num_pages: 379
description: Six-year-old Gretl Schmidt is on a train bound for Auschwitz. Jakb Kowalski is planting a bomb on the tracks.As World War II draws to a close Jakb fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They intend to destroy a German troop transport but Gretls unscheduled train reaches the bomb first.Gretl is the only survivor. Though spared from the concentration camp the orphaned German Jew finds herself lost in a country hostile to her people. When Jakb discovers her guilt and fatherly compassion prompt him to take her in. For three years the young man and little girl form a bond over the secrets they must hide from his Catholic family.But she cant stay with him forever. Jakb sends Gretl to South Africa where German war orphans are promised bright futures with adoptive Protestant familiesso long as Gretls Jewish roots Catholic education and connections to communist Poland are never discovered.Separated by continents politics religion language and years Jakb and Gretl will likely never see each other again. But the events they have both survived and their belief that the human spirit can triumph over the ravages of war have formed a bond of love that no circumstances can overcome.
language: English
title: The Girl from the Train
publisher: Thomas Nelson