It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolf (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely. Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi occupied Europe: the methodical mass killing of Jewish prisoners. As trains full of people arrive daily, Rudi knows that the murders won’t stop until he reveals the truth to the world and that each day that passes means more lives are lost. Lives like Rudi’s schoolmate Gerta Sidonová. Gerta’s family fled from Slovakia to Hungary, where they live under assumed names to hide their Jewish identity. But Hungary is beginning to cave under pressure from German Nazis. Her chances of survival become slimmer by the day. The clock is ticking. As Gerta inches closer to capture, Rudi and his friend Alfred Wetzler begin their crucial steps towards an impossible escape. This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives.
Germany
Materials from Germany
When Dad’s Hair Took Off
One day, Dad’s hair decided it was tired of being brushed and combed. It wanted a life of its own, to see the world. It took off.
The Grand Hotel Of Feelings
Welcome to the Grand Hotel of Feelings, where all kinds of feelings come and stay. Every guest has unique needs. Anger, for example, is very loud and needs plenty of space to scream and shout. Sadness speaks in a small voice and occasionally floods the bathroom. Gratitude likes wandering about in nature; you never know when she might come and sit by your side. Some feelings are big and some are small, some are fun and some are tricky, but no feeling is ever turned away. At the Grand Hotel of Feelings, there is room for everyone!
Hansel And Gretel: A Toon Graphic
Bestselling author Neil Gaiman and fine artist Lorenzo Mattotti join forces to create Hansel and Gretel, a stunning book that’s at once as familiar as a dream and as evocative as a nightmare. Mattotti’s sweeping ink illustrations capture the terror and longing found in the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Gaiman crafts an original text filled with his signature wit and pathos that is sure to become a favorite of readers everywhere, young and old.
It Wasn’t Me!
Mouse learns about the dangers of jumping to conclusions when he and Ferret prematurely accuse Raven of stealing Ferret’s raspberries.
Ludwig And The Rhinoceros
Does something exist even if you can’t see it? A humorous bedtime story for budding philosophers.
Flight For Freedom
Many people attempted daring escapes over the Berlin Wall, and most failed, giving their lives for the hope of freedom. This is the true story of one child, Peter Wetzel, and his family’s daring escape from East Berlin to West Berlin via handmade hot air balloon in 1979.
Berliners
A riveting story about the rivalry between two brothers living on opposite sides of the Berlin wall during its construction in the 1960s, and how their complicated legacy and dreams of greatness will determine their ultimate fate.
Hidden Powers: Lise Meitner’s Call To Science
A biographical novel in verse about Lise Meitner, an Austrian Jew and physics professor in Nazi Germany who escaped to Sweden and whose work led to the discovery of nuclear fission. Includes author’s note and timeline.
The Silent Unseen: A Novel Of World War Ii
In July 1944, as the Red Army drives the Nazis out of Poland, sixteen-year-old Maria Kamińska must work with a captured Ukrainian nationalist to find her brother, who is a special operations agent and leader of a Polish Resistance squad, when he disappears while on a mission.