Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust

by Allan Zullo

Gripping and inspiring, these true stories of bravery, terror, and hope chronicle nine different children's experiences during the Holocaust.

These are the true-life accounts of nine Jewish boys and girls whose lives spiraled into danger and fear as the Holocaust overtook Europe. In a time of great horror, these children each found a way to make it through the nightmare of war. Some made daring escapes into the unknown, others disguised their true identities, and many witnessed unimaginable horrors. But what they all shared was the unshakable belief in-- and hope for-- survival.
Their legacy of courage in the face of hatred will move you, captivate you, and, ultimately, inspire you.

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, History, World War II, Biography, Historical, War

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

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

[Amanda Yeargin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about children in the Holocaust. They were about many stories. The kids were Luncia Gamzer, Herbert Karliner, Markus Reich, George and Ursula Levy, Walter Ziffer, Sarah Engelberg, Mathei Jackel, and Jack Gruener. They all faced problems during the Holocaust.Either becoming a Partisan or go from one camp to another.They all faced external conflicts like one of the kids facing another family cause they wont take her in. And an internal conflict they all face is to either to choose what they want to be represented or be.
A connection i had was a text-to-self connection. I connect to this book because im from Russia. And russians also got killed in the Holocaust. So i found out one of my great great relative might have died.
I'd give this book ***** stars. I give it 5 stars because the detail in this book makes you really think about how thre kids felt. And its really sad how they were treated. But it ened in a happy ending because they all liberated.

[Sarah K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very interesting and I learned a lot. I thought that it was really well written! I found it really cool that this book was based on true stories about children in the Holocaust. I how ever didn't get any useful information on Auschwitz (Concentration camp), which was the reason I read it. It is probably because it was on the Holocaust in general. Overall though, it was great and I learned a lot.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust by Allan Zullo, the author shares the true stories of nine Jewish boys and girls during World War II and the Holocaust. Some involved going underground and hiding while others were about disguises or identity changes. Some were actually taken to the camps but managed to survive while others managed to escape and then hide moving from place to place staying one step ahead of the Nazis and their sympathizers trying to make it to the end of the war. In some cases they escaped and then joined partisans to actively fight back against the oppressors. All along they were witnesses to horrors that no one, and especially children, should witness. They all had that indomitable will and courage to survive no matter what was thrown at them. The author has presented a well written and thoroughly researched account of children having to use their intuition and survival instincts; this would probably be a good book to expose younger readers to the Holocaust and World War II.

[🩶 April • A.M. Flynn • 🩶 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a heartbreaking read.

[cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to the Holocaust for young readers. Each child survives and although the truth is told, the raw brutality of the experience and descriptions are somewhat softened. We need more books like this.

[Jenn Custer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done made you think

[Marissa Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of true stories of nine children who are the survivors of the Holocaust. Their stories narrated by the authors, Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun are based on the exclusive, personal, and lengthy interviews conducted with each of them.

The dates and places are real; I am glad the names are real too without changing to hide the identity because most books changed the names. The experiences are horrifying and disturbing. How can children face this life situations when their concern is supposed to be centered around school and play time?

I can picture the parents who were helpless in this situation yet try to remain strong for the children.

These nine survivors who shared their experiences are truly brave souls especially the ones who experienced the direct cruelty of the Nazi in concentration camp.

Some of these survivors were in hidden with the family until the world war 2 ended which marked the defeat of Nazi regime. These survivors were the lucky ones however that didn't mean they didn't suffer and lose many things during the Nazi regime.

The survivors who actually experienced the cruelty and inhumane treatment in concentration camp yet willing to share their stories are truly the brave and strong souls. I wish I can meet at least one of them in future. Truly stories like theirs worth to be heard and serve as a reminder for all of us to remember the history.

Reading Holocaust stories like these have also mentally prepared me for this lockdown and made me to be more grateful despite this quarantine for each small thing in life like being able to stare at the windows, being under the sun or at least able to gout freely to buy groceries, we can do what we want & be noisy as we can at home during the quarantine rather than talking in whispers day & night.

This is a great read to those who are interested to read the factual accounts of Holocaust especially through the eyes of the survivors who were children at that time.

