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Trains: A Memoir of a Hidden Childhood During and After World War II
Trains is the moving account of a hidden child, a lonely girl who survived the Holocaust and escaped the Nazis in World War II Poland by living among strangers and pretending to be a Catholic girl, and who continued to hide her identity, heritage, and history in Communist Poland for two decades after the war ended. Trains is also the inspiring story of a courageous woman finding, facing, and telling the truth about her extraordinary life.
217 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 20, 2013
This is a kind of different Holocaust memoir. Many Jewish people who were rescued by Gentiles during World War II depict their rescuers as wonderful, saintly people. And in most cases they're correct; I mean, the rescuers were risking more than just their lives to save people that in some cases they didn't even know. It takes a special kind of moral courage to do something like that, and until you're in that situation yourself you never know whether or not you have it. I hope I would have had what it took to rescue a Jew during the Holocaust, but I'll never know for sure.
Miriam Winter was an eight-year-old child in Poland when her parents managed to smuggle her out of the ghetto. A Jewish woman named Cesia, who was twenty and could pass for a Gentile, agreed to take her when she herself left the ghetto. But Cesia really didn't know what to do with Miriam afterwards; she wasn't in a position to keep her, and Miriam looked very Jewish. Fortunately they sort of randomly met a woman named Maryla on the train, and after hearing Cesia's made-up story about how Miriam was her sister's child whom she'd gotten stuck with, Maryla said she'd take care of her.
Maryla, who was from Lwow and made a living smuggling black-market items, took Miriam knowing she was Jewish. She risked her life by doing so, and she inconvenienced herself a great deal. She left Miriam in the care of others for months of a time, but ultimately her Jewishness would always be discovered and Maryla would have to find a new place for her. Miriam wasn't well-treated by the people she stayed with, and Maryla never showed her any affection.
After Lwow was liberated, Maryla wouldn't let Miriam attend school and made he work instead, at first selling black-market goods. After Maryla got married, she and her husband operated a store and Miriam had to work there. She was beaten and called a "filthy Jew" if she did anything wrong, and Maryla showed more affection to her dog. Some people tasked with finding Jewish war orphans visited the house, and Maryla told Miriam, "After everything I did for you, you will betray me like the Christ-killers betrayed Christ. Don't go with them." So Miriam stayed, until Maryla's husband's sister came to help at the store and they didn't need her work anymore. Then she left right there and then, and spent the remainder of her minority in an orphanage. She was fifteen. I'm not sure she even had any contact with Maryla after she left.
Much later, though, Miriam thought kindly of her guardian: "Harsh, even austere toward me, Maryla didn't spare herself either...once she took me she courageously cared for me; she risked her life for me, and she didn't give me up." Miriam was the only survivor of her family. She eventually told Yad Vashem about her rescuer and in 1994, Maryla was honored as Righteous Among the Nations.
Anyway...this isn't so much a review as a plot summary I guess. This book is a different perspective on things, showing another side to the rescuers. And the ambivalent relationship the rescuer and the rescued can have with one another.
Miriam Winter was an eight-year-old child in Poland when her parents managed to smuggle her out of the ghetto. A Jewish woman named Cesia, who was twenty and could pass for a Gentile, agreed to take her when she herself left the ghetto. But Cesia really didn't know what to do with Miriam afterwards; she wasn't in a position to keep her, and Miriam looked very Jewish. Fortunately they sort of randomly met a woman named Maryla on the train, and after hearing Cesia's made-up story about how Miriam was her sister's child whom she'd gotten stuck with, Maryla said she'd take care of her.
Maryla, who was from Lwow and made a living smuggling black-market items, took Miriam knowing she was Jewish. She risked her life by doing so, and she inconvenienced herself a great deal. She left Miriam in the care of others for months of a time, but ultimately her Jewishness would always be discovered and Maryla would have to find a new place for her. Miriam wasn't well-treated by the people she stayed with, and Maryla never showed her any affection.
After Lwow was liberated, Maryla wouldn't let Miriam attend school and made he work instead, at first selling black-market goods. After Maryla got married, she and her husband operated a store and Miriam had to work there. She was beaten and called a "filthy Jew" if she did anything wrong, and Maryla showed more affection to her dog. Some people tasked with finding Jewish war orphans visited the house, and Maryla told Miriam, "After everything I did for you, you will betray me like the Christ-killers betrayed Christ. Don't go with them." So Miriam stayed, until Maryla's husband's sister came to help at the store and they didn't need her work anymore. Then she left right there and then, and spent the remainder of her minority in an orphanage. She was fifteen. I'm not sure she even had any contact with Maryla after she left.
