28 Days: A Novel of Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto

Reason read: TIOLI #1, time. On my TBR since 2022.
This book is YA, obtained through AudioSync Summer program. It is a story set in WWII and involves Jewish resistance. The setting is Warsaw, Poland. Strong female character written by male author. The story is inspired by some true events that did happen to the author's family.

I saw the news tonight about a photography exhibition on Auschwitz in Madrid, and just seeing a small sample of the photos of those victims brought tears to my eyes. With this, I want to say that everything related to the Holocaust strikes a chord with me. Well, this novel, which recounts what happened during the Warsaw ghetto uprising, has not achieved that. I don’t know why... I don't know if it's the way it's told, which I found to be somewhat detached from the drama, despite being narrated in the first person; my feeling was as if it was being told to me by someone unrelated to the events, not its protagonist. Little emotion. It tries, but it hasn't convinced me. And it bothers me, just to be clear. (Translated from Spanish)

Excellent story, captivating from the beginning. Simple and entertaining read. I was pleasantly surprised that the writer dared to tackle this topic that continues to astonish despite so many years having passed. Recommended. (Translated from Spanish)

The German writer and journalist David Safier, known worldwide for his humorous works such as Bad Karma, More Bad Karma, Me, Myself, and You or Moo!, surprised his readers and the public in general with a drama titled 28 Days that recounts the four weeks between April 19 and May 16, 1943, when the Jewish insurgents of the Warsaw ghetto faced SS troops determined to completely exterminate the 450,000 people who populated the enclosed territory. To do this, he created three fictional characters: Mira—a sixteen-year-old girl who engages in black market activities to keep her mother and sister Hanna alive—her boyfriend Daniel—one of the older boys from Janusz Korczak's orphanage—and Amos—a member of the renowned ZOB, the famous Jewish resistance. Through these characters, he presents documented events and some of the real historical figures who lived in the ghetto during World War II. Mira narrates the story in the first person. She describes what she sees in her daily life in the Aryan zone: those ragged little bodies that, regardless of whether it was cold or hot or raining, slipped through cracks in the walls, crawled through pipes, or climbed perilously over the wall, scraping their hands on glass; they were the tragic heroes of the ghetto. All those black market traders were marked for death. Sooner or later, someone like Frankenstein—what we called a particularly fierce German sentinel—would catch them. Indeed, the black market was in many cases the only and last resort for many young people trying to save their immediate family, especially the elderly, small children, and the sick. However, the succession of misfortunes in Mira's life will end her time as a black market trader and force her to join the Resistance and kill to survive. All of this goes against the beliefs of her boyfriend, Daniel, a fervent pacifist. Daniel, along with Janusz Korczak and his staff, cares for the two hundred orphans at the hospice on Krochmalna Street. The famous educator and author of children's and youth literature has prepared his children for their resettlement in the east—which is actually extermination in Treblinka through the Aktions—and despite receiving several offers for their release, he has decided to accompany his children to death. Daniel, a loyal follower of what he considers his father, is determined to move to the trains with him and his siblings. He will die if necessary, but he will never leave Korczak's side or those two hundred boys and girls who are the only life he knows. Mira, helpless after trying to change his mind until the last moment, saves her life against her will. This angers Daniel, who decides to stop seeing her. Their paths separate, initially forever, but eventually only for a time. Although Mira still loves Daniel and feels bad about herself, she feels increasingly drawn to Amos, a member of the ZOB—Jewish Combat Organization—who saved her life. Daniel has abandoned her after what happened in Krochmalna; he doesn't even know if she is still alive and ultimately succumbs to the charms of Amos, who from the beginning, perhaps unknowingly, has captivated the young woman. Thus, alongside the war and survival narrative, a plot emerges in which love becomes very important. The shadows of war and the dark bunkers are illuminated by the love that can bloom even in the worst places and circumstances. A love that must be lived in haste, especially because, in those circumstances, one does not know if they will live to see tomorrow. David Safier employs some poetic and narrative licenses to construct the novel, but the events he narrates were real. The author himself emphasizes in his epilogue that the most striking aspect of that dreadful reality was that before in the ghetto, there were many different parties; later, political differences became obsolete. There was only one goal: not to be led to the slaughter without defense. In the end, the Nazis were responsible for achieving political unity and even, with their Nuremberg Laws regarding race, turned people who were previously not considered Jewish into Jews.
In summary, 28 Days is a moving novel that recounts with epic and emotion one of the most harrowing human episodes of twentieth-century and universal history. For history lovers, it will be another immersion into the topic of the Holocaust. For those who are not, however, it will be an engaging way to dive into a series of events that everyone should know about. Because such things must never happen again. And the best way to prevent it is precisely by knowing the events of the past. Therefore, we are faced with a very necessary novel. Like many others that address the same theme. (Translated from Spanish)

The best book I've read about World War II. A detailed and accurate account of the Nazi era, specifically of the Warsaw Ghetto. Shocking. Easy to read. It keeps you captivated on every page. (Translated from Spanish)

The terrible subject of the Jewish Holocaust has been overexploited for many years in both film/TV and literature. But if starting this novel about such a trite theme feels a bit tedious, that feeling disappears after a few pages, as it immerses you in a story of cruel survival, narrated in a simple and direct but highly effective way, making it impossible to stop reading. A terrible story with good doses of emotion that masterfully mixes the harshest reality with fantasy (that imagined world of the 777 islands to which the protagonist "escapes" from time to time) very recommended for anyone who enjoys reading. (Translated from Spanish)

Highly recommended. It brings you closer to a part of History that not everyone knows, such as the uprising of a segment of the Jewish population from the Warsaw ghetto. Ideal for those who love such a tumultuous era in History as the Holocaust. (Translated from Spanish)

The best I've read about the Nazi Holocaust, an author I have read a lot but who surprised me with his change of style, went from humorous books to this detailed gem about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Highly recommended. (Translated from Spanish)

I don´t really like the other books of this author, but "28 Tage lang" is different, although with a more than serious, real background, this book is an impressive historic report of the situation of daily life and growing resistance of a group of young people in Warsaw Ghetto. I am still deeply impressed.

Used to her sense of humor, I was very pleasantly surprised by her narration on such a serious and painful topic as this, especially knowing that what happened during those 28 days was real ? (Translated from Spanish)

The author provides a more than accurate description of a historical event through a work of fiction in this book. There is a precise depiction of characters, some based on real people like the doctor and educator Janusz Korczak, with very different traits and ways of confronting harsh reality. The story is well-documented, the plot has a lively pace that hooks you, and it is written in such a way that you feel like you are walking through the ghetto. (Translated from Spanish)

Das Buch erzählt die Geschichte der sechzehnjährigen Mira, die 1942 im Warschauer Ghetto lebt. Sie kümmert sich nach dem Tod des Vaters um ihre Mutter und ihre jüngere Schwester indem sie Esswaren aus dem polnischen Teil ins Ghetto schmuggelt. Doch die Situation im Ghetto wird immer schwieriger und schließlich kommt es zum Aufstand, der 28 Tage lang dauert. Mira muss immer wieder entscheiden "Was für ein Mensch willst du sein?"
Ich fand das Buch gut. Der Charakter Miras ist gut getroffen und glaubwürdig. Die Verwebung der Geschichte mit der verbürgten Historie, v.a. auch (für mich als Pädagogin) mit der Geschichte von Janusz Korczak, gefiel mir gut.

Hier findet man einen guten Eindruck:
http://www.rowohlt.de/magazin_artikel/David_Safier_28_Tage_lang.3147536.html