Escape from Nazi concentration camp.

I read this book as a young boy, and was tremendously moved, challenged and fascinating by the history and the experiences of this little family. Outside Christianity, its probably one of the books that has most influenced me as it awakened by mind to the horrors and glories of war. ( )

Serraillier uses this fictionalised account of three children whose parents are taken away by the Nazis to reveal some of the horrors of war, albeit very mildly. It did get me thinking about a topic not often covered - the fate of children in war zones, both in WW2 and today.

The story follows the three children's attempts to survive in a destroyed city and their determination to keep together and find their parents. A chance encounter with a young boy, Jan, gives them hope when they realise that Jan had meet their father and was safekeeping the 'silver sword'.

Whilst based on a selection of true incidents, there are too many coincidences and the children have litle depth. A good story, but its feel is dated. ( )

I read this in primary school it was on our reading list. It didn't try to hide the horrors of the Holocaust from children. Painfully well written book. ( )

This one's a bit odd. It's the story of three children who are "orphaned" in World War II Poland. Their father is carted off to a work camp and months later their mother is hauled off, too. The children escape into the bombed out basements and alleyways of Warsaw, surviving as best they can. When the war's over, they receive word that their father had escaped his imprisonment and was last seen headed to Switzerland. They decide to follow him, giving the reader a peek into war torn Europe just after Germany's surrender. It makes for an interesting setting, unfortunately the characters are wooden and the plot is jerky. The book claims to be based upon fact, so I suspect that Mr. Serraillier simply patched together a number of war time anecdotes and called it a story. I think it would have been better if he had simply collected the smaller tales and not try to make it into some grand tale.
--J. ( )