Much later, though, Miriam thought kindly of her guardian: "Harsh, even austere toward me, Maryla didn't spare herself either...once she took me she courageously cared for me; she risked her life for me, and she didn't give me up." Miriam was the only survivor of her family. She eventually told Yad Vashem about her rescuer and in 1994, Maryla was honored as Righteous Among the Nations.
Anyway...this isn't so much a review as a plot summary I guess. This book is a different perspective on things, showing another side to the rescuers. And the ambivalent relationship the rescuer and the rescued can have with one another.
January 26, 2008
I met Miriam, the author, while I was on a trip in Washington D.C. at the Holocaust Museum. She explained the story of her life to my friend's young children. I was touched by what she was saying about her life; how she was sent into hiding without her family at the age of eight. I purchased the book and Miriam was kind enough to autograph it for me.
September 27, 2024
This was an incredibly heartbreaking memoir of a young Jewish girl's childhood when the Nazis threatened her family's existence in Poland, along with so many others. Her parents, in a desperate and successful attempt to save Miriam's life, sent her away with a Christian friend who agreed to "hide" Miriam. She was only eight years old. She would never see or hear from her parents or three-year-old brother again.
This Christian woman immediately placed her with strangers, and Miriam had to endure hostile situations for throughout the war. She was shuttled from one family to the next when neighbors grew suspicious, never shown affection or kindness, only treated as a servant and a burden to different families in exchange for keeping her and passing her off as a relative.
She writes about her struggle to hide her identity as a Jew, pretending to be Catholic. Once the war ended, the woman who had originally helped Miriam hide, came to collect her. Life did not get easier. The woman's new husband was cruel, abusive, and controlling, forcing Miriam to work in his pastry shop and sell pastries on the street, wearing ragged clothing, never warm enough, barely fed.
Not until she was 15 did Miriam find the courage to run away and claim her life as her own. While reading this book, I was hoping she would do this all along. ANY situation would be an improvement to what she endured.
Miriam's story is sad, but so important. The past cannot be repeated.
This Christian woman immediately placed her with strangers, and Miriam had to endure hostile situations for throughout the war. She was shuttled from one family to the next when neighbors grew suspicious, never shown affection or kindness, only treated as a servant and a burden to different families in exchange for keeping her and passing her off as a relative.
She writes about her struggle to hide her identity as a Jew, pretending to be Catholic. Once the war ended, the woman who had originally helped Miriam hide, came to collect her. Life did not get easier. The woman's new husband was cruel, abusive, and controlling, forcing Miriam to work in his pastry shop and sell pastries on the street, wearing ragged clothing, never warm enough, barely fed.
Not until she was 15 did Miriam find the courage to run away and claim her life as her own. While reading this book, I was hoping she would do this all along. ANY situation would be an improvement to what she endured.
Miriam's story is sad, but so important. The past cannot be repeated.
May 15, 2025
This was definitely interesting and I like reading stories about the past. The only reason I kind of struggled to get through it was because the writing was kind of abrupt and at times didn’t make sense I assume because her first language or even second isn’t English. But still it was very interesting and made me emotional for her and told a very real and raw story of a child under a false identity trying to survive during the Holocaust.
May 16, 2017
Met Miriam Winter at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 and was fortunate to have her autograph the book. The book was a memoir from such a long time ago from a child's memory. The pain she felt throughout her time in Poland and throughout her life was evident. Very grateful Ms. Winter documented her experience to remind and teach humanity about the forgotten victims of war.
May 22, 2023
Interesting memoir of a young Polish Jewish girl who is hidden from the Germans during World War II and survives (though still mistreated and miserable) while the rest of her family are killed in the Holocaust.
December 7, 2015
Miriam Winter wrote about her experiences during the Holocaust in Trains. It is a memoir about her being a hidden child during the Holocaust. It starts out by giving some general information about Miriam and her family before the start of the Holocaust. Eventually, things start to change at the beginning of the Holocaust and Miriam and her family have to move into a Warsaw Ghetto. Through the rest of the book, it shows different things that the Nazis did and tells about Miriam when she is hiding with going to different places in Poland and changing her identity to stay hidden. This book also shows events after the Holocaust, including: looking for her family and talking about her experiences. while reading this book it is not hard to tell that Miriam’s purpose for writing this is to inform because it teaches about the Holocaust using a firsthand account of what happened. This book is good and tells an interesting story about the Holocaust.
