Yanek and his family live in Krakow, Poland. But in just a blink of an eye, their city was invaded by the Germans beginning WWII. 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 have. 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.

Yaneks Figurative Journey

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

Throughout the past few chapters, Yanek has experienced a rollercoaster of emotion. All of his family members have been sent away to camps or death. Yanek was deported to a work camp, where he was reunited with his Uncle Moshe. Yanek now has to survive on his own. "We cannot let these monsters tear us from the pages of the world" (page 70). Yanek is determined to win this fight and survive, no matter how fearful he might feel. So much is happening around him. People getting shot, killed, and ripped apart by German shepherds but still threw all of his fear and being by himself he wants to win.

At roll call, Yanek was loaded into a truck to be taken to the Wieliczka salt mine one random morning. As he was going down the elevator into the salt mine, he started getting flashbacks of being "Trapped, in the dark, with death coming for me." (page.98) Yanek was reminded of hiding under the floorboards again at Plaszow. Yanek started having a panic attack, thinking that this would be the dealth of him.

Yanek had to work at the salt mine. The Germans would tease them and make them do more work than they needed to see their reactions, trying to get them to fight back. The Germans treated Yanek like an animal. Yanek started to feel more angry. Yanek wanted to fight back and work with the rest of the prisoners. One night at the roll call, one of the prisoners struck at the soldier. They had the same idea as Yanek. But once the prisoner did that multiple people including the person that struck all got hanged. Tones of innocents had been killed that night. "This is what fighting back has earned you. More abuse. More death." (pg.111) After this, Yanek realized that he just needed to accept that he couldn't do anything but try and survive or something bad would happen to him and many others.

Yanek and the rest of the prisoners had been stuffed inside a train with no room at all for 2 to 3 days. Once they got to the Extermination Death camp everyone came crashing out of the cars with dead people falling. They had seen Black chimneys with black flames coming out from the top. "The smell of burning flesh filled the air. I gagged." (Pag. 124) Everyone started getting scared that they would all die and that all of the rumors were true. This was the end for them, or so they thought.

Yaneks figurative journey

Yanek was at his lowest point, practically begging for death. Yanek was sent into a room with showerheads lining the ceiling. Yanek was expecting to die from gas filling up the room. "Maybe someone was standing on the hose, I thought crazily, and I started to giggle...I laughed at that, and a prisoner standing over me looked down at me like I was insane. Maybe I was. The Nazis had finally broken me. It was all a big joke." (Pg. 128) But then the shower heads came on with water. This changed Yanek's perspective, Yanek had regained his confidence starting to rethink that he was going to make it. "I was alive" (pg.129) After this Yanek was motivated to survive, he began to shower every day and brush his teeth with his fingers and spread motivation. "We cannot let them tear us from the pages of the world." (pg.135) Yanek was positive he would make it.

After a long period, Yanek met a boy about his age named Fred. After they met they would try to get the same work duties, eat together, sleep together, and even stand together at rollcall. They had a lot in common with each other. Yanek started feeling happier that he actually had someone. They talked about many things throughout the day and would laugh together. This was helpful to Yanek that he started to have a bond with someone. But One morning Fred could not get out of bed because he was super sick. Yanek started to get upset and tried helping him out of bed but the guard pulled him away. A random prisoner had pulled him away so that he wasn't killed for free. "come away boy." (Page.161) That day Fred got hung around rollcall time. This was very hard for Yanek at first knowing that he wasn't able to show any emotion or else he would be punished. This affected Yanek after he had finally found some that he connected with and shared much time with.

When Yanek was at Sachsenhausen, the guards teased them and played games just for fun. Yanek was taken with others to sing to the soldiers as they sat there, ate big meals, and laughed at them. They would also grab random prisoners and make them fight each other or they would throw food on the floor and make the Jews fight each other in the mud for it. And as they were fighting they would get beat. Yanek had kept telling himself "Work to live. Live until the Allies come." (Page.192) Yanek was so tired but to keep himself motivated he would tell himself it was almost over as they could hear the allies' planes and bombs of the war.

