Reviews - The Warsaw Orphan

542 reviews for:

The Warsaw Orphan

Kelly Rimmer

4.27 AVERAGE

drhorgan's review against another edition

4.5

emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

j_sunday's review against another edition

5.0

I was stunned to read in the Author Notes that "A recent survey conducted by the Jewish Material Claims Against Germany found that almost two-thirds of the American young adults surveyed did not know that six million Jews died during the Holocaust." This book and many others from WWII is a must for everyone.

The story grabs our hearts and makes you feel deep sorrow for those that endured great pain in Poland in the early 1940s. Emilia is the main character at the age of 14 years old that is confronted by horror when she witnessed her father being executed in the village when the war began. Her biological mother had died when she was born. She was quickly transferred to a new home with a new identity as Elizbieta to keep her safe in Warshaw. She was now living on the other side of a Jewish walled ghetto with her stepparents and beloved uncle. But it wasn't long before she went inside the checkpoints into an unbelievable dark place where she had to walk with her head up while confronting her worst fears.

As every other WWII novel, this takes you to a place that is dreadful with emotional stress of so many people that lived on the edge of dying. Every scrap of food was golden, many were sick with diseases and who could you trust as people were dragged off the streets and killed? The author did an exceptional job of creating an image of how horrible it must have been to live in these times. Millions did not survive.

This book gives you a glimpse of some of the heroes that were brave and made it through to tell their stories. Does history repeat itself? That is the unanswered question.