The theme of this book is to not lose yourself. In the book, Miriam tries to hide her past from herself. One quote that shows this is “I didn’t want to connect with my past, and I don’t know why,” (p.179). She did not try to find anything about her past after the Holocaust. As a result of this, she starts to feel guilty about things that she could not control. It is shown with the quote “But that’s how I feel each time I see a photo of a child, like Jozio, in front of barbed wire. Guilty for being spared when others were killed. Guilty for surviving when my family didn’t. I listen to the sound of the word guilt, and I can touch its slimy pulp. It holds like glue,” (p.209). She tries to lose her past, but still continues to remember it, but only in a very bad way. She is losing herself and it is causing problems such as guilt for what can not be controlled. Throughout the story, you can see what happens when she starts to lose herself, where they are usually followed by negative things.
The style that this book is written in is narrative. Miriam is telling a story about the Holocaust from her perspective. She tells about different events during the Holocaust in a descriptive way from before the start of the Holocaust to after the Holocaust with the last chapter before the epilogue being in Italy in 1962. One quote that demonstrates this style is “I read by the glare of the oven, sure that I’d go to Hell. I was guilty because I was Jewish. I saw myself in the paws of the Devil. As I looked at his pitchfork, I knew that he would punish me soon” (p.58). This demonstrates the narrative style because it shows some of the effects of being in hiding. It shows how bad things were during the Holocaust. She was treated very badly just because she was Jewish. This quote also demonstrates the narrative style because it helps to show how she felt during this time, thus helping to put a better picture of the story. Another quote that demonstrates this style is “By early summer in 1944, the Red Army advanced, and on July 27 the Germans retreated from Lwow. Soon after, Ranizow was liberated. I was in the pasture with the cow, Krasula, who had black skin with white patches. Far on the horizon were the black contours of the forest. Behind the forest the troops were already fighting, but the villagers hoped for the front line to pass them by,” (p.102). This demonstrates the narrative style because it sets up the chapter by giving information and carrying the story forward. I would say that the style is effective because the story kept me interested and made me want to know what happens next.
I liked Trains. It was written in a way that kept me interested most of the time and wanting to continue reading. I liked how the the book was written and the general story of it. However, I did not like the pacing of it. At some times, it was very slow and a couple of times, I was confused about what was happening. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to read about the Holocaust from another point of view. If I could change anything about this book. I would change the pacing at some parts. There were a couple of parts where an event seemed to be talked about a bit too long, but otherwise, this book is very good. It tells about the Holocaust from an interesting point of view.
The theme of this book is to not lose yourself. In the book, Miriam tries to hide her past from herself. One quote that shows this is “I didn’t want to connect with my past, and I don’t know why,” (p.179). She did not try to find anything about her past after the Holocaust. As a result of this, she starts to feel guilty about things that she could not control. It is shown with the quote “But that’s how I feel each time I see a photo of a child, like Jozio, in front of barbed wire. Guilty for being spared when others were killed. Guilty for surviving when my family didn’t. I listen to the sound of the word guilt, and I can touch its slimy pulp. It holds like glue,” (p.209). She tries to lose her past, but still continues to remember it, but only in a very bad way. She is losing herself and it is causing problems such as guilt for what can not be controlled. Throughout the story, you can see what happens when she starts to lose herself, where they are usually followed by negative things.
The style that this book is written in is narrative. Miriam is telling a story about the Holocaust from her perspective. She tells about different events during the Holocaust in a descriptive way from before the start of the Holocaust to after the Holocaust with the last chapter before the epilogue being in Italy in 1962. One quote that demonstrates this style is “I read by the glare of the oven, sure that I’d go to Hell. I was guilty because I was Jewish. I saw myself in the paws of the Devil. As I looked at his pitchfork, I knew that he would punish me soon” (p.58). This demonstrates the narrative style because it shows some of the effects of being in hiding. It shows how bad things were during the Holocaust. She was treated very badly just because she was Jewish. This quote also demonstrates the narrative style because it helps to show how she felt during this time, thus helping to put a better picture of the story. Another quote that demonstrates this style is “By early summer in 1944, the Red Army advanced, and on July 27 the Germans retreated from Lwow. Soon after, Ranizow was liberated. I was in the pasture with the cow, Krasula, who had black skin with white patches. Far on the horizon were the black contours of the forest. Behind the forest the troops were already fighting, but the villagers hoped for the front line to pass them by,” (p.102). This demonstrates the narrative style because it sets up the chapter by giving information and carrying the story forward. I would say that the style is effective because the story kept me interested and made me want to know what happens next.
