Yanek and his family live in Krakow, Poland. But in just a blink of an eye, their city was invaded by the Germans beginning WW11. For now, Yanek and his family remain in Krakow. For a little while they stay in their flat with several other families. Anti-Semitic rules have been put in place that persecute Jewish people, taking away any rights they had. Over time, walls are built up around the ghetto to contain the remaining Jews who have not been taken for resettlement or deportation yet. One by one many Jews were relocated to other Jewish ghettos, work camps, and concentration camps or were killed on site.

Yanek's Figurative Journey

With the stress of no food, and constant hiding. Yanek is living in fear of being caught by the Nazis. His emotional state is one of constant terror and panic at what awaits him at every turn. The unknown aspects of the war leave a feeling of being unsettled. Yanek's early life as a 10-year-old boy before the war was very normal. He attended school, played with friends, and went to the synagogue with his family. He loves his mom and dad and looks up to them but as the war continues Yanek begins to doubt his father's constant hopefulness and positivity and wonders who is right - his father or Uncle Moshe. "I still worried he was wrong, but fresh bread made me forget all am troubles. For a little while, at least." (pg. 25) Doubting your parents for the first time is a struggle for Yanek especially in war-torn Poland.

yanks figurative journey

Yanke has been working in rough and hard conditions yanke talks in the sense ( the nazi yelled and beat us if we were too slow or if they thought the rock was too small they would hit us or make us get a bigger rock ) this show the hard unfortunate events that happen in tropiszow Poland and and how yanke survive straight threw luck and luck only.

Yanek is being relocated. On the train there is no water or food; he describes it as smells like human waste. Along the long trip, corps were leaning up against him and he was worried about where he was being taken. A little further into the train ride, Yanek was told that they were being taken to a gas chamber by an older man, he told Yanek to try to be by an air vent to die quicker. There were kids around Yanek's age who were throwing snowballs and saying insane things to the Jewish people. Luckily, Yanek was by a window and could scoop snow from the train into his hands to drink because there was no water to drink for the whole train ride which was very long.

Yanek escapes Auschwitz after leaving through the doors that the Nazis said the only way out of is through the chimney. Yanek and the rest of the people from the camps were being moved due to a British plane flying above them. The prisoners heard gunshots and bombs being fired and Yanek started to get more hope. Yanek meets a boy named Fred who is around his age. Yanek broke the rule that his uncle told him and talked to him about his family. Yanek and Fred bonded well because they both experienced the same situation. Both Fred and Yanek lost their family, they grew up not so far from each other and even went to some of the same stores, and they are both close in age. Yanek and Fred lifted each other and talked about what food and pastries they would eat once they got out. Not long after, Fred started to get sick. He didn't get better he just got worse and worse every day. Fred began to have a stomach ache, ate less and less as the days went by, and struggled to get out of bed. Fred was then too weak and tired to get out of bed from the sickness, and lack of food and water. He was dragged out of bed by two soldiers and ended up getting hung. Yanek lost another one of his friends and it affected him. Before he went to sleep, Yanek said a prayer that people said after a friend or family member died.    

Yanek's Figurative Journey

While Yanek was in the camp in Sachsenhausen Yanek was having a hard time and even made some mistakes. In this camp, the prisoners were forced to not just work but also do many other insane things. First, on the death march, Yanek and the others only had half a loaf of bread to last them the whole trip which was about 9 days. They had no water during the march and had to eat snow to replace water so they could stay somewhat hydrated. Yanek did make a mistake at this time when he helped a boy about his age and carried him for most of the day while they had to walk. Yanek helped him because the boy reminded him of his friend Fred who he couldn't save when he got sick right before the death march. He also explained that if he was in the position he would want someone to help him. At the end of the day when the prisoners and guards had to go to sleep, Yanek went to reach for his bread but it wasn't there because it fell out when he was carrying the boy. Yanek risked his life just to lose his bread, and helped a boy who wanted nothing to do with him without even saying "thank you". When everyone got to Sachsenhausen after a long hard trip, Yanek was experiencing a different camp that was very aggressive and violent. For example, their guards made them do a salute which was hard to do even if you were healthy. If the prisoners fell or disobeyed them to do it, they would be beaten or even killed. For the food arrangement, they had broth and stale cold bread but sometimes at dinner, the guards would make the prisoners go inside to where they have actual food and not just broth and make them sing without letting them eat anything for the day. The guards would run boxing matches and tease them. Yanek ends up meeting one of the guards who gives him a punch to the face because he said Yanek looked at him wrong. In the end, Yanek ends up proving that he is strong enough to work by racing. The guards let him go and he is now going to a different concentration camp called Bergen-Belsen.

When Yanek arrived at Bergen-Belson, everything was going well. He was put in the strong group and could rest for a whole week. The guards got actual soup with real meat in it and warm bread. Since he had eaten broth and stale bread for years, the soup messed with everyone's stomach but Yanek had the idea to save the bread till the morning so his stomach wouldn't hurt as much. Burgen-Belson was Yanek's time to recover from the death march and what Sachsenhausen put him through. All of the prisoners could sleep and regain their strength for the week and everything was going well until Yanek made contact with one of the guards who they called Moon-face. Moonface would beat Yanek and give him a punch to the face just because Moonface said he looked at him wrong.

Yanek was only in Buchenwald for a small amount of time. This camp was not the best one to be at and the prisoners weren't given much food. One of the major jobs was working at Corey. The guards scared the prisoners and they had to try their best to be very careful and not to mess up. The guards were terrible and would kill you if you had too big of a rock or too small of a rock. The camp had a zoo where the animals were treated better than the prisoners. During this time, the guards took a deer tied it by the antlers, and watched it struggle. Yanek was so upset that his blood started to boil. Lastly, Yanek explains that the Nazis killed so many of them to the point where they were running out of Jews.