Escape To The Forest by Ruth Yaffe Radin was prominently featured on the library shelf and noted as a must read.

My resolution not to bring home more library books and to read those on my shelf was broken when I saw this book.

It is amazing what can be learned from Young Adult books! After reading so many books regarding the holocaust, I thought I knew quite a lot, but alas, there is still much more to learn and this small gem of a book reinforced that!

Based on a true story, ten-year old Sarah finds her life dramatically changed first by Russians entering Lida and then when the Nazi's occupied and terrorized the Jewish population.

Escape to the Forest portrays the terror and impending reality that Hitler meant to exterminate every Jew in Poland. While initially in denial, Sarah's family accepted their fate while praying for rescue.

In the fall of 1943, when hearded into the cattle cars, Sarah's father and mother implored their two children to watch for a chance to escape before getting to the trains. Both she and her brother escaped to the Nalibocka Forest where they were rescued by the Bielski movement and hidden in a community called the otraid.

I never knew about the otraid or the Bielski rescue mission and thus once again, I gained knowledge from a small, young adult book that packed a wallop of information, depth and feeling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielski_partisans ( )