I liked Trains. It was written in a way that kept me interested most of the time and wanting to continue reading. I liked how the the book was written and the general story of it. However, I did not like the pacing of it. At some times, it was very slow and a couple of times, I was confused about what was happening. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to read about the Holocaust from another point of view. If I could change anything about this book. I would change the pacing at some parts. There were a couple of parts where an event seemed to be talked about a bit too long, but otherwise, this book is very good. It tells about the Holocaust from an interesting point of view.
September 17, 2015
I have read a few memoirs of the holocaust. This one is different. At the age of eight Miriam Winter was given to a complete stranger with the request she be helped to survive. Her family knew what was coming. Like many of the hidden children, they were used for menial labor and often kept from education. Miriam was another set of hands on the peasant farms where she was 'hidden' from time to time. Throughout this time she kept her Jewish heritage to herself. After the war she continued to act in such a way as to keep her lineage secret. It wasn't until much later she tried to remember her life as a young child before she was handed to a complete stranger.
At the end of this memoir the author writes that much of what she did after the war was perhaps survivor's guilt. Like other Jews she went underground and survived though she had to learn to fend for herself at a very young age.
At the end of this memoir the author writes that much of what she did after the war was perhaps survivor's guilt. Like other Jews she went underground and survived though she had to learn to fend for herself at a very young age.
October 5, 2014
The authors purpose of writing this book is to tell her story about the holocaust. She tells her story and she tells the stories of others she met along the way. The audience is students that she is telling her story.
The theme of the book is to treat everyone nicely everyone is human. The author does not know what to say about some of the people and events she talks about in her story. Some things she blames herself and sometimes she does not know who to blame.
The style the book was written in was a narration. The book was a narration of the authors life. The book is mostly about how she lived during the holocaust. The style was not really effective and hard to understand.
I did not like the book. I did not like it because it was complicated and hard to understand. I did like her story about how she survived. I would change how it jumps around and how it is told.
The theme of the book is to treat everyone nicely everyone is human. The author does not know what to say about some of the people and events she talks about in her story. Some things she blames herself and sometimes she does not know who to blame.
The style the book was written in was a narration. The book was a narration of the authors life. The book is mostly about how she lived during the holocaust. The style was not really effective and hard to understand.
I did not like the book. I did not like it because it was complicated and hard to understand. I did like her story about how she survived. I would change how it jumps around and how it is told.
November 28, 2011
I am reading this for our library's book club, and am very excited to meet the author. She will be attending our meeting!
I thought that her story was very interesting, and of course sad too. I hadn't read anything about the Jewish children of WWII who hid in plain sight. It really got me thinking.
I felt like the language was a bit choppy at times, which must be because English is her second language (or third or fourth?). It also jumped around a bit and I had trouble following some parts. Overall very interesting.
I thought that her story was very interesting, and of course sad too. I hadn't read anything about the Jewish children of WWII who hid in plain sight. It really got me thinking.
I felt like the language was a bit choppy at times, which must be because English is her second language (or third or fourth?). It also jumped around a bit and I had trouble following some parts. Overall very interesting.
September 22, 2007
I met this women and it was one of the most touching moments of my life. She shook my hand and said she was glad to have met me.
September 29, 2012
I met Miriam at the National Holocaust Museum and chatted with her some about her life experiences. She impressed me enough that I picked up the book and had her sign it for me.
March 1, 2013
My Dad loaned me his copy. I went to high school with Miriam's son, but did not know her story. The courage and resilience are inspirational.
July 23, 2013
I had the pleasure of meeting this author. Incredible story.
September 3, 2014
Emotional Read. A different view from a survivor than is normally depicted.
December 8, 2014
Very good read, written by a courageous woman who is very transparent about her personal struggles.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews