Trains to Treblinka
A Novel
- Fiction
- Publisher: Elm Hill (HarperCollins Christian Publishing)
- Published: 2020
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
Treblinka, Poland--1942. Daily, thousands of passengers including Bronka and Tchechia arrive at a destination they believe is a resettlement work camp, only to be immediately separated from their families and told to remove their clothing. Within moments, the masses disappear into a long, fenced passageway down the center of the camp called the tube, except for those indiscriminately chosen out of the lines by the SS. While ordered to carefully organize the discarded valuables of the passengers, the young men and women begin to unravel the mysterious truth about Treblinka, yet they are not allowed to ask questions. Only later, when the workers search for their loved ones to no avail do the Nazi’s menacing grins tell them all they need to know--that they must keep working or they will also end up entering the tube. As the sobering truth about Treblinka sinks deeply into the workers’ hearts, a few of the men and women begin to plan a revolt. Based on a magnificent true story, Trains to Treblinka deftly interweaves the lives of several revolt organizers who pledge everything for the chance to burn down the camp and escape into the woods. When the day comes for the uprising, the young workers are barely able to contain their excitement and they risk betraying their own motives under the watchful eyes of the continually distrusting Nazis. This well-researched, inspiring historical book is an authentic look at Treblinka written as a suspense novel. From Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize review, “It may be difficult and heart-wrenching to read the in-depth details about the atrocities that occurred at the Treblinka concentration camp, but this book is hard to put down. Causey presents a powerful linear approach to the arrival of the victims, the losses, the physical and emotional tortures, and the escape attempts. This profoundly memorable story about Treblinka serves as a reminder that every individual victim's name is worth remembering.” Learn about the beauty of hope, the tragedy of war, and the enduring power of the human heart, all in Trains to Treblinka.
Endorsements (3)
“Everything the Jews left behind had its value and its place. Only the Jews themselves were regarded as worthless.”
“I stare directly ahead as I take off my clothes. I am afraid. By not looking at anyone I hope no one will see me. I hesitate before removing my bra. I decide to leave my bra on. Just then a shot rings out. The charge is ear-shattering. Some women begin to scream. Others weep. I quickly take my bra off… A burden was lifted. The burden of individuality. Of associations. Of identity. Of the recent past.”
“Camp was a proving ground of character. Some—slithered into a moral swamp. Others—chiseled themselves a character of finest crystal. We were cut with a sharp instrument. Its blade bit painfully into our bodies, yet in our souls, it found fields to till. We had all become just our bare essence. A man was seen and valued for what he really was.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem