Impossible Escape
ByPublisher Description
From three-time National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor author Steve Sheinkin, a true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust—one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, plotting escape.
It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolf (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely.
Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe: the methodical mass killing of Jewish prisoners. As trains full of people arrive daily, Rudi knows that the murders won’t stop until he reveals the truth to the world—and that each day that passes means more lives are lost.
Lives like Rudi’s schoolmate Gerta Sidonová. Gerta’s family fled from Slovakia to Hungary, where they live under assumed names to hide their Jewish identity. But Hungary is beginning to cave under pressure from German Nazis. Her chances of survival become slimmer by the day.
The clock is ticking. As Gerta inches closer to capture, Rudi and his friend Alfred Wetzler begin their crucial steps towards an impossible escape.
This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities86 Reviews
Grace Walker
Created 2 days agoRachael
Created 11 days agoLimyao
Created 16 days ago
“4 Stars!
Impossible Escape is a young adult non-fiction book about Rudi Vrba who was a Holocaust survivor and escaped Auschwitz concentration camp. There are hundreds of non-fiction books out there about the Holocaust, but not very many are written this well for young readers.
The book mostly follows Rudi’s story line. He had many jobs assigned to him while at Auschwitz, and he was able to see the horrific things that were happening first hand. I know I’ve heard people ask, “How could people not know what was going on?” This book shows us the answer. It shows how the Nazis hid everything from the public. After two years at Auschwitz, Rudi was able to escape and get word out to the world on what was happening to the Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz.
The other story line follows Gerta Sidnova who was Rudi’s close friend who’s family is hiding in Hungary. Greta becomes a member of the Hungarian Resistance and later marries Rudi after his escape. The alternating story lines allows the reader to see what was happening in different parts of Europe during 1942-1944.
It’s hard to believe how much I learned reading this short off a book. This non-fiction book reads like a fiction book and the writing is very easy to follow and it’s very well paced. I listened to the audio book (which was very good) in less than 2 days. I couldn’t stop listening.
The author’s note at the end that discussed how there are people out there that claim the Holocaust wasn’t real. This is mind boggling to me. I can’t even imagine having my family members experience these horrific things, but then have people around the world say that those things didn’t happen. It reminds me of the people who said the school shooting at Sandy Hook didn’t really happen. I’m all for freedom of speech, but this new era of conspiracy theories can be quite dangerous and very hurtful.
I would suggest this book to kids over the age of 12 due to violent content. Although this book is heavy, heartbreaking, and a very hard read, I think it does a good job getting younger readers to understand what was happening without a lot of graphic details. Don’t get me wrong…this book will stick with you. It’s probably the perfect amount of information (through a first hand account) for this age of reader.
This is an important story, and very well written for young readers!”cierror
Created 26 days agoKara Louie
Created 28 days ago
About Steve Sheinkin
Other books by Steve Sheinkin
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