The main character in this story is a Jewish girl named Alicia. When the book starts she is ten years old, she lives in the Polish town of Buczacz with her four brothers, Moshe, Zachary, Bunio, and Herzl, and her mother and father . The holocaust experience began subtly at first when the Russians began to occupy Buczacz. When her brother Moshe was killed at a " Boys School" in Russia and her father was gathered up by German authorities, the reality of the whole situation quickly became very real. Her father was taken away shortly after the Russians had moved out and the Germans began to occupy Buczacz. Once the Germans occupied, they moved the Jewish population of Buczacz into mass ghettos. Alicia and the rest of her …show more content…

She ran fast and far until she found herself coming into a town which was surrounded with tilled fields. She discovered she could work in exchange for a small amount of food. She worked hard in these fields and was able to let her mother in Buczacz know that she was safe. Alicia was reunited with her mother and they returned to this community where they lived for about a year. She also found out that her youngest brother Herzl had been taken away and killed Alicia would work at these fields and get food, she would bring some back to her mother who, because of poor health, was resting in seclusion most of the day.. One day they met a nice old man that was sort of an outcast from the rest of the community. He let them stay with him and another Jewish family that he was taking care of in his shack. They stayed here during the winter while Alicia still searched for food, in the process, making many friends. News came one day that the Germans were beginning to fall back from the Russian fronts and Germany's grip on the Jews in Poland was weakening. This news made Alicia and her mother move away from the old man who helped them. Alicia and her mother had formed a very close friendship with the kindly man. When Alicia and her mother arrived in Buczacz they moved into a regular apartment and began to live a semi-normal life. It was not long after