Jacob's Rescue
A Holocaust Story
Main Characters
Jacob Gutgel is a Jewish boy trying to survive the Holocaust while living in the Ghettos with his aunt Hannah and grandmother. The ghettos didn't give him a lot pf food or anything. Hannah had an idea to give Jacob away to a polish family. Jacob way brought to the polish family by Stasek. Alex was the first to meet him. Alex welcomed him into his home like he was a relative. Alex treated Jacob like a son. He made Jacob a hiding place under the sink so when the police gets any complaints they wont find out where he is hiding. Mela on the other hand, didn't want to take in Jacob because she wasn't willing to take in a Jew to sacrifice her life. During the time they spent together Mela began to treat Jacob like a son. She got medicine from Yurek when he was sick and brought it back to him. The Roslans were a great family to give Jacob too.
Plot
Jacob lived in a time period where the Holocaust took place. He lived in the Ghettos, where the Jews were forbidden to leave, and the curfew became more severe. The Ghettos received less food each day and there were more arrests. The abuse in the Ghettos were the same for everyone including the woman and children. The ghettos soon became a bad atmosphere for Jacob to he had to move in with a Polish family in Germany. At first the wife of Alex didn't want to take in a Jew to risk there lives. Jacob had to face multiple challenges like changing his name to Genyek, and hiding in compact places, like under the sink in a little whole. Not only was he nervous about getting caught be the police but losing his family to Hitler. Alex was told that his family was in danger, so he had to bring his family to his brother in law Vladek's village for safety, because the S.S. didn't know where that village was.
Connections
1.) The Roslan's took in one Jew at the beginning, named Jacob. Then they took in another Jew named Osolom. The Roslan's change both Jacob's and Osolom's name to a polish name so they don't get notice by the police that they are Jewish.
2.) Genyak got sick and Alex had to pay the Dr. ten thousand loyts for Genyaks operation. Alex had to sell his house in order to get the money.
3.) When Yurek was sick he kept half of his medicine to give to Genyak, making him feel a lot better.
Quote from the book
" I don't care what the kid is. He's sick and needs treatment or else he'll die. "
Dr. Masurik doesn't really go with what Hitler thinks of the Jews, he wants to help anyone or anything, doesn't matter if they are elderly or babies he just wants to help, because he's a caring person and not selfish like Hitler is.
Relflection
This book is really important to today's history. Mela and Alex are heroes that everyone should be proud of. Mela and Alex tried to save two Jews but only saved one, and should be proud for saving him. They are not the only people that saved a Jewish life. Reading this book hooks you in. It teaches you a lot about the holocaust, and what a Jewish survivor goes through just to survive. This also shows you how rude and disrespectful Hitler is towards to Jewish culture.