We Must Not Forget: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance
By Lucinda Dyer,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Extraordinary true stories of bravery, defiance, and hope.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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What's the Story?
WE MUST NOT FORGET is divided into three parts, each introduced by a short timeline of "Key Events" and short bios of the young survivors who stories will be told. In Part I: "Fleeing From Evil, Hiding from Horror" (Germany and the Netherlands) readers will meet Ivana Laufer Deutscheren, who hid in Berlin under the noses of the Nazis; Fred Angress, who used his job with the Jewish Council to smuggle people out Nazi occupied Holland; and Chella Velt Meekcombs Kryszek, who was sent to the horrors of Auschwitz. Part II: "Families Torn Apart" (France) includes the stories of Hanne Hirsch Liebmann, who was rescued from a concentration camp in France and hidden in a children's home; and Ruth Oppenheimer David, whose story of being sent to safety England is also told in Hopkinson's book We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport. Part III: "Desperation and Defiance" (Poland) includes the stories of Bronka Harz Kurz, who escaped the Kolomiya ghetto with her mother and fled to a town where they tried to pass as Christians; and Benjamin Meed and his future wife, Vladka. The Meeds helped plan the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and Vladka, who passed as a non-Jew, smuggled weapons and helped protect children who'd been hidden outside the ghetto.
Is It Any Good?
This Holocaust story, told by its youngest survivors, is filled with miraculous escapes, false identities, remarkable courage, and heartbreaking decisions. For many readers, the most compelling element of We Must Not Forget will be the dozens of archival photos that help bring the story vividly to life. There are happy family photos taken before the war began, photos of children in hiding (some whose stories are told in the book) taken by the families who gave them shelter, and photos of Jewish partisans in Poland. Reader may find stark black-and- white images of Jews being arrested or rounded up for deportation disturbing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the people in We Must Not Forget who risked their lives to help the book's young survivors. Can you imagine a circumstance in which you would risk everything to help someone you didn't even know?
The Holocaust happened decades and decades ago. Why do you think it's important to still read and learn about it?
Have you or any of your friends ever been bullied or discriminated against? Did anyone come forward to stand up for you?
Book Details
- Author: Deborah Hopkinson
- Genre: History
- Topics: Activism, Brothers and Sisters, Great Boy Role Models, Great Girl Role Models, History
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: Scholastic Focus
- Publication date: March 31, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 384
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: April 2, 2021
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Where to Read
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