Helene and Stefania Podgorska

Stefania (otherwise known as Fusia) Podgorska was born in 1925 in Poland. She grew up on a farm in a good Catholic family. Stefania's father died in 1938 from an illness, so their mother was left to raise seven children alone.

In 1939, she moved with her sister in Pryzemysl, Poland. At the time, she was 14. She found a job at a grocery store run by a Jewish family, the Diamants. When the Germans invaded, she moved in with them. The Germans occupied Pryzemysl in June 1941, when Stefania was 16.

All roads were blocked, so to Stefania's despair, she could not go home to see if her family was okay. Months later, when she finally left the Diamants, she rushed home, only to find out her mother and brother had been taken to Germany as slave laborers. Her terrified 6 year-old sister, Helene, was staying with neighbors. Stefania and her sister stayed in their home comfortably. 1942 brought news of the liquidation of the ghetto and Stefania desperately wanted to help her friends. At the time, she was helping trade the Diamants' valuables for food.

Max Diamant

Time passed. Stefania heard a knock on the door, and in came a strange man – crying and bleeding terribly. It was the son of the Diamants, Max. He had frantically jumped out of a cattle car headed to the concentration camp Belzec, with only a loaf of bread underneath his shirt cushioning his fall. He had gone to multiple non-Jewish friends, but none would help him. Max begged Stefania to hid him, and Stefania readily agreed. Helene, although a bit uncertain at first, agreed to keep the secret.

Stefania planned to hid him for the night, but a night soon turned into days and days quickly turned to weeks. As anyone, Max had friends and family he was desperate to save. Much to Stefania's distress,  Max promised his brother's fiance that Stefania would hide them. Those people began telling others that Stefania would hide them, and those people told “just one or two” others. Stefania began praying, looking for a bigger house. Her search led to renting a large cottage with two rooms, a large kitchen, and a large attic. Max built a fake wall in the attic, concealing the Jews. When one looked in the attic, one would see the fake wall. Pretty soon, Stefania and Helene had thirteen Jews hidden in the upstairs attic.

The most notable part of Stefania's story was one of the rescues. Stefania was hiding two Jewish children, and the children's fathers bribed a postman to help them escape from the ghetto and take them to Stefania's house. A few minutes after they were supposed to be there, two Polish police officers and two German police officers surrounded her house! Stefania and Max anxiously awaited for three hours before Stefania decided to ask them what they were doing.

The officers wouldn't tell her, but Stefania was firm and undaunted. They finally told her they had a tip that two Jews were going to escape the ghetto, but they didn't believe it. “Orders are orders,” one of them said.

Stefania went to a church to pray. When she went back to her house, it was a different ambiance. The policemen were gone, and a few minutes later the postman arrived.

Relief flooded everyone, and the postman told his story – he had gotten lost!

On a strict rationing system, Stefania quickly realized feeding thirteen people would be a challenge. The main way to get food was through the black market, but you needed money or valuables. After much persistence, Stefania received a job at a German factory. She had a good Polish boyfriend, but was uncertain if he would keep her secret. She had a picture of a Nazi officer, and pretended she was dating him. Her boyfriend was speechless, and left. It broke Stefania's heart, but she believed she did the right thing.
One day, a German officer came to Stefania's door and decided to convert the place into a German hospital. She had only two hours to pack up her things and leave. She prayed, and a voice told her to stay, that everything would turn out alright in the end. Like clockwork, the German came and told her she wouldn't have to move. However, they were going to take over half of her cottage. Stefania faced dilemmas and angst on a daily basis. Her thirteen Jews had to be extremely quiet because the walls were very thin.
Spring came and the Russians began bombing their town, and all of the Germans fled her house in fear of being caught or bombed. Nurses urged her to come, but Stefania bravely refused. At last, on July 27, 1944, they were all free.
After two and a half years in the attic, all thirteen of the Jewish people Stefania hid had survived the war. After the war, Max asked Stefania to marry him and to his delight, she said yes. Max changed his name to Josef and the couple later moved to America. Max/Josef became a dentist. Helene became a physician and she still lives in Poland. In 1979, Stefania and Helene were awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

According to a thorough research, Stefania is still alive – living in California. Her story is featured in the movie Hidden in Silence. I recently found the movie for $1, and snatched it up!! This film is free on Amazon Prime. The movie is extremely accurate, down to how Stefania broke up with her boyfriend to the lady running out screaming because of typhus fever. I first heard about Stefania's story in the book Women Heroes of World War II by Kathryn Atwood, which was also a great book.

