Run, Boy, Run
From AwardAnnals
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| Author(s) | Uri Orlev |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books |
| Honors | |
| Run, Boy, Run is the extraordinary account of one boy's survival of the Holocaust. Srulik is only eight years old when he finds himself all alone in the Warsaw ghetto. | |
Translated from Hebrew by Hillel Halkin.
"Srulik, there's no time. I want you to remember what I'm going to tell you. You have to stay alive. You have to! Get someone to teach you how to act like a Christian, how to cross yourself and pray. The most important thing, Srulik," he said, talking fast, "is to forget your name. Wipe it from your memory. But even if you forget everything — even if you forget me and Mama — never forget that you're a Jew."
And so, at only eight years old, Srulik Frydman says goodbye to his father for the last time and becomes Jurek Staniak, an orphan on the run in the Polish countryside at the height of the Holocaust. With the danger of capture by German soldiers ever-present, Jurek must fight against starvation, the punishing Polish winters, and widespread anti-Semitism as he desperately searches for refuge. Told with the unflinching honesty and unique perspective of such a young child, Run, Boy, Run is the extraordinary account of one boy's struggle to stay alive in the face of almost insurmountable odds — a story all the more incredible because it is true.
Run, Boy, Run is the extraordinary account of one boy's survival of the Holocaust. Srulik is only eight years old when he finds himself all alone in the Warsaw ghetto. He escapes into the countryside where he spends the ensuing years hiding in the forest, dependent on the sympathies and generosity of the poor farmers in the surrounding area. Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, several chases, captures, attempted executions, and even the loss of his arm, Srulik miraculously survives.
