By Michael Gruenbaum
This book really epitomizes the idea of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Misha is a young Czech boy, carefree, wealthy when the German's rose to power. As his life begins to change, his Jewish heritage is the catalyst for rules that make no sense, at least to young Misha. Long before entering the Jewish Ghetto, the writing was on the wall, no school, no fruit, no walking on certain roads, no playing in parks, the list goes on. Is childhood and his comfortable life is slowly eroded, but with spirit and strength of will, Misha and most of his family will survive.
Misha's parents were well aware of the propensity of the German's of attaining Jewish riches, and planned accordingly by secreting much of their wealth to London, or friends in Prague. As his comfortable life empties, he keeps telling himself, what else can be taken? When they are forced to move into the old part of town into a small apartment, Misha remains content, hey he has his family with him. One serious test of his faith is the loss of his father at the hands of the German's. Then when the rest of his family and Misha are transported to Terezin at first he feels devastated. Misha is fortunate, he has been separated from his mother and sister and placed in a children's dorm, room 7 to be exact. He is forced to attend the program (school) and is introduced to the other inhabitants of the room, including its leader Franta.
Terezin is a concentration camp, more of a holding center for families being sent "east". Franta is a gifted teacher, educating well beyond the classroom. He is strict about the boys keeping themselves, clothing, beds and bathrooms very clean. Knowing full well that filth harbors disease. He also encourages the youngsters in his room to work together as a team, be punctual, never call each other names etc. Only through working together in harmony may they one day beat the Germans. Misha is content in his new reality, he likes his room mates and loves when they can play soccer or work on plays together. As time marches on, periodically pink slips will go out to families that need to be transported to the east, groups and families are removed from Terezin some to never be seen again.
Through a little bit of luck and a whole lot of grit, Misha and his family avoid transport to the East, and are still in Terezin when survivors are sent back to Terezin, emaciated, bald and a bare semblance of who they were. They are there when the Russian tanks roll in and when the Red Cross take control of Terezin. Misha's return to Prague is at once joyful and poignant. He is glad to be alive but is well aware that many of his room mates were not so fortunate. Out of the 80 plus boys that spent time in room 7, only 11 survived, pretty devastating odds. That bond that was forged by Franta has survived the test of time and the "boys" still meet up occasionally.
I really enjoyed this book, even though the content was deep it maintained a sort of youthful, naivete, a belief that things can get better. Misha learns to take joy in the simple things, finding a soccer ball, stealing a dinner roll, or a tin of sardines. I also appreciated the history of Terezin, there were many different concentration camps, by far the worst was Auschwitz, but anything that takes away freedom is deplorable. I am giving this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars and thinks anybody above 5th grade will enjoy this book.
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