--

In memory of the Righteous Gentiles and the brave women who fought for freedom and justice.

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Thank you so much!

10 WWII Heroes: Eva Kor 7/10

Historical photos are not mine. They are used for educational purposes. I own all other photographs. You may use all of my photographs, as long as proper credit is given.

This is the seventh in a ten part series about the heroes of World War II. You can view the introduction and table of contents to this series here.

At the beginning of each story I will give a maturity rating from 1-5. 1 means the story is appropriate for younger ages, and 5 means it is appropriate for teens and up. This story is rated 3, with resources and teachers guide for middle schoolers.

Eva Kor (the little girl on the left)

Forgiveness is a topic that has been up for debate for ages. One of my favorite quotes is from Mahatma Gandhi: "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong." C.S. Lewis also rightly stated, "Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive."

Eva Mozes and her twin sister Miriam were born January 30, 1934. They were only five years old when Hitler invaded Poland, starting World War II. Her father was Alexander Mozes, a wealthy farmer. The Mozes' were the only Jewish family in their little village in Portz, Romania. Eva's father was sure the Nazis wouldn't care about them. "My father said as long as you say your prayers, did the good deeds that God wanted you to do, and lived so far away from the big city - that somehow we'd escape." Eva said. "The Nazis won't come here for six Jews." Eva's father was wrong.

In the spring of 1944, the family was taken to a ghetto, and a few weeks later they were on a 70-hour long trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Without food or water the entire trip, Eva and her family were stuffed in a cattle-car with the other Jews of the area. After being let off the at Auschwitz, chaos immediately erupted. Her father and two older sisters were lost in the chaos. Eva and Miriam clung to their mother. A guard began shouting, "twins! twins!". Eva and Miriam were dressed alike, and the guard immediately suspected they were twins. In an instant, the little girls were ripped from their mothers arms. Within thirty minutes, Eva and Miriam had lost their entire family.

Josef Mengele

Eva was determined to give the Nazis as much trouble as a ten year-old could give. It required four SS guards to hold her down as they tattooed A-7063 on her arm. She hysterically screamed for her mother. Although the guards told her she could see her mother soon, Eva knew they were lying and continued to scream louder.

The two girls were taken to Josef Mengele's lab for various experiments. Known as the Angel of Death, Mengele ran all of the selections at Auschwitz and performed bizarre experiments on the inmates to achieve the perfect "Aryan" race - blond, blue-eyed perfect Germans. Mengele was particularly interested in twins and wanted to find the secret of "twinning". Obviously, twins would build the German Master-race faster. Many, many people died brutally from Mengele's experiments.
Eva's first night in Auschwitz was grotesque and horrible. Firstly, a rat was in their barrack. Eva and Miriam were both horrified. Secondly and most horribly, there were the naked corpses of three little children on the dirty barrack latrine. Eva quickly realized this could happen to them, and something happened to her. She promised herself that she would not let Miriam or herself die.

Three times a week, the doctors injected various chemicals in the twins. They would often take blood from one arm, while simultaneously giving shots in the other. After one certain experiment, Eva became deathly ill and had a high fever. The next morning, Mengele told her had only two weeks to live. Eva knew if she died, Mengele would kill Miriam. Eva refused to die. For two weeks, Eva was in and out of consciousness - often faded in and out of unconsciousness on the way to the water faucet on the other side of the barrack. However, Eva fought back bravely, and survived.
On January 27, 1945, after nine months in Auschwitz, the Red Army (Soviet Union) liberated the camp. The Soviets found about 200 children in Auschwitz at liberation, nearly all were from Mengele's experiments.

Liberation, Eva and Miriam are in front

Over a course of nine months, Eva and Miriam were in three different refugee camps. In 1950, the two immigrated to Israel. Over the next ten years in Israel, Eva became a sergeant major in the Israeli Army. It was in Israel where Eva met Holocaust survivor and Michael Kor. Michael and Eva were married in 1960 in Tel Aviv.

Eva and Miriam, 1949

On the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, six Mengele twins visited Auschwitz and then went to a mock trial for Mengele in Jerusalem. The mock trial, with 80 twins participating, gained worldwide publicity and even more Mengele twins came forward.

