Malka by Mirjam Pressler

Seven-year-old Malka Mai and her teenage sister lived with their mother, a doctor, in a small town in Poland in 1943. When the Germans mount their latest ‘operation’ against the Jews, the Mai family need to leave quickly. After crossing the Carpathian Mountains on their way to relative safety in Hungary, the family becomes separated. The story then splits and alternates between Hannah’s search for her daughter, and Malka’s survival in the ghettos during a brutal winter.
The book has been translated from the original German and flows well. The language is clear and expressive. The text is mostly narrative, with direct speech used sparingly.
Malka Mai is a real person, and the outline of her history is true. The details are largely fiction, however. In the book it is pointed out that people, especially children, suppress bad memories. When the author spoke to her in Tel Aviv a few years ago Malka could not remember all that had happened to her. Mirjam Pressler has constructed an intense and horrifying picture of this time in occupied Poland.