Author: Michael Leapman
Publisher: Viking 1998
ISBN: 0670873861
Age: 10 & up
Summary: Joseph Steiner and his sister were eight and eleven when the Jews were rounded-up from the Warsaw ghetto. They survived by hiding in abandoned warehouses until they could escape. When Alexander Michelowski was ten, he was taken from his home in Poland by the Gestapo and sent away for “Germanization” and later to a Hitler Youth Camp. Beata Siegel was sent from Germany to England on the Kindertransporte. It was to be nine years before she saw her mother again. Witnesses to War tells the story of how these children and others from across Europe endured persecution at the hands of the Nazis. Award-winning journalist Michael Leapman provides valuable background and insight into their histories, but it is the stories themselves vivid, unembellished and utterly compelling that stand as the finest testimony to the courage of the children of the Second World War.
Standard(s): Utah Social Studies Core Curriculum World Civilizations Standard 5: Students will understand the interaction of peoples in the global integration of the 20th century.
Suggested Age Range: 10 +
Annotation: Witnesses to War takes the reader on a very personal journey with eight children from concentration camps to the Kindertransporte and the Warsaw Ghetto to kidnapped children who were selected for “Germanization”. This book gives a very detailed, and yet brief, glimpse into many of the atrocities of World War II, and how they affected the children of Europe. This book is a chilling reminder of Hitler’s poison and his drive to take over Europe and create the “perfect” race, at the expense of millions of people.
Subject / Themes: World War II, concentration camps, biography
Reviews:
· Publisher Weekly
· School Library Journal
· Booklist
· Voice of Youth Advocates
High Interest Annotation: Eight true life accounts of life during World War II from eight different children of various race and cultural backgrounds.
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