Shortly after Miriam's death in 1993, Eva was asked by a professor to speak before a group of doctors. She agreed, but the professor asked her if she would bring a Nazi doctor with her. Eva's reply was, "Where do you think I can find a Nazi doctor? Last time I looked in the Yellow pages, they weren't advertising there."
But she did find a Nazi doctor, Hans Münch. Münch worked alongside Mengele in Auschwitz. Unlike most of the Nazi doctors, Münch was known for being humane to the inmates. He was the only one acquitted at the Auschwitz trials. Eva returned to Auschwitz with Hans Münch. Münch signed a documentation of the operation of the gas chambers. In 1995 Eva signed a declaration of amnesty and forgave everybody - most importantly Doctor Mengele. Many Holocaust survivors disagree with her for multiple reasons, but Eva describes forgiveness as self-healing - she did it more for herself than for the Nazis.

front: Michael Kor, Eva Kor,
back: Alex Kor, Rina Kor

What happened to Dr. Mengele, you may ask? When the Soviets overtook Auschwitz, he burned most of his research papers, packed the rest of his experiments and papers in a briefcase, and fled to Argentina. He became an (illegal) abortionist in Argentina, and was shortly tried after a woman died from one of the abortions. After Adolf Eichmann was caught, tried, and hung in the 1960s, Mengele panicked and fled to Paraguay. On a raft in Brazil, he had a heart attack and drowned. He died in February 1979, without facing justice for his crimes.

Today, Eva Kor lives in Terre Haute, Indiana. She has two children, Alex and Rina. She founded a museum called CANDLES: Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors. She speaks all around the world to young people about the Holocaust. She has written two memoirs, one for middle schoolers and up and another for adults. The one for younger readers is called Surviving the Angel of Death. You can get a free full teachers guide here. The one for older readers is called Echoes of Auschwitz. In her documentary Forgiving Dr. Mengele, she describes her life and other Mengele twins' reactions to her forgiveness. To hear her story, here is a 30-minute documentary where Eva tells her story. She has truly dedicated her life to teaching the importance of forgiveness, self-healing, and tolerance.

I am blessed to have met Eva Kor in person; on April 16, 2013. You can read about my experience here. The experience, albeit brief, was unforgettable. She even signed her memoir Echoes of Auschwitz for me.

Eva has five life lessons she believes in. In her own words, they are:

1. Never, EVER give up.

2. Prevent prejudice by judging people only on their actions and content of their character.

3. Forgive your worst enemy - it will heal your soul and set you free.

4. Give your parents an extra hug and kiss for us children who had or have no parents.

5. Each of us has an important part to play in repairing the world. May tikkun olam ("repairing the world" in Hebrew) begin with me!

--

In memory of Eva Kor's family, the 1.2 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust, and the three million survivors of the Holocaust.

If you enjoyed this post, please comment and share this post! It means a lot. 

Thank you so much!

10 WWII Heroes: Irena Sendler 3/10

"Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights  and heroic courage. Otherwise, you are making their destiny not brighter, but darker." -C.S. Lewis

Historical photos are not mine. They are used for educational purposes. I own all other photographs. You may use all of my photographs, as long as proper credit is given.

This is the third in a ten part series about the heroes of World War II. You can view the introduction and table of contents to this series here.

At the beginning of each story I will give a maturity rating from 1-5. 1 means the story is appropriate for younger ages, and 5 means it is appropriate for teens and up. This story is rated 1 and can be used with younger children. (See resources below)

Irena Sendler, 1942 (public domain)

The Warsaw Ghetto, opened in 1940, was the largest ghetto during Nazi Germany, holding over 500,000 Polish Jews. During that time, Germans were allowed 2,613 calories, gentile Poles were allowed 700 calories, and Jews were allowed only 184 calories. (Three slices of white bread is approximately 184 calories.) Along with starvation and malnutrition, another issue in the ghetto was lice. In conditions as horrific as the Warsaw Ghetto, typhus, among other diseases, was common. Typhus, spread from lice feces, is one of the worst diseases because it spreads like wildfire. These were the conditions Jews were forced to live in, and many gentiles simply chose to avoid this part of town. But not Irena.

Tall Nazi guards loomed over the heavy-guarded entrance of the Warsaw Ghetto. But a young Catholic social worker, who was not even five feet tall, was not daunted. She was on a mission. Many lives
depended on the success of this mission, and she risked execution and torture. She would quickly stroll into the Warsaw ghetto, take a Jewish baby out, hide her in a tool box, face the Nazi guards and pretend nothing was wrong, and give the baby to a loving Polish-Catholic family. She would do this, and similar actions, 2,500 times within eighteen months. (yes, two thousand five hundred times)

Her name was Irena Sendler. Her inspiration came from her father. Irena's father devoted his post-WWI life to help impecunious Jews suffering from typhus. He died of typhus when Irena was seven, but she remembered he strongly believed in always helping others, regardless of religion and nationality. As soon as the Nazis began persecuting Jews, Irena began forging documents and offering food and shelter to Jews. But for Irena, this wasn't good enough. In fact, this was nothing. When the Warsaw Ghetto opened, Irena had had enough. She had to do more.