I certainly want to reread this book to remember the history.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter tells a story of a different child's experience during the Third Reich. This is an amazing compilation of true stories by children during the horrific event of Nazi occupation. This is a touching and important reminder for everyone that historical events matter whether or not you have personally lived through them.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating stories about survival against all odds which were very moving. Unfortunatley the introduction feels very unecessary if you know the basic timeline of the second world war and it lets the book down and the book would have been stronger without it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Portrayed in this book are 9 true stories of children who suffered through the holocaust during WW2. These children were thrown in camps throughout Europe or hid away in small attic spaces just because they happened to be of The Jewish Faith. Every time I read a book like this I get so mf angry. Who in their right mind would intentionally hurt children? It's something I will never understand.

[Dagma]

loved it. I even booked talked it.

[Morgan Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Survivors” was a book about nine different survival stories of children in the holocaust. This book hit home with me. It was such an inspiring and motivational read that I would read it again tomorrow. As I read through each individual story it was just an amazing feeling. Each small story inside tells such a great message and teaches life lessons that everyone could apply to their own life and tragedies. In each small story it tells about the tragedies the children in these stories had to go through. I cannot imagine living the life of these kids and how they felt.

In “Survivors” there were nine short stories that had main characters within those stories. In each of the stories the character showed bravery, hope, and determination. The children in this book were taken from their families, sent to strange places, witnessed gruesome deaths, and upon that, were battling with starvation and malnutrition. They went from living in a healthy and loving environment to one day being taken from that life and going to a strange place where there is absolutely no love, barely any food, and the question of “I am I going to live today?” They had to stay strong and positive to make it through those conditions. I give my utmost respect to anyone and everyone who had to live during this time.

The setting of “Survivors” varied for each of the nine stories. Throughout the whole book it mostly took place from the 1930’s to mid 1940’s. The children in these books traveled all over Europe and even all the way to Cuba. The countries that is mostly took place in were Poland, Germany, and Holland. The children had absolutely no way of knowing where they were going to end up, let alone whether they were going to survive from one day to the next. One day they were at a concentration camp in Germany and the next day they were on a train going to a labor camp in Poland.

I think that the reasoning for writing this book and sharing these stories, is so that people could understand how horrible the circumstances of this time was. A strong theme that I think was portrayed in this book was to never lose hope. The kids in each of these stories could have easily chose to not fight for their lives. They never gave up. They never stopped fighting and hoping that one day things will change. I think that this is a good lesson for people all over the world. When things get tough never loose hope, because when things hit rock bottom the only place to go is up.

I would recommend "Survivors" to anyone with a pulse that could comprehend and understand it. It is such a good book that sends such a great message. Someone could read this book and it could change their lives. It gives hope to people that may think their lives aren't worth living for. "Survivors" may be my favorite book I have read so far this year.

[Lisa Skripps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust, by Allan Zullo and Mara Brown, is a compilation of the gut wrenching, yet inspiring stories of eight different children who survived the terrors of the Holocaust. The book begins with an introduction from the authors; explaining the reason for the book, and then goes into a review of what the Holocaust was. After a brief education on the Holocaust, eight very heartbreaking stories follow. Students will learn about how children were separated from their families, about the fact that some people hid in attics for a very long time, and about the atrocities that went on inside the fences of the concentration camps. They will also learn about how difficult life was once the camps were freed.

Students will gain an understanding of the horrific events through the eyes of children. This is a book that is definitely meant for upper middle to high school age children, as it can be graphic at times. There were several times that I, as an adult, needed to put the book down for a break. However, I will say that out of all of the true stories that I have heard about the Holocaust, none touched me as much as these because they were from the perspective of children. I think that authors did a wonderful job of getting across each of the stories in a way that made readers understand just how devastating the Holocaust was. I also thought that it was very helpful and interesting that the authors included the story of what happened to each of the children once they we freed from this nightmare. It was nice to hear that they went on to live very happy lives with spouses, children and grandchildren.

[мαяïα❤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suviors is a great book,but it's also with sad the Charcter of the book is Luncia Gamzer she is 8 years old she grew up in the 1930's in Poland. Want happened one day was that Luncia heard her parents talk about the Nazis and the Jewish that don't get a long at all. The Jewishs were getting killed by the Nazis. )':Jews and massacred 4.000 pf them and few weeks later the natonaliists kidnapped 2.000 Jews and were forced them to march to the Jewish cemetery, and shot them..when Luncia knew about the jews getting killed she wanted to change her name so she can protct herself from not getting killed because she's a very young girl..It's a great book but at the same time its very sad because
it's not cool that there's people that don't get along.): we should all get along in this world...

