Yanek's Journey

The Holocaust, the largest mass murder in history, claimed the lives of nine million, six million of whom were Jews. Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz describes what it’s like to be sent to ten different concentration camps and face many terrifying things such as starvation and separation from one’s family. The book tells the story of Yanek, who is taken from his home and tortured for nine years, without his family and friends. Yanek begins this “journey” as a starved, exhausted slave laborer. He will, against all odds, survive in ten different concentration camps before the war is ended. Through Yanek, Moshe, and Fred, the reader sees how each of them gets as far as they can with by being brave. Truly, when one works hard for something and are …show more content…
“If I had known what the next six years of my life were going to be like, I would have eaten more. I wouldn't have complained about brushing my teeth, or taking a bath, or going to bed at eight o'clock every night. I would have played more. Laughed more. I would have hugged my parents and told them I loved them. But I was ten years old, and I had no idea of the nightmare that was to come. None of us did” (Gratz 2). In this quote, Yanek is reflecting on his past and really trying not to give up. Yanek is being as brave as he can even though it may not be very easy right now. "I had survived the work gangs in the ghetto. Baked bread under cover of night. Hidden in a pigeon coop. Had a midnight bar mitzvah in the basement of an abandoned building. I had watched my parents be taken away to their deaths” (Gratz 126). Yanek says this quote when they arrive at Birkenau, and the finds out they are going to be sent to the gas chambers to die. He has already fought for, and lost, everything he once loved and cared about, and now the is being sent to die. Yanek is struggling, but hasn’t and won’t give up …show more content…
“From now on, you have no name, no personality, no family, no friends.. Nothing to identify you, nothing you care about. Not if you want to survive” (Gratz 68). Uncle Moshe said this to Yanek at the camp, helping him get through the tough times in the camp. This quote relates to the theme because along with being extremely brave you have to try and keep your past in the past. Moshe says, “Your parents, Oskar and Mina. They are dead and gone now, Yanek, and we would grieve them if we could. But we have only one purpose now: survive. Survive at all costs, Yanek. We cannot let these monsters tear us from the pages of the world” (Gratz 70). He said this proving that no matter what happens they need to move past it and survive. Uncle Moshe is