I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944

Max manages to flip onto his stomach just as the tree lands with a crash, the ground shaking beneath him. Luckily, the ditch is deep enough that the tree doesn’t crush him, but he’s now trapped. He hears voices calling his name and tries to scream for help, but his voice comes out as a muffled whisper. The voices fade, leaving Max alone. He tries to push the tree off, but it won’t budge. Max lies in the ditch, hopeless. Suddenly, he feels a surge of determination hit him: “He refused to let the Nazis beat him—at least not without a fight” (64). Using a rock, he digs into the dirt, scraping and pushing until he creates a small opening. Finally, Max manages to crawl out of the ditch. Once free, he looks around, hoping to see Zena, Aunt Hannah, or the others, but he’s alone. Then, in the distance, he hears machine-gun fire: “rat, tat, tat” (65). The Nazi troops are now marching through the forest.

Determined to find Zena and the others, Max gathers his courage and starts walking. Soon, he spots two Nazi soldiers up ahead and ducks behind a tree to watch. One soldier has his pistol raised, aiming toward something. Max follows his gaze and sees Martin and Zena crouching by a fallen tree. They have their backs to the soldiers, unaware they are in danger. Max remembers the rock in his pocket and yells to distract the soldiers. The one aiming the gun looks Max up and down and sneers at him. It reminds Max of “the way Goliath must have first looked at David” (69). Fueled by rage, Max hurls the rock at the soldier, hitting him square in the head. The soldier stumbles back, and Martin gets up and shoots him dead. However, there is still the other soldier. Martin aims his rifle again, but it’s jammed and Martin fumbles with it.

The soldier stands frozen, staring at Max. He’s young, not much older than Max, and looks terrified. Max realizes that this boy might not be so different from him, and he wonders, “Were they really enemies? Or were they just two boys caught in this net of evil?” (71). Martin has readied his rifle and aims at the young soldier. Max screams, “No!,” but Martin fires. The soldier falls, and his pistol fires, hitting Max in the chest. As Max lies in the dirt, he feels Zena’s hand holding his, before he passes out. When he wakes up the next day he realizes he is still alive, unlike the young soldier.

Five weeks later, Max wakes from a nightmare in the Partisan camp in Loda Forest. He’s been having nightmares every night since he was shot. Max and Zena sleep in an underground hut with the others, and his wound is mostly healed but still painful. Today, Aunt Hannah, Lev, and Martin are expected back from their first mission since the attack in the forest. They’ve gone toward Esties to gather supplies from Mr. Jablonski.

Max remembers how Martin had bandaged him and carried him while leading Zena back to the camp after the attack. They had struggled through the freezing water of the swamp, stopping in a cluster of dead trees: “The forest glowed eerily around them, machine-gun fire pounding in the distance” (77). Suddenly, they saw what looked like a huge creature moving through the water toward them, later revealed to be Aunt Hannah and Lev, holding onto a giant branch for support. The group huddled together until daylight, then made it to the island. The camp had escaped the bombing, and Max was soon under the care of Dr. Zelman, a former surgeon. Zena refused to leave Max’s side, and soon he began to recover. The group heard that the Russians had pushed the Nazis out of eastern Poland. They were all hoping that Aunt Hannah, Martin, and Lev would return with good news.

Later that morning, the guard announces that Aunt Hannah, Martin, and Lev are back. Max and Zena race to the edge of the swamp and see them, but they aren’t alone. They are accompanied by another man: their father. Max and Zena scream his name and rush into the water to embrace him. Later, their father tells his story. He escaped from a train that was carrying him and thousands of other Jews and made his way back to Esties. By then, the Nazis were gone, but just days after Max and Zena had escaped, the entire ghetto was put on trains. Papa had searched everywhere for them until someone told him about an old farmer who had rescued two children: Mr. Jablonski. The chapter ends with an illustration on Page 80 showing the joyful reunion, with Max and Zena in the arms of their father.

It’s January 1947, two and a half years later. Max, Zena, and their father are aboard a ship, the Anna Marine, bound for New York. They stand at the railing, looking out at the ocean. Papa tells them they’ll soon see land. Since the war ended nearly two years ago, their lives have changed dramatically. Aunt Hannah and Lev are now married and living in Palestine, along with Martin. They’re helping build a new Jewish nation: Israel. Papa had considered moving there too but decided that America was the best place for them. After the war, they wandered from city to city. There was nothing left for them in Esties since almost every Jewish person was gone forever, and “there seemed to be ghosts everywhere, stains of the terrible things that had happened” (84). They eventually made it to a camp in Rome, Italy, where they stayed with other Jewish survivors. An American volunteer helped Papa write to his cousin in New York, and they were able to get help to immigrate to America. The cousin, Saul, wrote back, “Your entire family is here for you. We will help you start your new life” (86).

Max wanted to forget all the terrible things that had happened, but he wondered if he ever truly could. He wondered if he could really start a new and happy life after everything he had endured. For months before this voyage, these questions had weighed on him. A few days before boarding the ship, Max’s eyes lingered on his scar. He realized the Nazis had wounded him in more than just physical ways: They had left scars on his heart and mind too. Yet, he would also remember the kindness of people like Mr. Jablonski, who risked his life to help them, the bravery of the partisans, and how he and Zena had never abandoned each other. Suddenly, Zena screams that she can see America. They look out into the distance and see it. They all smile, knowing their future is waiting for them.