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is comprised of touching stories that all end positively and inspire, challenge, and provoke deep thinking. It teaches about the terror of World War II and what people had to do to survive. The stories are all from the point of view of children. The best part is that they are 100% true! Knowing a story is true always makes me more interested in reading it. A lot of rich conversations could result from reading this book. I could not help but want to share what I read in this book and I think students would feel the same. This is why I would want to use this book as a literature circle book.

[Gloria-Randy Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a reminder to me of a terrible time in world history. I was awakened of how I have taken for granted my freedom and the freedom that we have in America. Young people need to be told about this and all Americans need to be refreshed on this horrible era. This could happen in our beloved country. Thank you to the survivors whom the author wrote about in this book. Their bravery is overwhelming. And thank you to the author. Well written.

[Natalie Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response: After reading Survivors: True Stories from the Holocaust , I thought the book was one of my favorite books that I have read. I have always found survival stories of an extreme disaster or event very intriguing. I learned some new information and facts about the Holocaust that I did not know of before reading this book. Even though the Holocaust was such a depressing, horrible time, I thought the author did an amazing job writing the book with such emotion. When I read the book, I really felt the emotion of anticipation and being terrified for these survivors. This book kept my attention at all times, which made it a quick, easy read.

Plot: This book had a different plot for every survival story in it. All of the stories had many similarities, though. There were nine children who told their stories about their time during the Holocaust. The children ranged from four years old to eighteen years old and every one of them had a unique story to them. Many of them had the similarities of suffering tremendously mentally, emotionally, and physically. The children experienced death marches, death camps, and crammed ghettos. All of them had many close encounters with death. Most of them were just too weak to survive anymore and almost gave up. There were many cruel SS officers that these children had to encounter. They would kill the inmates of the camp for their own enjoyment most times. Each story ended in survival because it was towards the end of the war, so the prisoners were liberated from the Germans being defeated. Also, each story ended with a little background of what each survivor did after the war.

Characterization: In each individual survival stories, the main character was the child telling the story. All of the children had many similarities, though. The survivors were all Jewish children who suffered through the Holocaust. Each individual faced many horrific, traumatizing events. Since they faced these events, the survivors were young, brave individuals. They were all determined to survive the hellish time. They had to become strong, mature children way too quickly in life in order to survive that time period. At the end of each story, all of the survivors were described as slim, weak individuals who were barely hanging on to life. All of them were shaped into the individuals that they are now because of the Holocaust.

Another constant main character in the survival stories were the Nazis. The Nazis were under Adolf Hitler’s rule in Germany in the 1940s. Hitler believed that the Jews were inferior and wanted to get rid of all them. The Nazis were responsible for kidnapping all the Jews and executing them in various ways. Soldiers of the Nazi party were ruthless individuals. They killed inmates for the joy of seeing them suffer. They were inconsiderate, selfish people who did not care if millions of innocent people were suffering because of their religion. The Nazis performed a number of different unethical ways of killing these innocent Jews. There were some comments in the book that described the Nazis as “monsters from hell”.

Setting: In this book, the setting was in many places throughout Europe. Each of the children traveled to many countries in Europe to different concentration camps. This book took place during the Holocaust time period in the 1940s. The setting was very important to the plot because the Holocaust suffering happened due to Hitler’s ruling in Germany.

Thematic Connection: There were many themes that emerged throughout the book. The most important one was never giving up and having faith that everything will work out. Each of the survivors survived the harsh, terrible times of the Holocaust because they believed they would survive and fought to stay alive. In every camp the children went to, they put every ounce of them towards staying alive. Each child had faith that everything would work out, but they, also, had to work towards making that a reality.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to any gender of the age of fourteen and older. Also, I would recommend this book to someone interested in history and/or the Holocaust. Since the book was about Holocaust survivors, the reader needs to have some background knowledge about World War II, the Holocaust, and Hitler to understand the book fully. There were many occurrences of violence, so the reader needs maturity when reading the book as well.

