They know
I can offer only
a gentle hand,
a tender voice.
They have no choice but to come.
They belonged once to someone.
They slept on sofa cushions
and ate from crystal dishes.
They purred,
furrowing the chest,
nuzzling the chins of their beloveds.
Thus begins this amazing work by Karen Hess and illustrated by Wendy Watson. This story was taken from a small article the author read concerning the cats of the Warsaw Ghetto during the take-over by the German Army, April 1943. A young Jewish Girl and her sister have escaped the fate suffered by so many, only because they could pass for “Polish,” and were able to avoid being confined to this area in Warsaw. They were able to smuggle food to those trapped on the other side. Having problems finding food for themselves, a plan was made to bring food in from outside the city. Somehow the Gestapo found out about these plans and made their own plans to capture those who were trying to bring the food in.
The young girl, her sister, and others gathered the now stray cats from Krasinski Square, secreted them in bundles and were waiting at the station when the smugglers brought the bundles of food into the station. At just the moment when the Gestapo closed in with their dogs, the people released the cats and in the pandemonium which followed the people were able to escape with their food bundles.
My goodness, what a lovely work, used to tell of such a horrible even in our history. The author’s flawless use of simple free verse is most effective in this case. The artist’s light, almost glowing use of the brush and color adds almost a surrealistic feel to such a dark event. To be frank, I cannot remember reading anything quite like this work.
The bravery of the little girl in the story, along with her sister and others involved in getting food to those being held is quite inspiring. Knowing of the absolute bravery of the young men and women fighting against what could arguable be the most evil a cowardly organization known in the world to that date, is inspiring beyond words. Many young men and women did escape the Warsaw Ghetto uprising to fight again another day, but many more did not. Note that I mention only “young men and women” here. The stark reality was that all the very young and the old had long since been sent to their doom at internment camps; by the tens of thousands. All that were left were those young and strong enough to work as slave labor in plants and factories.
Now I will say that this is a wonderful and well written work. I personally would not feel comfortable using it as an introduction to the Holocaust with the age group to which it is targeted which is grades two through five. If this book is read, it should be read with an adult who is familiar with the happenings of that time in general, and the Warsaw incident in particular. There is much in this little work that needs a much fuller explanation. I feel It would be best if a parent or teacher discussed these events, their beginnings and the final tragic outcome.
This is a unique work and belongs in any library, either public, school or library. I cannot say I “enjoyed” it, as I certainly did not, but I can say I appreciated it. I suspect that most who read it will be such as I, and after reflection, shed a tear or two.
Considerations :::
The Accelerated Reading designation for this book is 4.3 which means that the "average" 4th Grader in the third month of the school year should be able to read this themselves without becoming too frustrated by the vocabulary.
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