Chance: Escape from the Holocaust: Memories of a Refugee Childhood

Gr 4-6–In September 1939, when German bombs started falling on Warsaw, four-year-old Shulevitz’s life would change forever. With his Jewish family, Uri fled Poland to the Soviet Union toward a slightly less dangerous but still far from safe life. In this memoir, Shulevitz remembers his childhood as a refugee experiencing constant hunger and fear. Eight years would pass with Uri and his family on the edge of survival. Fred Berman offers a sympathetic voice for Shulevitz’s memory. Though this story is powerful as an audiobook, the print version of this book offers such a visual experience through illustrations that it is best to listen to the audio alongside the print book. It is important to share this story with students for them to understand history through the eyes of a child their own age.