[Maria Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Luncia Gamzer was a cheerful 8-year-old girl growing up in the 1930s in Poland, but when the Nazi’s arrived, her world was shattered forever. Her story, along with the stories of eight other children, are included in this book. •
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This was fantastic. Each of the stories are in short 30 page snippets, and although this is meant for younger readers, these stories were some of the most horrific I’d heard of holocaust survivors. I can only imagine what these children went through and the stories of their survival were incredibly moving and inspiring. Highly recommend if you’re looking for shorter narratives of holocaust survivors.

[Cathryn Karmondy · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories of children and their parents were heartbreaking and profoundly difficult to read. I have found myself thinking of their stories many times over the past week, marveling at their strength of will. I am wishing that this book had been around the summer my kids and I spent reading and discussing The Holocaust. It definitely gives depth and breadth to this topic.

[Reading With Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jestli nad ní uvažujete, tak běžte do toho knihkupectví a kupte si ji! Nemám slov... Pořád to mám v hlavě! Každý příběh, který jsem tam přečetla. Skvělé dokonalé a přesně takove jak jsem si myslela. Rozhodně je to jedna z nejlepších knih tohoto roku! Doporučuji všemi dvaceti!!!

[Daramegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://daramegan.cz/recenze/deti-holo...

[Sophie Nis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was 10 and omg it was so good. I still think about the stories to this day.

[Katya Vinogradova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book strikes you with its cover. A young girl with dark curls is looking at you with profound sadness. Who is this girl? When was this picture taken? Why is she so sad?
A few pages in you meet her - Luncia Gamzer, an eight-year-old girl growing up in Poland in the 1930s. Even though this picture was taken before the Nazis invaded Poland, it serves as a premonition. This child will never smile again.

Few people lived to tell the stories of the Holocaust. Even fewer of them were children, which makes this collection unique and even more valuable. Published by Scholastic, this book is aimed at middle-grade readers. And while most of them will be able to read it, not all of them will be able to handle the stories that are told.

This collection features the stories of eight children, but they represent thousands of similar fates. You get to experience the isolation that Jewish children felt among their peers; the terror felt by families who were forced to move from their homes or hide from Nazis; the uncertainty and desperation felt by those fortunate enough to escape the invaded territories; and the absolute horror experienced by those who got captured and sent to concentration camps.

I must admit it was difficult for me to read this book. I had to brace myself for every story, as they got progressively more terrifying. Yet I feel like this book must be read by adults and children alike. We must never forget what happened, so we don't let it happen again. We must carry on the memory of those who died in those horrific circumstances, and those who lived to tell their stories.

After all, the stories of Luncia, Herbert, Markus, George, Ursula, and others are full of hope, perseverance, kindness and compassion. Young readers will learn how important it is to remain strong, positive and resilient in the face of unthinkable horror. They will understand that keeping true to yourself is the only way to survive and live a good life. And they will cherish every day they spend with their loved ones, being healthy and being free.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book review #6 (By the way, I cannot remember the date I started)
This novel is about some of the children survivors in the Holocaust. It includes the true stories of nine jewish boys and girls that went through unimaginable experiences and survived to tell the tale. My favorite story in this book is the story of Luncia Gamzer. Luncia was a cheerful eight year old girl that enjoyed everything about life in Poland. That is, before the Nazis arrived. One night, Luncia was jolted and suddenly awoke to yells and screams. This was the very beginning of her story. Nazis invaded her town and took over. Her parents, afraid she was going to be killed, asked a friend of the family to hide her. This friend would prove to not be trusted. Luncia was separated from her family and was treated with awful conditions. In those times, she truly was a beacon of hope for other Jewish people.
Another Jewish child in the book was Jack Gruener. Jack was a seventeen-year-old Jew that had just left Auschwitz from where his story starts in the novel. As he was walking in the bitter cold, his only thought was to survive. He heard gunshots but never failed to fall behind. He had a one loaf of bread that he was to save through this journey. Some ate their's solely because they couldn't take the starvation anymore. But Jack knew that this was his key to survive. On his journey, he learns that he shouldn't trust anyone he was walking with.
Surprisingly, Jack and Luncia married each other in 1953 and raised two sons. These two went through hardships that I cannot begin to understand. This book was one that, with every story, made me shed a tear. Every true account captivated me and made me read until the very end. I enjoyed this book and i would recommend to a person ready to cry!

