Transport 7-41-R

by T. Degens

A thirteen-year-old girl describes her journey from the Russian sector of defeated Germany to Cologne on a transport carrying returning refugees in 1946.

Genres: Historical Fiction

251 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1976

Reviews

[Steph (loves water) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this several times in 7th grade because I couldn't figure it out at first read. It's written in the first person and we are never told whether this is a boy or a girl. It has haunted me for many years. With the advent of the internet I was able to find out that T. Degens was a woman, because I could not tell. I always wish there was a sequel to find out what happened when this child relocated to the bombed out city of Cologne after the war.

EDIT----after reading the below review, I don't know how the person knew it was a girl, it could've been either boy or a girl. There were so many refugees and orphans after the war, it could've been either.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book dives into the world of a young refugee of WWII. She is being sent away from her family so that her family will have one less mouth to feed and to give her a better education. While in transit she meets an older couple. The woman dies along the way and the young girl promises to help the older gentlemen bury his wife when they arrive at their destination. Unfortunately the "trip" is interrupted by typical post-war chaos. Even though she wants to give up, she feels obligated to help and learns about what she is capable of in the process.