Torn Thread

In June of 1943, 12 year old Eva is living in an attic room with her sister, Rachel and her father, in the Jewish ghetto of Bedzin, Poland. Sickly 14 year old Rachel is out getting their bread ration, her first day out after an illness, when she is gathered up in a raid by the Nazis. Eva's father finds out through his sympathetic employer that she was sent to a labor camp in Czechoslovakia. When additional raids take more people and to unknown locations, he arranges to have Eva sent to the same camp in hopes that they will be able to help each other survive. The story follows their life in the camp and their work at the textile factory where they work under horrendous conditions. Though this is a fictional account it is based on the show more lives of the author's mother-in-law and her family. It is an emotional children's book and very well written. show less

I loved this book because of the main character, and how the story pushes readers to think about tough issues and overall broaden their perspectives. The story is told through the viewpoint of Eva, a twelve year old Jewish girl who is fighting to keep herself and her older sister alive during the Holocaust. Eva suffers many traumatic experiences and events throughout the story, that only turn her into a stronger individual. First Eva lost her mother due to illness, then she was forced to leave her home and live in the ghetto, next she had to leave her father and go to a labor camp, and finally she had to learn to survive each day in the horrible work camp. I found Eva’s character to be very hardworking, brave and caring. For example show more Eva arrived at the labor camp without having any food to eat for three days. Immediately, she was forced to walk many miles to a factory wearing broken shoes, then stand for twelve hours working at a machine, while only receiving a five minute break. During the whole day Eva listened to the Nazi guard’s verbal abuse, and knew her life could come to an end at any moment. Although Eva was exhausted, she continuously fought to survive each day and always believed in reuniting once again with her father. I thought Eva was very caring when she offered to give up her rations of food to her sister Rachel because she was sick. Whenever Eva felt like she could not keep going, she would still encourage Rachel to wake up, walk to the factory, and always stay alert. Eva was also never selfish and always put her sister first, “Eva had been bartering her knitting for food or other things that she and Rachel needed…Her hard work had paid off in extra food. As a result, Rachel had begun to look a little less tired at the end of the day, and showed more energy on the walk to the factory.” There was never a moment when Eva put herself before her older sister. I think that readers will definitely broaden their perspective about the Holocaust, and realize how thankful they should be for the life that they have today. There were many examples in the story that were easy to visualize and me feel the characters pain. For instance even though Eva was skin and bones, she decided to volunteer to dig ditches in order to receive extra rations for herself and Rachel, “As the hours passed, her hands became red and swollen, then blisters began to form on her fingers and palms. Eventually the blisters cracked, exposing tender new skin.” The language of the story helped me feel Eva’s pain, and made me wonder how she was strong enough to survive such horrible experiences.
I feel that the overall message of this story is to never stop trying, and to always value your family and what is important to you. Eva never stopped believing in God, and continued to practice her religion whenever she had the chance to. I admire Eva’s character because of her strength and courage. Even though she was being punished for being Jewish, she never once changed who she was, or let the Nazi’s take away what she believed in. show less

What would it be like to be Jewish during World War I I? Would your family and friends be separated from you? Who would survive? During World War II, many Jews were separated form their families, and a lot of them were killed. They worked long hours, were not fed very well, and often got very sick from the many diseases that were spread in factories. Torn Thread is a true story about a Jewish girl trying to keep her sister and herself alive for as long as possible.
Torn Thread is a book about two Jewish sisters, Eva and Rachel, living in a ghetto in Bedzin, Poland. When Rachel is taken away to a concentration camp, her father finds out where she is and he decides to send Eva there, too. Eva has to get on a train and ride all the way to show more Parschnitz, Czechoslovakia. When she arrives there, it is not exactly what she’s expecting.
At the work camp, Eva finds Rachel and meets some other friends. She soon realizes that her life will not be easy. Every day she has to work at a factory that is five kilometers away. Their train only takes them half way and they have to walk the rest of the way. The days drag on and on for her, working steadily the whole time. She spends all of her time trying to stay alive for as long as she can. At times it seems like she cannot live much longer, but she finds a way to keep going.
This book really held my attention and it did a very good job of explaining some of the horrible things that happened during the holocaust. I never knew what was going to happen next. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes history or just needs a good book to read. Anyone who reads Torn Thread will definitely enjoy it.

Alyssa Joachim show less

Based on the experiences of a Holocaust survivor, this is the story of two teenaged sisters who survive a Nazi slave labor camp where they were imprisoned for several years. Through a large cast of characters, the author touches on some central Holocaust issues.

[finished the book]
during World War 2 all jews were put into Ghettos. this one girl was placed in the ghetto with her dad and sister, who was very sick. she tried to live a normal life, until her sister was taken by the Nazis. next thing she knew was that she was being sent to the camp her sister was at and leaving her father. at the camp she must find food for her sister and for herself and survive the harsh winters at the camp, where there was no warms or good food to eat.

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