The Promise

I am interested in this topic, so I read a lot about this period of history, but I never read a children book about Holocaust.
It is a story of two sister that are struggling to survive in Auschwitz. It has all it needs so the one who reads the story can imagine a little how the life in a concentration camp it could have been. It is not a happy life. Even if we like to think that life should be easy and beautiful, for many human it is a struggle for survival. Toby and Rachel had each other in this struggle. They are motivated to stay alive and together because of a promise Toby made to her parents. Thins promise give her the courage she needs to help her sister even when it seemed she could not do anything else.
A short story that is perfect for introducing children in the sad history of the Holocaust.

On the night that the Nazis took all the adults in their town away, sisters Rachel and Toby are separated from their parents but not before they are given a shoe paste tin with three gold coins in it. Not knowing what is going to happen to them, they are told to use the coins only if they have to, that they would know when the time was right. And most importantly, they must promise to try to always stay together.

Two years later, the sisters are now in Barrack 25 in Auschwitz, along with many other Jewish girls. Every other day, the girls build a wall of heavy fieldstone, and then, they tear it down only to begin again. When a girl gets sick, she is taken to the hospital and never seen again. Everyone in the barrack knows what has happened to her and do their best not to get sick, despite insufficient clothing, food, and bedding in bad weather.

When Rachel becomes ill, there is nothing Toby can do to prevent her from being taken to the hospital while she is working. Discovering Rachel gone when she returns, Toby knows she needs to do something quickly, or she will never see her sister again. Is this the right time to use the gold coins her parents gave them?

Using her wits, some clever planning, some luck, and the gold coins, Toby manages to get Rachel out of the hospital and back to the barrack. But the next day at roll call, she pays dearly for what she has done when the guard sees Rachel on line but not in her roll book. The guard whips Toby on her back with the leash of her dog, but she didn't send Rachel back to the hospital. Both sisters survive the war and walk out of Auschwitz together.

The Promise is a compelling and inspirational picture book for older readers about the importance of keeping promises, of family, and of the strength of sisterly love, particularly under the kinds of circumstances Toby and Rachel found themselves in trying to survive Auschwitz. And although it is a fictionalized biography, it is based on the real life experiences of sisters Toby, mother of author Margie Wolfe, and Rachel, mother of author Pnina Bat Zvi.


Photos of Toby and Rachel
The illustrations by Isabella Cardinal are done in a mixed-media of collage and photos together with textural drawings and finished in Photoshop, and really capture the emotions that sisters were feeling, and the anger and hate the guards had for them. The Holocaust was a very dark time in history and the illustrations aptly reflect that.

Holocaust picture books are always a difficult subject for young readers - how much graphic description to include. If too much is included there's the risk that the young reader will be so traumatized by what they read, that they never want to read about the Holocaust again. And although Toby and Rachel, like everyone in a Nazi concentration camp, faced beatings, brutality, starvation, and death everyday, Wolfe and her cousin Bat Zvi have managed to find a balance between the mistreatment and the love and resilience that kept these two sisters fighting for their lives.

The Promise is an important addition to the literature of the Holocaust, especially as it recedes into history. Keeping the Shoah alive by remembering it is so important now.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

I'm amazed at the true stories that are still being told from World War II. The Promise is one that I just found. This is the true story told by their daughters, of two sisters who survived a concentration camp only because of their love for each other.
When Rachel and Toby's parents were taken by the Nazis, they gave their daughters a tiny box with three gold coins. These coins were only to be used when they had to be, and the girls would know when that time came. Then, the girls were taken to the concentration camp and made to work hard doing nonsensical jobs. As the stronger of the two, Toby kept the coins safe. When Rachel fell sick one day and was taken away, would Toby be able to find her and save her before it was too late?
Just enough is shown in this book to give children a vague idea of the horrors of the concentration camps. The main focus is on the girls and their love for each other. Do be prepared to answer some questions about what happened in the camps; some of the horror is alluded to but not stated directly. For example, a girl got sick one day and disappeared; the others knew they would never see her again. The pictures help to create the feeling of the camps. There is a little color, but mostly the pictures are gray.
One thing I noticed that I'm not sure is accurate was when the guard was taking roll call. The girls in Barrack 25 were called by name. From what I've read, they were called by number rather than name. This change did make the story better for young children, though.
This book would be a good supplement to a study of World War II and the Holocaust. It is also a heartwarming story showing love between sisters. I'm glad we stumbled across it!