Why a Booktrail?
WW2:The horrors of young Italian boys being taken to German camps..
Stones In Water
What you need to know before your trail
When Roberto sneaks off to see a movie in his Italian village, German soldiers raid the theater and pack them onto a train bound for a work camp. Roberto and his best friend, Samuele, vow to stick together. But Samuele has a terrible secret which, if discovered, could get them both killed
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Forced child labour taken from Italy
Roberto runs through the back alleys and cuts across the Jewish ghetto
“The ghetto was a clam and beautiful place and Roberto made a point of passing through whenever he could. Ins spring the smell of hot matzoh in the bakery made his mouth water.”
The force with which the boys are taken from one place, their home and forced to go to Germany are heartbreaking. The trains taken them and they have no way of knowing what is to come of them. The two boys fear their safety since one is Jewish.
Life in the camps is as horrific as you might imagine. They are moved around. Food is scarce, conditions are tough and backbreaking. Once in the Ukraine they don’t know where they are but they’ve heard that there are bears. still, “No wild animal could compare to soldiers” All they know is that rumours of famine in Ukraine have persisted for years and that now they in that situation themselves
The horrors of war seen through the eyes of children forced to be part if it.
Streetview Maps
B) Venice - Jewish Ghetto
C) Venice - Train station at Mestre
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Stones in Water
Author/Guide: Donna Jo Napoli Destination: Venice, Ukraine Departure Time: WW2
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
