Children of the Slaughter: Young People of the Holocaust

Ted Gottfried
Twenty-First Century Books (2001)
ISBN 9780761317166
Reviewed by Spencer Zaborowski (age 12) for Reader Views (11/07)


What do you think it was like in World War II?  In Ted Gottfried's “Children of the Slaughter: Young People of the Holocaust,” readers get a look at what the holocaust was like during World War II.  This eye-opening collection includes personal stories that the Jews, Gypsies, etc. tell about their experiences, such as when little Jewish children were made into experiments, and then later hanged.

The events are well-organized and easy-to-follow.  There is a moment of sadness at the end because it tells how most of the survivors were left homeless, without families and with no place to belong.  It also tells in the middle of the book how most of the Jews that died were children.  It made me very sad to think that there were such cruel people that did horrible things to other humans, especially children.

“Children of the Slaughter: Young People of the Holocaust” is an amazing, interesting book for teens and young adult readers.  It is written in an easy-to-read manner, and the vocabulary is not difficult to understand. It tells about different children all over the world and how the holocaust affected them.  Teen readers can try to imagine the problems the kids had when they watched their families and friends die.  One story in this book is very touching - when a fourteen-year-old girl and her family saw a four-year-old girl separated from her father.  “My mother... took this child by the hand and she kept her, wouldn't let go of her... When the Nazi official asked my mother if this was her child and she nodded yes, he sent her to the left.  My brother, being only twelve at the time, he sent to the left, and me he motioned to the right.”  I don't want to go into the details, or give away what happened, so you have to read the story to find out!

Everyone who likes reading about history will definitely enjoy this wonderful, factual and entertaining book.  Even though many parts were sad, I learned a lot about what the children in World War II went through.  It is amazing to me how any of them survived and started brand new lives afterwards.  Best of all, teens will find “Children of the Slaughter: Young People of the Holocaust” is written in a style just for them.

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