The Children’s Train

Literature & Fiction

synopsis

Synopsis

In November 1938 on The Night of the Broken Glass, the Jewish people of Germany are terrified as Hitler's men shatter their store windows, steal and destroy their belongings, and arrest many Jewish fathers and brothers. Parents fear for their own lives but their focus is on protecting their children. When England arranges to take the children out of Germany by train, the Kindertransport is organized and parents scramble to get places on the trains for their young family members, worried about what the future will hold. Soon, trains filled with Jewish children escaping the Nazis chug over the border into Holland, where they are ferried across the English Channel to England and to freedom. But for Peter, the shy violin player, his sister Becca, and his friends Stephen and Hans, life in England holds challenges as well. Peter’s friend Eva, who did not get a seat on the Kindertransport, is left to the evil plans of Hitler. Peter, working his musician’s hands raw at a farm in Coventry, wonders if they should have stayed and fought back instead of escaping. When the Coventry farm is bombed and Nazis have reached England, Peter feels he has nothing left. He decides it’s time to stand and fight Hitler. Peter returns to Germany to join the Jewish underground resistance, search for the mother and sister he left behind in Berlin, and rescue his childhood friend Eva.

bio

Author Biography

As Jana tells it, the remarkable story of the Kindertransport children in Nazi Germany touched her heart and would not let go: “Since the moment I heard their incredible, historic tale, they have not left my mind. The Kindertransport children came to live in my conscience and would not leave until I told their story.” Jana hopes readers will find the courage to stand up to the injustices that affect us all. Jana Zinser is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire School of Law and received her masters in Journalism from the University of Iowa. Her past work in politics, public policy, and the media, coupled with her determined focus on children and social justice, have uniquely placed her to tell this story. It’s a story as timeless and essential as ever, a story that will capture the hearts of the world. Jana lives in Colorado with her children.

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Author Insight

Choices

Sometimes it comes down to saving yourself or doing what's right. But if you don't choose what's right, can you live with yourself?

Book Excerpt

The Children’s Train

CHAPTER 40

HATE IS HARD TO KILL

(May 1943)

Ramona, the inmate matron, led Eva into the warehouse the Jewish people called “Kanada,” which symbolized their dreams of a place with great wealth and freedom. In it, mounds of clothes, shoes, suitcases, and other belongings were piled thirty feet high, a Matterhorn of stolen possessions. Huge baskets overflowed with eyeglasses, combs, brushes, and wedding rings.

“This is the sorting warehouse. It’s not hard. You sort things into piles,” Ramona explained. “The valuable things are sent back to Germany.”

“Why?”

“To be sold. It pays for the trains that bring us here,” Ramona said matter-of-factly, as she searched the side pockets of a suitcase.

“Why do you do their dirty work? You’re one of us,” Eva said. “I think that—”

“Don’t think,” Ramona interrupted. “Just try to survive. Thinking always causes problems.”

“But if you survive, how can you live?” Eva asked.

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Jana Zinser

The Children’s Train

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

Choices

Sometimes it comes down to saving yourself or doing what's right. But if you don't choose what's right, can you live with yourself?

Book Excerpt

The Children’s Train

Comment on this Bubble