Once
Once upon a time, two small children were traveling through wartime Poland, hiding from Nazis and searching for their parents. Their names were Felix and Zelda. This is their story.
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What the Book is About
Jewish Content and Values
Content Advisory
What the Book is About
Felix has been living in a Polish orphanage since his bookseller parents went away. When the Nazis come to the orphanage and burn the Jewish books, Felix goes on the run, convinced his parents are alive and determined to find them. In the city he sees a couple who have been shot and an unconscious little girl. A dentist, Barney, rescues Felix and the girl, Zelda, from the Nazis and takes them to a cellar, where he is hiding Jewish children. Felix boosts morale by telling stories but can’t face the truth that his own parents are almost certainly dead. The children and Barney are captured and put on a train to a concentration camp. Felix and Zelda escape, setting up a series of five more books.
Jewish Content and Values
- Felix’s parents were Jewish booksellers prior to WWII.
- The book is largely set in the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust.
- Barney, the dentist in the story, is based on real-life Polish Jewish doctor and famous children’s author Janucz Korczak, who, despite being offered his freedom, chose to remain with the children he had hidden and was caring for even though it meant he would die with them. Korczak (and Barney’s) brave actions are true examples of tikkun olam.
- Felix rescues Zelda even though he sees a photo of her father in a Nazi uniform, realizing that she is not responsible for her father’s actions. There are many acts of chesed (kindness) in the book.
Content Advisory
This is a Holocaust story with some intense content. Felix sees a toddler in a highchair who has been shot and killed. Barney and all of the children are caught and sent in a cattle car to an extermination camp. (Felix and Zelda escape.) There are several instances, seen through the eyes of a naïve child who does not wish to understand the depths of Nazi cruelty, where Jewish people are shot at and deported. Barney carries needles so he can give children lethal injections so that they will not suffer if he needs to.
What the Book is About
What the Book is About
Felix has been living in a Polish orphanage since his bookseller parents went away. When the Nazis come to the orphanage and burn the Jewish books, Felix goes on the run, convinced his parents are alive and determined to find them. In the city he sees a couple who have been shot and an unconscious little girl. A dentist, Barney, rescues Felix and the girl, Zelda, from the Nazis and takes them to a cellar, where he is hiding Jewish children. Felix boosts morale by telling stories but can’t face the truth that his own parents are almost certainly dead. The children and Barney are captured and put on a train to a concentration camp. Felix and Zelda escape, setting up a series of five more books.
Jewish Content and Values
Jewish Content and Values
- Felix’s parents were Jewish booksellers prior to WWII.
- The book is largely set in the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust.
- Barney, the dentist in the story, is based on real-life Polish Jewish doctor and famous children’s author Janucz Korczak, who, despite being offered his freedom, chose to remain with the children he had hidden and was caring for even though it meant he would die with them. Korczak (and Barney’s) brave actions are true examples of tikkun olam.
- Felix rescues Zelda even though he sees a photo of her father in a Nazi uniform, realizing that she is not responsible for her father’s actions. There are many acts of chesed (kindness) in the book.
Content Advisory
Content Advisory
This is a Holocaust story with some intense content. Felix sees a toddler in a highchair who has been shot and killed. Barney and all of the children are caught and sent in a cattle car to an extermination camp. (Felix and Zelda escape.) There are several instances, seen through the eyes of a naïve child who does not wish to understand the depths of Nazi cruelty, where Jewish people are shot at and deported. Barney carries needles so he can give children lethal injections so that they will not suffer if he needs to.
