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.
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The Children’s Train by Jana Zinser is a heart wrenching historical novel focusing on the years 1938-1945 in Germany. It is written from the point of view of the Jewish people. The novel zooms in on a small group of individuals. They are a microcosm for what affected millions and not just in Germany.
We follow the plight of several families from their homes and lives where liberties are eroded to the kindertransport to the ghetto to the gas chambers. The reader witnesses the full horror of what life was like when you were Jewish in Nazi Germany.
There is both bravery and desperation of parents relinquishing their children on a train to a better life in England. The reader ‘travels’ to England and also remains behind in Germany.
As lives are extinguished so hope is extinguished too. It feels like the world has abandoned the Jewish people to their fate. “They’re robbing our souls, and the world has turned out its light and gone to sleep.” It even feels like God has left them. “Do you think God can still hear me?”
There are some very difficult to read scenes of horror, as well as scenes of great bravery and of hope. Some possess a fighting spirit, for others it is just too much.
A particularly moving scene for me involved Eddie and Otto towards the end of the war. I shall say no more but let you read it yourselves.
The literary device of pathetic fallacy was used as the weather mirrored the mood. “Lightning flashed and thunder shook as the train travelled across Germany.”
The Children’s Train was simply written but this simplicity seemed to magnify the horrors.
We must never forget the evil done to the innocents – the six million who perished and the others who survived.
This book takes place during WWII in Germany when Hitler’s Nazis were destroying the lives of the Jewish people. There were several families discussed in the book, but the main character is Peter Weinberg and his family. The Kindertransport was a train used to help Jewish children escape from Germany. It took them into England where families were willing to take them in to escape the persecution. The atrocities that the poor Jewish families–and children–endured is positively heartbreaking. Peter and one of his sisters survived, while the rest of the family was lost–murdered. This is a wake-up call and a reminder of what racism and persecution look like in their ugliest form. While this isn’t exactly a “happily ever after” book, I’m extremely happy that I read it. I think everyone should read this to have their eyes opened and learn from history.
This is a moving book that will keep you thinking about it after you finish.
Anything about the Holocaust is heartbreaking. The stories of these brave children were amazing.
In a tale of historical fiction with fictional characters, history buffs this one will spark your interest.
Its storybook depicts pieces of history. It may bring to mind the memories of the Diary of Anne Frank, Hitler, the Holocaust; the Kindertransport (a.k.a. “Children’s Train”). True, there’s a lot going on in this wrenching story as it uncovers life in the lives of the German Jewish children. When children are stripped of their parents, it’s never an easy pill to dissolve.
“The Children’s Train” speaks to how one breaks through barriers to overcome the hurt experienced.
The characters were all well developed and the book followed all of the characters throughout the story – wherever they happened to be and whatever was happening to them. It was very realistic, though often sad, what happened to the characters.
The subject matter of this book is adult, but the book reads like a children’s book on the level of probably a 4th or 5th grade level. While I said I would recommend it, it is NOT a adult book in the way it reads but I would not recommend it for anyone under about 14 due to the subject matter. But it is easy to read and interesting if you don’t mind the “children’s-book” style.
The book was about a time where tragedy was common occurrence. I just enjoyed the storyline and what happened to people for the choices that they made. It was sad at many times in yet I am sure so true to what happened. I really do recommend the book.
A very informative and emotional book. The characters were well developed and followed closely with historical facts of the tragic treatment of the Jews by the Nazis.
Very good and historical experience
Eye opening story ! Beautifully written and needs to be read.
It was awesome. So realistic
Great insight into some of the children whose German-Jewish parents sent them to England during WWII.
I stuck with the story for the first 20% and then gave up; maybe it improved later. The writer’s style was not engaging to me, and there was no development of character that made me interested in persisting. I have read so many books of this era of history that are wonderful, and I was hopeful that this would be one of them.