With help from 25 other social workers, Irena did her official job in the Warsaw Ghetto, looking for sick and contagious Jews, as well as look for Jewish children to get out. What first began with rescuing orphans living on the ghetto streets turned into asking random Jewish parents to give up their children.

Imagine having to give up your children to a stranger of another religion - not knowing if you would ever see them again. Imagine the thought of your child being converted, of getting caught without you being there to comfort them. There was no guarantee these Jewish children would make it out of the ghetto, never mind survive the war.

There were two main ways out of the ghetto and into Warsaw that Irena smuggled out the children - an old courthouse and a church. Older children, who could memorize Catholic prayers, were smuggled through the church. Younger children and babies were hidden in sacks, tool boxes, or under a potato

Irena Sendler

cart and smuggled through the old courthouse. Sometimes she was able to legally get a severely ill child out with an ambulance. Other times she used the ambulance to get healthy children out. If a hidden baby cried near the Ghetto wall, Irena trained her dog to bark and drown out the baby's cries. The dog's barking would hit a chain reaction and the Nazis would let Irena pass due to the chaos. Because many of the children were under false names, Irena wrote each child's identity and other information on slips of paper and kept them in a jar, which she buried under an apple tree. After the war, she planned on retrieving the slips and reuniting the children with their parents. Sadly, nearly all of the children's parents had died in the concentration camp Treblinka. Nearly 800,000 Jews lost their lives at Treblinka.

On October 20, 1943; Irena was arrested at her home. For several days, she was tortured mercilessly before being sentenced to death. Members of the resistance who she worked with bribed guards to let her go. Irena Sendler and the 2,500 children she rescued survived the war.

After the war, Irena was nominated, and won, several awards. In 2003 she received Poland's highest honor, the Order of the White Eagle. In October 1965, she was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Israel's official Holocaust memorial, Yad VaShem. (Righteous Among the Nations was a title given to gentiles who rescued Jews during the Holocaust). She was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize in 2007, but lost to Al Gore. Although not many people are happy about this, Irena Sendler would have insisted she had better things to worry about.
Irena claims to have done nothing doing the war. "Heroes do extraordinary things. What I did was not an extraordinary thing. It was normal." she says.
Sadly, Irena Sendler died May 12, 2008, at the age of 98. May the memory of Irena and the children she saved always be a reminder of what one person can do.

Anna Paquin in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

Irena smuggling out her friend Carolina.

In 2009, her story was told in the Hallmark Hall of Fame film The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. You can view this film on YouTube here. (If you don't like it in parts, it has been uploaded multiple times as a whole.) Even better, you can buy it here. This would make a great film for middle schoolers and up. There is violence, but it's not graphic and mostly offscreen. There is no profanity, but there is one scene when Irena and her future husband kiss (somewhat passionately) in a closet (think: The Princess Diaries 2), but nothing explicit happens.

Two picture books have featured Irena's story; both I would recommend for younger children.
The first one is Irena Sendler and the Warsaw Ghetto by Susan Goldman Rubin. The second one is Irena's Jars of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan.
If I had to pick one though, Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto has better pictures. Both are appropriate for kindergarten and up, and the Holocaust is dealt with appropriately in both. To see the nearest library that has these books, click here.

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In memory of Irena Sendler, all of the social workers who helped her, and the twenty-five hundred Jewish children and their families - may their valor and sacrifice never be forgotten.

If you enjoyed this post, please comment and share this post! It means a lot. 

Thank you so much!

10 WWII Heroes: Their Stories, Legacies, & Lessons

"Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” --- C. S. Lewis

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In this series, you will meet:

• A teenager and her young sister who had 13 Jews in their attic for 2.5 years.
• An Olympian who survived 47 days on a raft without food or water and a Japanese prison camp, and came to Christ afterwards.
• Three Geman teenagers who spread illegal pamphlets with the truth about Nazi Germany.
• A group who saved 700 children - in a concentration camp.
• A Catholic who attempted to assassinate Hitler - and nearly succeeded.

I believe in teaching the Holocaust through its heroes.

The Holocaust is a tough subject, and it should be. Eleven million people, nearly six million of them Jews, were brutally murdered for no reason. On the other hand, it seems the most necessary topics are the toughest. We must learn from the Holocaust. We cannot ignore it.

