Lola Rein Kaufman

In 1939 Lola Rein is almost five when first the Russians occupy her hometown and she witnesses a man being shot. Three years later her father dies after a vicious beating by a Ukrainian gang. In 1943, her mother is shot in a random act by a Gestapo soldier, and Lola is sent into hiding with an Ukrainian family. At first she is hidden in a small room in the house, but is soon moved to a barn where she hides in a hole under the root cellar with three other Jews. She lives in this dark, 6'x6' show more hole for nine months. Finally at the age of nine and a half, she crawls out of the hole and begins her life as a displaced person, searching for any surviving relatives.

Although written for children, I was completely absorbed by this brief memoir. Lola Rein's story is amazing (more about her story can by found at the US Holocaust Museum), and Lois Metzger's writing is clear and fast-paced. There is an annotated bibliography, but unfortunately no photos other than the one on the cover. show less

I have read many such books of children who were hidden during war times. this short retelling of personal experience is different somehow whether it is the icon of hope --. the dress her mother embroidered -- or living for 9 months in a small hole beneath the floor of the barn. How did these hidden children grow up to become productive members of society?

Meh.

It was ok, not what I expected. It is clearly a child's book and why it was in the adult section under war with a YA label on it, I don't understand, this is a book suitably written for a 4th grader. I suppose the author did not wish to write a full length book complete with details for an adult audience.

It is also very dead panned and unemotional. She simply states ' They shot my mother ' and that was that.

It is a good introduction to the horrors of Poland between 1939-1945 for a young show more reader, an adult with a need for or love of history or personal memoirs will be left wanting. show less

When her mother is killed by the Gestapo, a Jewish girl named Lola is sent into hiding. At first, Lola secretly lives in the home of a Ukrainian woman. But when someone threatens to expose her to the Nazis, Lola must flee again, this time hiding with another family in a dirt hole beneath a barn.
Struggling against cold and hunger, the hidden family lives under the constant threat of discovery. Lola has lost everything - her home and her family. All she has left is one article of clothing, a show more dress lovingly embroidered by her mother. Will Lola ever find safety - or freedom? show less