Yanek and the other prisoners arrived at Bergen Belsen. They had been fed good food for a whole week and let them rest. Because of this, Yanek thought that he would be able to survive the rest of the war there. He believed that Burgen Belson was perfect until one day at work there was this guard called Moonface who had called him over for no reason and beat Yanek because "you looked at me the wrong way". (Page.199) Moonface was a perpetrator. Before the war, Moonface had killed three men. After this Yanek had been Moonfaces punching bag for weeks. Yanek wanted to get out of bergen belson so bad, because of Moonface. To prove himself he had to run a race to get out of bergen belson. He ran as fast as he could to get away from Moonface.

As Yanek was at the Buchenwald concentration camp he was very furious with the guards. They watched as the animals got large amounts of food they hadn't had in years. The Nazis would even put a piece of meat on the floor and laugh as 2 prisoners would fight for the meat. One of the days that Yanek was there, he had seen two SS officers lurk a deer to the fence of their enclosure and tie its antlers to the wall for no reason other than to entertain themselves and taunt the poor deer. This left Yanek very upset that the deer couldn't do anything and was defenseless and wished he could go over there and free the deer but if he were to do so, he would be shot. "But somehow seeing that deer there thrashing around, trying to free itself from the fence, made my blood boil." (page.208) This shows that Yanek was mad that the Guards were doing this for no reason and wished that he was able to do something about this situation.

For what felt like the 1 millionth time Yanek was getting stuffed back into a train where he would be taken to a new location, Gross Rosen. They had been given no food or water and people died all over the place. On their way there everyone could hear planes, that would shake the cars and patterned bullets. A bomb had also explored right next to them making them feel the heat from the bomb. As the train stopped yanek envisioned that a bomb would fall right on them and kill them. "And for a moment I wanted it to happen, the way free had so long ago. Anything, anything that would get me out of this nightmare." (Page. 213) Yanek wanted it to happen. he wanted to be put out of his misery and just take the easy way out. But after being thrown so much he just couldn't die. Yanek was waiting for one to drop but it never did. "I couldn't have told you if I was more disappointed or relieved."(Page 213) Once they got there Yanek got out of the car going into the camp "With no fear or expectations." (page 213)

One night all of the prisoners including Yanek had woken up in the middle of the night to loud gunshots and bombings going off around them. In fear, they all cover their heads hoping for the best. Everything goes back to normal and they go back to sleep because they were so used to it. In the morning Yanek was confused because he wasn't woken up super early by a kapo but instead by the rest of the prisoners whispering to each other. Everyone was surprised that there were no guards or anyone around but feared too much to leave. Yanek was contemplating on whether to just leave or not because what if they were just playing a trick on them and the guards were just trying to get them to come out? "What trick was this?... Prisoners staggered out of each barracks, looking this way and that, waiting for the Nazis to jump out and starting shooting us."(page.243)The Americans ended up coming into the camp and everyone came rushing out filled with joy and happiness, after all of these years Yanek had done it. Yanek was so emotional that he was on the floor crying because he was so happy, but still wondering what he was going to do. He had no family, nor did he have any caretakers.

When Yanek first got to America he was brought into his room and asked how many people he had to share with, when he was told nobody he was super excited and happy that for the first time in forever, something was just his. "A bed all to myself! Then-wonder upon wonders-the soldier gave me a blanket, a pillow, and sheets for the bed. Sheets!" (Page.249) Yanek couldn't believe it. Yanek had gone to the dining hall sat down and could eat the same food that the soldiers ate. "They couldn't understand our tears, couldn't know how amazing such a simple meal was to us." (page.250) Tons of prisoners were crying with joy and happiness. As Yanek ate he still thought about and had his family present in the room remembering his family that he had lost long ago. After a couple of days, Yanek had finally seen one of their neighbors from long ago. They cried and hugged each other and Yanek found out by Mrs Immerglick that his cousin Youzek and his wife were still alive. Yanek visited his family and was told to live in America. It was time for Yanek to live.