My Survival: A Girl on Schindler’s List

The Nazis forced eleven-year-old Rena Finder and her family into the ghetto in Krakow, Poland. Rena worked as a slave laborer with scarcely any food and watched as friends and her father were sent away. A Girl on Schindler’s List details Rena’s experience as a young Jewish girl during the time of Nazi rule.  

Rena’s time in the ghetto was miserable, but things were going to get worse. Rena and her mother were marched to the Plaszów concentration camp, where they experienced Nazi terror firsthand. Near the end of the war, Rena and her mother were relocated to Auschwitz, where they met Oskar Schindler. In Auschwitz, they were put on Schindler’s list, which allowed Jewish prisoners to work in Schindler’s subcamp. Rena was one of the lucky few because the individuals on Schindler’s list were treated better than other camp members. They were given food, water, and Schindler’s factory also provided them with shelter from harsh winter conditions and death marches.  

Young readers will relate to Rena’s confusion about the world around her and empathize with her as she loses her childhood innocence and the rights she once had, such as the ability to play and learn like the non-Jewish children around her. She feels lost and scared when she is called a “dirty Jew,” and she wonders, “Why did that girl call me dirty? I’m not dirty, I took a shower just this morning.” Many of the chapters end in a question, which solidifies the feeling of confusion. She loses so much at such a young age, and young readers may feel the weight of this loss. As Rena matures, she begins to understand the harsh truths about the world and how much hurt hate can cause. 

Joshua M. Greene works to paint an accurate picture of the horrors Rena faced, making A Girl on Schindler’s List a quick and eye-opening read for young readers. The book includes depictions of murder and death, but the descriptions are handled with tact and grace. The descriptions are from Rena’s point of view, which provides a more innocent perspective on World War II. Each chapter flows smoothly into the next, advancing the story at a steady pace. However, the ending speeds up significantly, making the conclusion feel rushed.  

A Girl on Schindler’s List serves as an accurate first-person account of the horrors of the Holocaust. This novel serves as a tool to enlighten younger readers on the realities of World War II and Nazi Germany. A basic level of background knowledge about World War II is required to understand the context of this novel. The book is worth reading due to its accurate and nuanced perspective on the Nazi regime during World War II. It is narrated by a young girl, which lends it a unique perspective that few other Holocaust books possess. Readers who want to learn more about World War II should read Survival Tails: World War II by Katrina Charman and I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis. 

Sexual Content 

• None

Violence 

• Rena hears about the torture in camps from adults. “In some camps, prisoners were worked to death. In other camps, prisoners were suffocated in gas chambers and their bodies burned to ashes in crematorium ovens.” 
• Rena’s grandparents were taken away as punishment for hiding from Nazi guards. “I will never forget the expression on my mother’s face watching her parents walking away to be murdered.” Rena never sees her grandparents again. 
• Amon Goeth, a Nazi guard at Auschwitz, finds pleasure in torturing Jews. “Each morning, he aimed his rifle at people coming and going and killed people at random.”  
• As Rena and her mother are taken to Auschwitz, Rena hears gunshots outside the orphanage. She hears someone sharing the fate of the children: “Someone came up and whispered that the children in the orphanage were being murdered.” 

Drugs and Alcohol 

• Vodka is used as a bartering tool once Rena and her mother are freed from the camp. 

Language 

• The word “Jew” is occasionally used in a derogatory way. For example, a girl yells, “Go home, you dirty Jew,” to Rena.  

Supernatural 

• None

Spiritual 

• Rena and her parents practice the Jewish religion. “We secretly held religious services at our apartment.” Religion is only mentioned once because the story is from Rena’s perspective, and being Jewish is just another part of her everyday life.