In occupied Poland during 1943, sixteen-year-old Stefania Podgórska works in a grocery store while caring for her six-year-old sister, Helena. When the liquidation of the Przemyśl Ghetto begins, Stefania hides thirteen Jewish people, including the Diamant family, in the cramped attic of her apartment. The situation tightens when the German army requisitions a room in the same house for two nurses, forcing Stefania to maintain a normal facade while smuggling food and managing waste for those concealed just inches away from Nazi officers.
Readers interested in the logistics of wartime resistance and survival find a detailed account of the physical risks taken by non-Jewish protectors. The narrative provides a close look at the psychological toll of prolonged secrecy and the constant threat of discovery. Those who study the Holocaust through the lens of individual agency will see how a teenager navigated bureaucratic obstacles and social suspicion. A reader finishes the book with a clear understanding of the specific choices and mechanical difficulties involved in saving lives under occupation.
Clear-cut; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Curious Generalist. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2020
- Language
- EN
