It is September, 1942, and Ziggy is on a bumpy train, heading toward an orphanage in Annemasse, France, near the Swiss border. Hungry and uncertain as to what lies ahead, at twelve, he is still a child, but since he is among the oldest of the eleven children traveling together, he feels responsible for the safety of the younger ones, and is wary of the adults accompanying them. The children are Jewish, escaping the Nazis while pretending to be French schoolchildren seeking fresh air.
Author Roseanne Tolin deftly sets up this situation in her opening chapter, then introduces Elka, also twelve, who has lived in the “chateau,” as the orphanage is called, for three years. Ziggy and Elka soon become fast friends, and as their story unfolds, it wraps around their heartbreaking backstories.
Central to Elka’s story is Kristallnacht, or “night of the broken glass,” when she, at age eight, had to run from her home, leaving her family behind. Her mother begged her to carry her four-year-old sister Ruth on her back, but Ruth refused to go, and now Elka is racked with guilt about that split-second decision.
Life in the chateau is as pleasant as it could be in such circumstances—the children are fed and cared for, they go to school, and play outdoors. But they don’t know what has happened to their parents; they have heard stories about terrible prison camps and suspect that their parents have been sent to them and have died there; and underlying everything is the terrible fear that they themselves may share the same fate.
The adults at the chateau are kind and do their best to give the children a sense of security in these next-to-impossible circumstances. Among these adults are the gym teacher, Georges Loinger, a hero who, in real life, rescued more than 300 Jewish children in situations much like this fictional portrayal, and, remarkably, his cousin, Marcel Marceau, who uses mime to entertain the children in situations where it is essential that they remain quiet.
Georges plans a Sports Festival as a way of giving the children something to look forward to, while at the same time making them as strong as possible, in preparation for the physical hardships he knows they may soon face. Elka loves training for this event, working hard to run as fast as she can while also trying to outrun her feelings of guilt and terror. Ziggy, a polio survivor, can’t run as well as Elka, but the two of them find ways to support each other, and their friendship grows strong. Readers will be inspired by their cleverness and courage.
The story is carefully constructed and beautifully told. The final harrowing chapters go deep, with questions of faith, loyalty, and love resolved at a level appropriate to the children who will be reading the book. I highly recommend it for them, as well as for adult readers.
