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Where is Shimmele? is a gripping adventure about an orphaned boy who survived the Holocaust and the determined battle for his soul in the early years of the State of Israel.
The story takes place after World War II. The British had set a monthly quota on Jewish immigration, so many survivors tried to reach Eretz Yisrael in secret, through Aliya Bet. Seven-year-old Shimmele and his grandmother, Mrs. Berger, make the journey on an old, crowded immigrant ship. They end up in a British detention camp in Cyprus, where they share a tent with Golda, the only member of her large family to survive. Then Jewish Agency representatives try to take the young orphan away from his grandmother and from his Jewish faith, and Mrs. Berger fights to keep him.
The book is written in a simple, accessible style and is catalogued as juvenile literature. Its serious subject also makes it rewarding reading for teens and adults. It is an engaging way to bring readers the story of the ma'apilim, the survivors who ran the British blockade to reach the Land of Israel.
- By Leah Fried, translated into English by Aviva Rappaport
- Language: English