[Allegra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Survivors" is about children that went through the holocaust. The book was told in short stories. My favorite one was "I am a Partisan now". It was about Mathei Jakel. He was just ten years old when he joined the partisans. As a test to see if he could be considered and trusted as a "man" he was told to shoot a young woman who had assisted the Nazis. The question is whether Mathei would be able to say goodbye to his childhood forever by committing the unspeakable crime of murder, or would he risk his security within the partisans and keep what little innocence he had left.

I can make a text to text connection from this book to the book "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. Like Mathei, the main character in "The Hunger Games" Katniss Everdeen must chose to take a life or risk their security and possibly their own life within the twisted game that life has thrown at the. However both in the end chose to kill in order to win at the twisted game they are playing. In order to win they had to live.

I give "Survivors" four stars because the stories were really touching. The way that the authors were able to craft the short stories was phenomenal. The authors took the painful story and made it into something that made the reader really care about. By crafting these stories so beautifully the authors really make the reader remember the horror that was the holocaust. The only thing that I had a problem with in the whole book was that because the people telling the stories were from Germany there were some foreign words in the book and I had to keep flipping back and forth to the dictionary in the back of the book.

[Cheyenne Clutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a great book. I am very glad we used this book as a project/ reading discussion topic in class because when you learn about the holocaust I feel like it is always the sad stories and never really anything that could have a happy ending. With these stories of these children it gives you a clear picture of what they went through and faced in the time of the holocaust. It shows you the hardships they went through and where they are now today. I think the author did a great job of making it real, making us realize that these children have been to hell and back and some have lost the most important people in their lives. This is a great read for late elementary/ middle school children because it is a longer book, but also an easy read. The context used was directed towards an older crowd and maybe the ages of these children so that the reader could relate to them on a personal level and think about what they would do in a situation like this at the age they are at. I will definitely introduce this to more students and would recommend this as a discussion book because of the history involved and the real life events that occurred. I am very intrigued with everything regarding the holocaust so this book caught my attention and from the discussion in class it was a good read for all the other students as well. You are a great teacher and I am grateful I got to take this class with you this semester :)

[William Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells about multiple accounts of people who survived during the holocaust. Many of the survivors saw their family die or had them taken away from them. Most of the people survived by hiding somewhere like a crawlspace and waiting for the Germans to be defeated. Some of the survivors lived by working hard at the camps and staying strong until the camps were liberated by American soldiers.

There are many characters in this book but they all have the same goal, to survive during the holocaust. All of the people in this book have things in common like how they were always trying to hide or trying to find any kind of food.

The time was during WWII around 1945 until the end of the war. The setting is mainly work camps around Germany and its surrounding countries. This is important because if the people in the book lived somewhere else they wouldn’t have to live through what they did.

I would recommend this book to young adults because it teaches a lot about what the Jews went through in WWII.

I would give this book a 4 out of 5 star rating.

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are the stories of nine child survivors of the Holocaust, and of their struggle to survive. One boy escapes the cattle train and is taken in by the Partisans, learning to become a renegade and resistance fighter at the age of ten; one girl lives in hollowed-out haystacks and can only come out at night; a family of nineteen live for two years in the crawl space of an attic, unable to even stand straight.

Although based upon interviews with the actual survivors, they are presented almost as short stories. This is a book aimed at kids, but the power and the poignancy of these personal tales will haunt the adult reader as well.

[PRINCESS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love true stories no matter how they write, since they are subject to inspire me I try my best to read them.
Holocaust!
Well lets be real, Holocaust is still going on. Almost every couple of days we hear somewhere in the world hundreds of people from different places are killed/massacred!
The book tells us a true story of nine Jewish children (girls and boys) during the Holocaust happened in Europe. In a horrifying survivor journey for life, a nightmare of war; hope for existence and legacy of courage raises.

[Justjay Go · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was heartbreaking to read as these stories were of Jewish children's endurance, bravery and courage amid the hardship of war. One story that stuck to me was that of a child who was no more than a toddler was stuck in the semi-attic of a non-Jewish family together with his family and another, for 2 years. He wasn't able to walk or run just barely moving around the attic trying to make little sound as possible. This book is a book that you will let your children and grandchildren read.