Taking place during the start of World War Two and throughout the Holocaust, Prisoner B-0387 by Alan Gratz tells the true story of a boy named Yanek (Later known as Jack) and his journey through ten concentration camps as a young, Polish Jew. This non-fiction, multiple anecdote style book is not completely an autobiography, but is told from more of a view from a ghostwriter. When he was in the ghetto of Warsaw, Jack was separated from his family and had to experience horrendous events on his own and had to learn how to survive amongst the cruelest of people (mainly Josef Mengele and Amon Göth). Overall, the book addresses the horrors children of the Holocaust had to experience and the trials and tribulations that they had to overcome just to be able to be spared. Just as in his other books, Alan Gratz writes a majority of his books through the perspective of true stories of children to address important events, just as he has done within Prisoner B-0387. As from Jack’s point of view, his goal was survival, and no matter what, “no matter what they took from [him], [he] would survive.” (Gratz 59). Even though I have mentioned it countless times before, the overall message of the book is essentially survival of the fittest and how willing each and every person is to survive. As Jack makes his way through many camps, he sees countless people start to give up and fade away, which encourages him to continue fighting for all of the pain he has witnessed. This book is the true telling of the human spirit, and how there are no limits as to how much a person can take on for the sake of what they stand for.
Overall, Prisoner B-0387 was both a suspenseful, entertaining book that allowed a reader to explore the raw feelings of children in the Holocaust, which also allows the reader to receive a forewarning as to how discrimination against any type of group can lead to mass destruction. Alan Gratz wrote this book to help tell the true story of a child, close to my age, by displaying harsh realities that everyone must learn about. I agree with the way that Gratz presents such an awful topic because he takes on the mind of a child and helps explain the surroundings as one child would explain to another, while still being open about the massacre and genocide going on around them. The main issue that the book does bring into question is obviously the Holocaust, but a smaller, not as prevalent issue is also brought up within the book; the human heart. The book emphasizes countless amounts of times of perseverance and gratitude, something that Jack will always need on his journey over the course of a few years. Even though there have been other books brought up about the Holocaust, Prisoner B-0387 brings more of the human spirit into the novel, something that I really enjoyed about the book. My opinions of the Holocaust did not change, however, it brought more attention as to what awareness needs to be raised so that anyone, especially children, do not have to go through this torment again.
Prisoner B-0387 changes and pulls the heart of many admiring readers, and it also allows many readers to learn valuable lessons along the way. When reading, pay attention to close details, because, in the end, Jack will relate all of his experiences to something that happened in the past, making the story much more enthralling. Overall, Prisoner B-0387 by Alan Gratz will be a memorable one, and I cannot wait to read it once again.
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