Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe

Rudi Vrba and Gerta Sidonva, Jewish teenagers during the Nazi regime and its plan to exterminate Europe’s Jews, fight to survive despite unimaginable difficulties. Vrba progresses from an optimistic teenager ready to fight in the war, to a captured prisoner and slave, to a hero who escapes and spreads the news of the atrocities of the concentration camps. Sidonva and her family are on the run after their shop is taken and must hide their true identities, yet she struggles to adapt and is a hero who forges documents. This engaging resource, based on true accounts, is suitable as a literature circle or class novel and reflects the reality of being Jewish in WWII Europe and focuses on survival and heroism. Social considerations noted; graphic imagery and emotionally charged material.