The Girl from the Train

This author is wonderful. Hope there’s a movie one day. Love it.

It’s 1944 Poland. Gretl, a six-year-old German girl, is on an open-car train with her older sister, mother, and grandmother. She doesn’t understand where the train is going, but the reader does – Auschwitz. Gretl’s mother is half-Jewish, and even though she was married to a now-dead SS officer, the family has too much Jewish blood to be exempt from the Final Solution.The train cars are not locked; Gretl’s sister jumps first. And then Gretl jumps and tumbles down the embankment. She’s to meet up with her sister, and then together they’ll find their mother and grandmother, who also plan to jump. Except the train reaches a bridge – and the bridge has been wired with a bomb. The target was an expected German troop train; no one in the guerilla Polish Home Army unit expected the train headed the other way, to Auschwitz.Gretl hears the explosions but doesn’t make the connection to the train. She eventually finds her sister, who after years in the ghetto is extremely sick, and dying from tuberculosis. The are found by Polish partisans and taken to a farm family. The teenaged boy who set the bomb, Jakob Kowalski, takes Gretle to his family, where she will live for the next four years. She has to keep quiet about her Jewish blood; Jakob’s family likes Jews even less than Germans.Based on actual accounts, “The Girl from the Train” by Irma Joubert is the story of Gretl and Jakob. It moves from the family farm, to the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis (which the Russian Red Army, across the Vistula River from Warsaw, sat out), to the program that took German war orphans to South Africa for adoption, and to the first decade of Poland under Soviet communist rule.Despite the 13 years difference in their ages, the little German girl and the Polish teenager forge a strong and tender relationship. It’s one that will span decades and continents, experience separation and reunion, and eventually have to battle through religious and ethnic intolerance.Joubert is the author of two novels in Afrikaans, “Ver Wink die Suidenkruis” and “Tolbos,” and two other novels in English, “Child of the River” and “The Crooked Path”. A graduate of the University of Pretoria, she taught history for 35 years. She lives in South Africa.“The Girl from the Train” tells a little-known story – what life was like in rural Poland during World War II and its aftermath – and combines it with other little-known stories, like the German war orphans and South Africa’s role in World War II. It slows a bit in the early South African middle, but it becomes a fascinating, engrossing story of a relationship that survives despite everything thrown against it.

I love to read and I'm sorry the book is over! How ironic that I read this as I wear a cross and a star of David and pray for Israel. I pray the arrogance and ignorance in our country can be over come

THE GIRL FROM THE TRAIN isn't really a Holocaust book because it didn't jump into the much deeper happenings that the countries at that time had to deal with. It is where this book starts that tells us about 2 people who came together because of and during the war.Gretl Schmidt, age 6, had seen way too much cruelty in the world. At the start of World War II, she and her sister, Elza, jump from a train just before a bridge it is to be blown up. That train was filled with Jews and was on its way to Poland, where the concentration camps were. Gretl survives but her sister dies from her injuries. Gretl then finds herself in the care of a young freedom fighter and Polish Resistance member named Jakób Kowalski. Even though Jakób is 15 years older there is a strong bond and friendship that develops between them. Gretl looks to Jakób as a protector and defender. As the danger gets worse, Gretl is sent to South Africa where a new family adopts her. She can never forget about Jakób, her first childhood love. What will happen when the adult Gretl reunites with Jakób, who has also come to Africa for a new start? Will the bonds of childhood friendship remain or become more?This is a tale spanning 15 years and two continents with a World War thrown in to make for a much better story. For such a long period of time, the story is not exploited with a large cast. Only 2 characters, with a few others thrown in, makes the story more intimate. The story will surprise you but will never seem boring. At times I even found myself with tears in my eyes. I did however have to have an interpretation guide handy at all times. At some points I could find no meaning or explanation for some of the foreign words. If I had not had a way to translate some of the sentences I would have had a hard time in understanding parts of the story. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an emotional yet uplifting tale set during World War II.

Loved the way it showed how people related to The Lord all the way thru. Such A LOVING family she found in Africa and such a change from countries incommunist held counties. And finally by facing her horrible nightmares while being held in unconditional love' she became free of her past

This book has sat in my kindle for 6 years and I finally decided it was time to read it. What an interesting story it is! I have read a great many WW2 books but very few about the period just after the war and I knew very little about Poland and all the troubles they had. This book took me through Poland and into South Africa of all surprising places. I found it a very compelling read. I can easily see and hear the characters in my mind. It is certainly a worthy read.

