Pressler, Mirjam. Malka.Penguin penguin, originally the common name for the now extinct great auk of the N Atlantic and now used (since the 19th cent.) for the unrelated antarctic diving birds. Putnam, Philomel phil·o·mel n. A nightingale. [Alteration (influenced by French philomèle) of Middle English phylomene, from Medieval Latin philom . 286p. c2003. 0-399-23984-7 $18.99. JS Translated from German, Pressler shares with readers the story of Malka Mai, a young Polish girl who fled the German roundup of Polish Jews Note: Names that cannot be confirmed in Wikipedia database nor through given sources are subject to removal. If you would like to add a new name please consider writing about the person first. . Although Mai is a real person, the author has fictionalized her tale, filling in the gaps that Mai was too young to remember. The story begins in September 1943, as a very young Malka, her 16-year-old sister Minna, and her mother Hannah, the town's only physician, learn from their neighbors that the German soldiers who occupy the town are about to mount an "operation," removing Jewish families to places unknown. Making a decision on the spot, Hannah grabs birth certificates and her medical license, taking her two daughters with her as she uses her connections to arrange an escort across the Hungarian border. A short distance into their trip, Malka becomes ill, and Hannah leaves her with another family under assurances that they will bring her to meet Hannah in Hungary. The plot shifts between Malka and her mother as both of them struggle to reach Hungary. While Hannah waits in Budapest, Malka is shipped back to Poland to fend for Verb 1. fend for - argue or speak in defense of; "She supported the motion to strike" defend, support argue, reason - present reasons and arguments herself in the ghetto for the next seven months. Poignant and chilling, Malka adds a new perspective to the archives of the Holocaust Holocaust (hŏl`əkôst', hō`lə–), name given to the period of persecution and extermination of European Jews by Nazi Germany. . Michele Winship, Asst. Prof., Capital Univ., Columbus, OH |
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