Albert Einstein said, "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." From lots of research, I believe a main factor in the Holocaust was the bystanders; the people who shut their doors and plugged their ears because they wanted to shelter their children or because they were feeling guilty.

Sure, courage isn't easy. Look at Esther, Daniel, Moses. It took some severe courage for Esther to stand before the King. And Daniel needed courage to say he would pray to no one but his God. But when you have courage, it seems all of the other virtues come naturally. Speaking up is not always the easiest thing to do. But, the wisest decisions are not always the easiest.

A few days ago, for the first time, I watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie. The episode was "The Craftsman". Young Albert started an apprenticeship under an elderly Jewish man, and he is getting teased. Albert's father gave him (and his sister) some wise words: "If you don't speak up to people, bigots, then you're no better than they are. Worse, in fact. Because you know that its wrong and you allow them to think you feel the same things they do."

The Holocaust did not start with a concentration camp. It started with a brick being thrown into a Jewish store, an attack on a Jewish child. If more people would have stood up when the little things were happening, the big things might not have happened.

We can learn two important things from the Holocaust.

We can learn from the bystanders - and teach our children to fight injustice. Some people think that by being silent, they are staying neutral and aren't causing any trouble. 

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said this best, "Silence only helps the oppressor." The bystanders - who plugged their ears and shut their eyes - did nothing to prevent it from happening. Pretending the Holocaust didn't exist didn't prevent it from happening. 

We can learn about tolerating others' beliefs - Respecting and tolerating other people's beliefs does not mean you have to agree with the beliefs you tolerate. Although I do not understand everything about Jewish culture, I can still respect and love the Jewish culture, despite our different beliefs. Judaism has A LOT to teach and offer. The Jews aren't "bad" people, their beliefs are simply different than mine. Holocaust survivor Eva Kor said it best - judge based on actions, character and morals rather than race, gender, or religion.

Learning from History: Why I Study World War II and the Holocaust

I first began my Holocaust research with: Where are all the good guys???? Why didn't anyone help the victims??? I study the Holocaust and WWII for two reasons. Reason number one is because I want to learn from history. We NEED to learn from history. I want to be the one helping the victims, even if its just by writing a few papers. I do not want to be a bystander in any which way or form.

Secondly, I want to remember and praise the courageous men and women who stood up to Hitler. They, and the victims, are worth remembering. In the midst cruelty and brutality, it is nice to know there are still good, virtuous people in the world like Moses, Daniel, and Esther. That thought is very comforting. Whether the person threw food to Jewish prisoners, began an anonymous anti-Nazi pamphlet, or hid Jews in their basement - any act of resistance was courageous and worth noting.

I will be doing a series of posts throughout the month of July featuring courageous, inspirational heroes during World War II. 

The heroes I am featuring will be:

1. Miracles Still Happen: Diet Eman - A young Christian who was in the Resistance, and who met Corrie ten Boom in a concentration camp.
2. All In His Hands: Louie Zamperini - An Olympian who survived 47 days on an inflated raft without food or water, and survived 2 years as a POW.
3. The Jar of Life: Irena Sendler - A Catholic social worker who smuggled and rescued 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto; one at a time.
4. Words, Not Guns: Helmuth Hübener - Mormon teenager who spread anti-Nazi pamphlets with two of his friends
5. For God and Country: Claus von Stauffenberg - A Nazi officer who plotted to kill Hitler in the (in)famous July 20th plot.
6. We Will Not Be Silent: Sophie Scholl - A group of young adults who started a resistance and spread anti-Nazi leaflets.
7. The Power of Forgiveness: Eva Kor - A child Holocaust survivor and Mengele twins who went back to forgive the Nazis for their crimes
8. A Company of Heroes: Richard Winters - The famous leader of Easy Company (AKA Band of Brothers)
9. The Mystery Behind the Attic Wall: Stefania Podgorska - The story of a young Catholic teenager who hid 13 Jews in her attic!
10. Resilience and Rescue: Jack Werber - A Jewish Holocaust survivor who saved the lives of 700 children - while in a concentration camp. 

At the beginning of each story I will give a maturity rating from 1-5. 1 means the story is appropriate for younger ages, and 5 means it is appropriate for teens and up. 

My first post will be on July 1, 2013. You can follow me on my blog Pinterest board or subscribe.

HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR OTHER WORLD WAR II HEROES? DO YOU KNOW ANY STORIES OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS OR MEMBERS OF THE GREATEST GENERATION? LET ME KNOW! (Anonymous comments allowed)

Never forget and never again.