Amazing story

The Girl From The Train by Irma Joubert is a Christian historical novel. It is powerful. It is beautiful and I loved it.The action spans from 1944 to the mid 1950's. It moves from Poland to South Africa. From war to peace. From innocence to experience. It is expertly written.There are several themes within the novel including that of hiding. Gretl is six years old as the novel opens. She is good at hiding as she has Jewish blood in her. Over the years Gretl continues to hide, if not physically then mentally. Gretl feels safest hiding who she really is.God's presence permeates the novel. The story shows there are several different places of worship but the bottom line is always God is still God no matter where or how we worship Him.There is the theme of belonging. Gretl used to belong but then Hitler came to power. There is a continual search to belong but who wants a small Jewish girl?There is the idea that one's roots are vital. Where you come from defines who you are. Some people fail to see beyond labels and stereotypes, and then it is necessary to hide who one really is.The bond of friendship runs throughout the novel. Sometimes circumstances throw people together and an unbreakable bond is formed that lasts through miles and years. Sometimes the memory is so precious that one keeps it hidden. "She wasn't to think about Jakob. He was stashed in a deep drawer for safe keeping."The topic of PTSD is present within the novel. It is sympathetically portrayed by Irma Joubert. Reoccurring dreams that are unfathomable are shown. Memories are hidden deep inside, to surface only in one's subconscious. Loud noises, smells etc can all be triggers. The past needs to be grasped and dealt with, in order to banish the stress.Symbolism plays its part within the story. A small cross symbolises friendship. For the reader, we are reminded that the cross is where Jesus showed His great love for us and we remember His promise to be with us always.There are bonds of different types of love within the story - the all consuming love of God; the parental love; the generational love and the blossoming romantic love. We all need love and we all flourish when we receive it.There are some wonderful nuggets of wisdom imparted by Grandpa John. My favourites were "Life is like a silver coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you can only spend it once." And "When you suffer and feel the heat of the flames, that's when God's there." Here Grandpa John is speaking of how God refines His children as a silversmith does. We are likened to a precious metal because we are precious in God's eyes.The fire motif is present throughout the novel. Fire can be used for good and fire can be used for evil. The fire is not necessarily bad, it is how one uses it.Names form our identity. Gretl undertakes several subtle name changes throughout the novel. Each designed to ensure she fits in. Though our names are important, it is who we are deep down that really matters and who we are in Christ.Education is shown to bring choice. You can never have too many skills and you are never too old to learn.The novel is set in a time when there was a lot of fear and mistrust. First of the Nazis and then of the Soviets and communists. People were labelled according to where they lived, whether they had sympathises or not. The world was in turmoil.The Girl From The Train was a very powerful read. It stirred up many different emotions in me. The characters were all well drawn and likeable. I devoured the novel in just two sittings. I had heard a lot of good reports about the book and it certainly lived up to its reputation. I loved it.

Please please please can more books from Irma Joubert be translated in to English, I have just read The Girl From the Train and it is one of the best books I have ever read, and I read lots and lots of books. It is beautifully written. From the very beginning when a little girl jumps off a train in Poland which is headed for Auschwitz Concentration Camp the books weaves through history to her adopted family in South Africa. Irma's writing stirs the heart with love and compassion. The history is wonderful and along with the fabulous story it is woven together like a beautiful tapestry to a wonderful ending. Irma if you read this review please can you have more books translated. What a wonderful author you are. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Gretl was on the way to Auswitch when a bomb destroyed the train and she was the only survivor. Jacob, the young man who planted the bomb finds her and rescued her. When he could no longer take care of her she is brought to an orphanage. Gretl is sent to South Africa where she is adopted into a loving home. Years later, Jacob has to flee from the Polish Communists and goes to South Africa as well. The two reconnect but Gretl's adopted father has difficulty in accepting it. There is a thirteen year age difference between Jacob and Gretl. The biggest hurdle is that Jacob is Catholic and Gretl has been baptized into the Lutheran faith. Gretl's grandfather is very supportive and eventually her father becomes agreeable to the match.