Uri Orlev

Pod krovatju Malchika zhivjot Zver. Malchik govorit, chto pri dnevnom svete Zver szhimaetsja, no kogda mama vykljuchaet na noch svet, on razduvaetsja.Odnazhdy Malchik ot strakha nachinaet razgovarivat s nim. I postepenno Zver stanovitsja ego luchshim drugom, a takzhe zaschitnikom, ispovednikom i provodnikom. Zatem otets Malchika pogibaet na vojne Sudnogo dnja. "Zver, - govorit Malchik, - idi k pape i skazhi emu, chto ja ljublju ego i skuchaju po nemu". Zver stanovitsja svjazujuschim zvenom mezhdu zhivymi i mjortvymi: on peredajot novosti tuda i obratno, prinosja Malchiku sovety i uteshenie. On zhe sledit za malenkoj sestroj Malchika v utrobe, podderzhivaet mat v rodakh i dazhe ukachivaet Malyshku po nocham. I Zver vsegda vedjot Malchika tuda, gde emu suzhdeno okazatsja, chtoby stanovitsja kazhdyj den silnee i schastlivee.

Jurek ist ungefähr neun, als ihm die Flucht aus dem ?Warschauer Getto gelingt und er sich allein durch die Wälder schlagen muss, bis zum Ende des Krieges. Er lernt, wie man auf Bäumen schläft und mit der Schleuder ?Eichhörnchen erlegt. Doch die Einsamkeit treibt ihn immer wieder in die Dörfer. Dort trifft Jurek Menschen, die ihm helfen, und solche, die ihn verraten werden. Ein ergreifendes Buch, das auf einer authen?tischen Geschichte basiert.

"Etot moj rasskaz osnovan na podlinnoj zhiznennoj istorii. Ee rasskazal mne Joram Fridman. Emu bylo pjat let v nachale Vtoroj mirovoj vojny, kogda nemtsy zakhvatili Polshu, i vosem let v razgar vojny, kogda on ostalsja sovershenno odin na vsem belom svete. Sredi mnozhestva detej, kotorye vnezapno ostajutsja sovershenno odni na vsem belom svete, vsegda nakhodjatsja takie, kotorye ne pokorjajutsja vypavshej na ikh dolju sudbe, kakoj by zhestokoj i tjazheloj ona ni byla, potomu chto pulsirujuschaja v nikh volja k zhizni okazyvaetsja silnee samoj strashnoj sudby. Pravdu govorjat, chto poroj realnost prevoskhodit vsjakoe voobrazhenie".

"'Srulik, there's no time. I want you to remember what I'm going to tell you. You have to stay alive. You have to Get someone to teach you how to act like a Christian, how to cross yourself and pray. . . . The most important thing, Srulik, ' he said, talking fast, 'is to forget your name. Wipe it from your memory. . . . But even if you forget everything--even if you forget me and Mama--never forget that you're a Jew.'" And so, at only eight years old, Srulik Frydman says goodbye to his father for the last time and becomes Jurek Staniak, an orphan on the run in the Polish countryside at the height of the Holocaust. With the danger of capture by German soldiers ever-present, Jurek must fight against starvation, the punishing Polish winters, and widespread anti-Semitism as he desperately searches for refuge. Told with the unflinching honesty and unique perspective of such a young child, Run, Boy, Run is the extraordinary account of one boy's struggle to stay alive in the face of almost insurmountable odds--a story all the more incredible because it is true.

During World War II a Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto. "More than just a valuable addition to Holocaust literature . . . it should garner a wide audience, which is exactly what its spirited portrait of hope and dauntless courage deserves." -- Booklist ALA Notable Book Booklist Editors' Choice Horn Book Fanfare Selection