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 into 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 sight.

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 that awaits him at every turn. The unknown aspect of the world leaves 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 work continues Yanek begins to doubt his father's constant hopefulness and positivity and wonders who is really right- his father or Uncle Moshe. "I still worried he was wrong, but fresh bread made me forget about my troubles. For a little while, at least." (pg.25) Doubting your parents for the first time is a struggle for Yanek especially in a war-torn Poland.

With the frightened emotions of being taken by the German Nazis, Yanek has been very scared by being taken by the Nazis, If I was in Yanek's position I would try to run away as fast as I could, even though it wouldn't work I would still try because what is the point of staying alive if you have nobody to be with, His whole family has been killed except for uncle Moshe. Now in Plaszow the Concentration camp Yanek is a sewer in the camp, and I would say that that is the best job he could have gotten because you get mostly out of the camp, there is not as much violence as in the camp, (even though there is still a lot of violence) and he doesn't have to do a lot of work. That is what I think of Yanek's resettlement journey.

Yanek is now in the Wieliczka salt mine mining and doing a lot of work but the beauty that is there is distracting, even though the barracks are worse than Paszow he's still thinking it is better here than with Amon Goeth and his dogs. then Yanek has to see the dead body of the Judenrat prisoner who got killed because he used his job for his advantage, so somebody we don't know who killed him. That is Yaneks Figurative journey so far in the book.

Yanek has moved to a city called Trzebinia and all the guards want them to do is work, like moving boulders from one side of the camp to the other, and back. This is really hard for Yanek. Then this guard was beating this man and the man started fighting the guard back and then he got shot, and the other guards thought this was a plan to escape from the camp so he accused six people of trying to escape when they didn't do anything, and they went to a nuse and got hung, Just because of Anti Semitism, That is Yanek's journey in this chapter.

Yanek was transported in a cattle car that smelled like human waste, and it was filled to the brim with people, Yanek luckily got to the side where there was a vent to get cold air because it was so hot in there. then the man next to him died so he was just laying on Yanek's shoulder while he was asleep. next, he needed to get something to eat so he had to move his arm to get snow out of the grate because he was so thirsty. last they got out of the cattle car and then they went into this room they thought was going to be a gas chamber but it was just showers. That is Yanek's literal journey in chapter 16.

Yanek's Figurative Journey

Yanek has been moved into the gas chamber and Yanek is waiting for the gas to come out but it is taking a while so Yaneks is going from crying in the corner to giggling and laughing and waiting to die, so he stands under the showerhead and he hears something in the pipes and water comes out. Yanek believes that he can now survive because they didn't kill him. These things are also helping him survive better, like cleaning himself every day without soap or anything just him and the freezing water and waiting in the back of the line to get soup so that all of the good stuff has fallen to the bottom and the soup gets thicker, and if the soup gets thicker that means more food for Yanek. This is Yanek's figurative journey this far.

Yanek Has made a friend named Fred and Fred and Yanek have a lot in common, they are similar in age and they are both from the same neighborhood, and didn't even know it, they would talk about food all of the time but they had to be careful because if they were caught talking during work they would be beaten. Yaneks friendship was great until Fred got really sick and the next morning Fred would not get out of his barrack until he kept getting beaten and he got dragged out and then he got hung. That was Yanek's figurative journey with Fred.

Yanek is now in the Sachsenhausen camp and after the death march they had a week's break to get all of the Jews back strong and healthy, Yanek had never eaten so much food the soup was really thick and they got warm bread but Yanek had to trade his soup for more bread because the soup didn't sit right in his stomach. Then the guards would make some people sing as a choir to mess with them and they made the prisoners box for entertainment. That is Yaneks Figurative journey through chapter 23.

Yanek thought that Bergen-Belsen was going to be a great place because of all of the food and it was the same work as before, but Yanek ran into a problem there was this kapo called "Moonface" who was not very kind, he punched Yanek in the face for looking at him funny, and he continued to beat and kick and punch Yanek while he was there. Yanek Needed to get out of there and there was a race to see who was the hardest working Yanek had to win it. The race was in the barracks and you had to go around everything, Yanek won 1st out of his group but he had to show that he was not breathing hard to make it better. That is Yanek's figurative journey in chapter 24.

Yanek was moved to Buchenwald and in Buchenwald, they would have to hull rocks up out of the quarry and if they had a rock that was too small then they would shoot them but if you grabbed a rock too big and you were struggling then you would also get shot. Next, then there was a zoo that was in the camp which had bears in it and they would through bug steaks in there Yanek was thinking about fighting one to get that steak. Last the people that were in charge were really bad people called the Kochs, that is Yaneks figurative journey so far.

Yanek was now being transported in a cattle car to the next camp called Gross-Rosen, Yanek was in the train and people were dying all over the place and Yanek was used to that now so he didn't care. Once he got to the camp they were put to work immediately and then a kapo came up to him and said "Where's your button" Yanek didn't know what he was talking about, then he looked down and saw a missing button, and the kapo said that a missing button was 20 lashes of his whip, so Yanek got laid down on his back and had to count all of the lashes in German and if he messed up then he would have to restart. In the end, Yanek had to go back to work and then to bed and he couldn't even sleep on his back because the marks hurt so much. That is Yanek's Literal Journey so far.

Yanek is now in Dachau and it was strange because they woke up one day not to any guards and then they all got out of bed and they thought it was a trick and they were about to get shot but they went outside and nobody was there, Yanek thought that they had fled during the night and then they herd tanks rolling up and they got scared but then they realized it wasn't the Nazis it was the allies the Americans, Yanek was so happy then they got transported to like a big building and Yanek got his very own bunk with sheets and a pillow and blanket. Yanek felt a rush of happiness as he lay on his new bunk with soft sheets and a pillow. He looked around at others who were smiling and sharing stories about their time in the camp. It was hard to believe the Nazis were gone! The rumbling of the Allied tanks outside filled him with hope. Maybe he could see his family again and have a fresh start. For the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to dream of a happy future. That is Yaneks figurative Journey

Yanek has now been transferred to Munich where they would housed and Yanek was so excited he had food on the table and to use silverware, a blanket, and sleep on a real bed. Then Yanek saw this lady who looked familiar. It was Mrs. Immerglick the lady across the hall from him in Krakow, they started talking and she brought up Yanek's cousin who was just around the block, they were so excited to see Yanek, they talked for hours. Yanek brought up that he wanted to be a projectionist but they said he should go to America and Yanek thought that that was a great idea, Yanek got put in this thing and eventually you would get these papers. You would be able to go to America, Yanek got his paper and he got on the train and never looked back. That is Yanek's figurative journey in this chapter.