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"The Russian doesn't know for sure. But everywhere he has been, it is the same thing. No Jews left alive" (Roy 223).

Syvia begins to come to terms with the fact that all of her friends and family that boarded the trains to camps have most likely passed away. It was something she always assumed but did not know for a fact, and the Russian soldier confirmed her assumptions.

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"Our bread and water have run out after only a couple of days. Flour cannot be swallowed very well dry. It is an icebox in here" (Roy 201).

Here Syvia recalls what life was like while the Jews were hiding from the Nazi's in the flour house. She explains the difficulties of it and eventually goes on to describe how she began to wonder what heaven would be like and yearn for it. Her physical earthly situation was extremely trying and at times seemed impossible to surpass. She dealt with things many of people in the west do not have to experience on a regular basis, this one memory of hers is just an example of that.

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"If God dies, who will run the world? I hope it's not the Nazis" (Roy 90).

Here, Syvia is very confused as to who God is and if He is alive. She believes in one, but clearly does not truly know His character, as Scripture says He can never die. He is not created nor has a beginning or end, but is eternal. He is in control over all forever, no man can take that from Him - for He made man.

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One evening Syvia is sleeping and has nightmares, she wakes up screaming, "I'm sorry it's my fault". Her mother comes racing in and says, "It is not your fault. It is the fault of the Nazi's".

This not only refers to the Nazi's treatment of Jews in Lodz, but Jews all over Europe, from concentration camps to death camps. Jews were made to appear to be deserving of such cruel and awful treatment, when they actually did nothing to deserve such treachery. They are not at fault or to blame, the only ones that are, are the Nazi's and Hitler, the causes and inflictors of such pain and agony.

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"If even people of our own country did not try to help us when we were put into the ghetto, why would these foreigners want to save us?" (Roy 103)

What does this question make you wonder about?

It makes me wonder about why Poland was not trying to help its own people? Are they not able to or is it a choice?

Why are other countries so willing to help the Jews in Poland? Are they more able or willing?

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1. Why did Syvia and her father have to leave their house in the night?
2. What country rescued the Jews in Lodz?
3. What were the Jews wearing that caught the rescuers eye?
4. What did the Nazi's tell the parents they would provide for their kids?

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On page110 Syvia explains how even Rumkowski was placed in a train car. This was surprising because he was the "leader of the Jews" and was given much special attention in Lodz.

Why might this memory be important?

This memory shows how the Nazi's saw every Jew, no matter who they were, as a Jew first and foremost. They saw Jews as secondary, not to be equated in value or ability to the other superior races. Rumkowski is once example of that, his position in town and with the Nazi's did not change his fate - they still saw him as a Jew and therefore lacked value and care for his life.

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The author, Jennifer Roy, often brings up trains in the novel.

Why did the author bring this up again and again?

The trains typically led to a concentration camp where the Jews were forced to do labor, were starved, and horribly mistreated. Many died of starvation, illnesses, were worked to death, or killed for "acting out". Jews were treated as inhuman, of a lower class. The trains also led to death camps, where the "camps" were made to kill mass numbers of people, exterminating the Jews as Hitler had wanted.

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"We step out of the ghetto to the rest of our lives. I am one day shy of ten years old" (Roy 227).

What is the reason the author wrote this book?

The author went through the beginning of the anti-semitic events with Jews being pushed into small ghettos, and continued all the way through being rescued by the Russians. This showed a first person perspective on the brutality of the Nazi's and just how much they stripped away from the Jewish people in Europe. The fact that it was based off of a true story adds that much power to the book as well.

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When Syvia and her father escape their home every night for a few weeks while the Nazi's search the homes for children, is it right for them to defy the government like they did?

Romans 13:1-7 tells us to obey the authorities the Lord has placed over us, however we are called to do what is good in order to receive His approval. The Lord has given us a sound mind, and when we think a situation is not safe or very truthful, we can use the mind the Lord has given us to still honor the authorities above us, but also obey His command to do what is good. In this case, Syvia's father knew that nothing good would come from allowing Syvia to go with the Nazi's and disobeyed the government in order to protect what is good.

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"We are going to the workers' houses, Papa explains as we try to keep up with his long legs" (Roy 123).

Here Syvia's father is taking the family away from the trains and finding alternate housing and plans for them, against the Nazi's orders.

How might this changes things for the family?

Here, Syvia explains how her family is foregoing their scheduled place on the train because her father has a bad feeling about it. The family's future could be extremely different if they had gotten onto the trains, they most likely would have been sent to concentration camps to work or experience a worser fate.

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"My sister has papers that show that she has a job. The papers say that she is older than she really is, so the soldiers won't take her" (Roy 67).

Why would Dora lie about her age? The family seems to be very moral and does what is right.

Dora lied about her age on paper so that she would be able to work, as one had to be fourteen years old to work and Dora was twelve. Syvia's parents needed the money to support themselves, but they needed more than what the two of them could bring. So Dora had to get fake papers so that she could work and help her family's costs. This is interesting because usually Syvia's family does what is right, and lying is wrong, but they needed to eat and have home, so it is a contrast and contradiction.