Young Survivors of the Holocaust

Ten True Tales

by Allan Zullo

This book contains ten unforgettable true stories of Jewish children who, through determination, bravery, and pure luck, survived the horrors of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust --
No way out: Chuna Grynbaum --
The Selektion terrors: Agnes "Agi" Laszlo --
Slow murder: Niutek Frajman --
Under the Nazi noose: Rachel Mutterperl --
The war name: Fritz Friedmann --
The lost tears: Iren Fogel --
Delivered from evil: Paula Koladicki --
The lie and the bear: Freddie Lessing --
To be human again: Martin Weiss --
The edge of desperation: Rozia Grosman

Genres: Nonfiction, Holocaust, Biography, World War II

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

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

[Kassandra Hickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 True Tales Young Survivors of the Holocaust by Allan Zullo tells 10 true stories about young children who went through very harsh conditions you can't even imagine, and then became free. In this book you travel with each character and learn about each one of their very unfortunate and terrible time at Jewish camps. You learn about their families, and of course you learn about how terribly they were treated by German soldiers. Each one of the survivors has their own stories of how they became free, and how they managed to survive.

This was a challenging book to read because it was so sad. It was incredible how badly each and every one of them were treated. How they survived, I do not know, it is truly remarkable. That being said, the book was a bit repetitive. Each chapter kind of told the same story of each person. I would recommend this book to kids in middle school. Any kids who are younger may get very scared. Honestly this book was very hard for me to read because it is so devastating how they were treated.

[Kami S · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐
This is actually written for children, but you can't really change the horrors from what they were. Each story was interesting and it's amazing there were any survivors. However, I got a little annoyed how each story started out the same way.. with the climax and then it would back up to explain what the child's life was like before and then go back into the climax. And several things were repeated story after story... like the shootings in the forest etc..I guess I didn't feel that they were necessary pertinent to each story. Overall, it was interesting, not the best book on the holocaust, but again, it was for kids too, but adults can get plenty from it.

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written book covering an event in history that many people seem to want to forget. Although listed as being for grades 5 though 8, parents should read the book and make the determination if they think their children are mature enough for the content. While Allan Zullo has eliminated some of the more graphic details, there is no way to leave out some of the more horrible details and still tell the stories so the truth of the Holocaust is relayed. I think everyone, regardless of their age, should read this book.

[Joelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised that this book was recommended for sixth graders, but decided to read it anyway as I was out of town and this was the only book I had with me that I hadn't read. I really wouldn't have been able to read this at that age, and I probably wouldn't recommend it for anyone under 14-15. The author doesn't hold back details, and it has graphic first-hand accounts of survivors of the Holocaust. And these weren't even some of the worst I've heard.

It's hard to swallow, but this was a good book and is written well for lower grade levels. (But again, as I said, I WOULD NOT have a little kid read this, especially if they are ahead of their reading level and are just looking for reading material. If your child is mature enough to grasp the concept of what happened and can handle this type of information, then I would still recommend that an adult/parent read it first to make sure they're comfortable with the child reading it.)

Regardless of my frustration with the recommended age level of this book; I was still impressed with the variety of accounts that were in this book. There were accounts of children who never were in concentration camps, there were accounts of children of non-practicing Jews, there were accounts of children who were never in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps, there were accounts of children who joined partisans or the resistance, and there were even accounts of children who changed their identity and religion to survive. The author also makes it clear at the beginning of the book that while the book focuses on the survival stories and perseverance of the Jewish; many who went through the same thing were gays, lesbians, dwarves, Romanis, Jehovah's Witnesses, the disabled, and people who were noticeably different.

[Haley Kilgour · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book did a great job of putting a very hard topic into words so that kids can really understand.

I know a lot of research went into this book, so I have a lot of respect for the author there.

I know for me, this book brought to light the stories of child survivors I didn’t know of. So I’ll definitely be checking to see if any of them wrote their own memoirs.

The stories were an appropriate length for kids while still painting a clear, accurate, and detailed account of what they went through.

[Zarah]

The book Young Survivors of the holocuast, by Allen Zullo in such a suspenseful book. If you like to be left on a cliffhanger in between chapters. I totally recommend that you read this book. This book reminds me of So Far from Bamboo Grove because they are both about war and they both have a very powerful meaning behind them. So if you like reading nonfiction, true stories then I recommend this book to those types of readers. I also recommend this book to 6th-7th graders

[Aline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I knew this would be a difficult read emotionally. I had to set it down a few times just to process what I had read.

Amazing stories and very detailed accounts that paint a very grim picture of what it was like for Jewish people during WWII. Strongly recommend. Please be aware that these stories do not gloss over or sugar coat the terrible things that happened during the Holocaust - best for 5th/6th grade and up.

[Sierra Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another book containing the stories of Jewish children in the Holocaust. I've read quite a few, but this is one of my favorites because it was very well done.

[Mica Heslop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thing this book is the best, knowing that that survivor but the hobble things happen to them masks it interesting. So I rate it a 5/5

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book

[Benjamin Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay

[Anna Pfaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

#Sad

[Nelly Santiago Solano · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read it all. but it was good while it lasted.it not really for me.

[Kiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was well written. I read each of the stories in between other books. They were a good 20 minute read each.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book. I love how 10 complete stranger all have 1 thing in common (to survive the holocaust). It amazes me how such young kids had to mature so fast and survived that beast of Hitler.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book. It’s a book more for middle schoolers. The stories in the book are from actual survivors.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read before I use this book for my students. Good insight to experiences from a range of children during the holocaust

[Jennifer VanderWielen 🩰 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story’s

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book three stars because it was interesting,but the way the Nazis treated these people is what made me cry.

[Dakota G.]

    During my first reading I really thought how is it possible that these people could make it out of their hard situations. I the first story the boy losing all of his family including his sister he still wants to escape and go to his relatives in America. For the rest of the book it is really repeats the same story. They have their parents taken away from the and they and they have to survive with their siblings. One story did not follow this the parents shipped the boy to to England but he escaped after two weeks by sneaking back on the bus. He got caught by the conductor of the train but he said that he could keep on riding on the train. The end of the book has really made me want to read more about the Holocaust. It really shows how hard it was for the Jews to escape from being captured. If you do not know that much about what is was like for everybody in the Holocaust mainly the Jews. If you do not like reading about the Holocaust this book will really change your mind and make you want to read about the Germans and the Jews and their stories about the Holocaust. In conclusion read this book if you want to learn more about what the Germans did to most of the Jews if they were caught.

[Renee Zennaiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allan Zullo writes non fiction for kids who need variety and he does it again with this topic.

[Lynette]

Sad, sad, sad - but a book everyone should read. Inspiring tales of young children living through the worst that life could deal them, yet they remain unbroken and keen to educate others so this may never happen again.

[Kacey Crum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad storys of 10 children being ripped from their families but at the end found peace when the US showed up or they escaped. I put myself in their shoes to see what I would have felt like back then.