This book is about the Jewish resistance fighters during World War II. Chaya is a courier. She's a jewish teen posing as Polish. There are horrors, injustices, and grief as can be expected in historical fiction based on the Holocaust.
I loved the cover (reminiscent of Tiananmen Square tank man). A teenage girl, knowing success is unlikely, but ready to take on evil.
Some of my favorite parts:
Her eyes widened as she looked back at me. "What if they truly are winning, Chaya? What happens then?"
I'd asked myself that same question countless times. If they won, the extermination that began with us would extend to anyone they viewed as a threat to their twisted ideals. If there was any chance of them winning, then the resistance mattered more than ever.
"The Nazis murder us many times over. They take our ability to worship properly - a spiritual death. They separate our families - another death there. They kill our dignity, our will to live, and finally they take our lives. The question isn't whether my family is gone. It's only a matter of how many deaths they've suffered so far."
Historians might say that the Jews lost every uprising we attempted in this war, that every resistance movement failed.
I disagree.
We proved that there was value in faith. There was value in loyalty. And that a righteous resistance was victory in itself, no matter the outcome.
We got our three lines of history.
Be sure to read the AFTERWORD from the author. There is more information about AKIVA, ZOB, and the Couriers. Most were just teenagers and young adults.
From the Afterword:
May we never forget. May we live with honor at all times, regardless of our circumstances. And may we choose love, a weapon that will defeat hate every single time.
Love is the resistance.
Look up more information online...
The Cyganeria Cafe attack
Lodz Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
