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

The Violin Connection

In August of 1939, Peter, a German boy who rode the Kindertransport train to safety in England, was sent to Coventry to live on a farm. His violin was his only remaining connection to music and his father.

Book Excerpt

The Children’s Train

If the Germans bombed the farmhouse, he would be the first to die, here in the tallest part of the house. Maybe that would be a blessing, Peter thought. He slid the family picture under his violin and closed the case.

He carried the violin with him down the low-ceilinged attic stairs. “Under the stairs! Don’t dawdle!” Maude yelled to Peter from the stairwell.

“Why would they bomb Coventry?” Peter asked.

“Munitions factories,” Emil said.

Peter crawled under the supports and sat down, his violin resting in his lap.

“There’s no room for your violin!” Emil scolded, as he huddled in a corner.

“It’s small,” Peter said. “It doesn’t take up any room.”

“No,” Maude said gruffly.

Peter sighed and crawled back out from under the stairs. He thought he’d rather die than be without the violin his father gave him. It was his last connection to music and all joy, and to his father.

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Jana Zinser

The Children’s Train

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

The Violin Connection

In August of 1939, Peter, a German boy who rode the Kindertransport train to safety in England, was sent to Coventry to live on a farm. His violin was his only remaining connection to music and his father.

Book Excerpt

The Children’s Train

Comment on this Bubble