Four child refugees hide out in Warsaw at the end of the WW2. When it is finally over they set out on a journey across Poland and Germany to Switzerland, where they hope to meet their father, who escaped from a Nazi prisoner of war camp earlier on in the war. Ruth visits the Russian control post and asks for food, clothes, paper, pencils, and help in finding Edek. The sentry, Ivan, is kind and brings them as many supplies as he can. Jan, who harbors a fervent hatred of soldiers, scuffles with him, and Jan's wooden box of treasures breaks to reveal the silver sword. Ruth recognizes it and begins to cry. Jan tells her of meeting her father, and Ruth decides they must leave Warsaw for Switzerland. First, though, they will stop by the camp where Edek was sent. The Silver Sword is a children's novel written by Ian Serraillier and published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape in 1956 and then by Puffin Books in 1960. It has also been published in the United States under the title Escape From Warsaw. [1] Morris Gleitzman brings heart and humour to the difficult subject of the Holocaust in this ground-breaking children's book. Edek runs to his sisters’ room and busts it open. He tells them what he did; Ruth says that was silly, and they must get away. They barely have time to dress properly. They cannot go out the front door; the only way is the roof. They climb up the attic and out on the roof through a skylight. Edek warns tiny Bronia not to make a sound.

As for Ruth, who had taken on more responsibilities than a woman her age should have, she clung to her parents for a time and did not want to go out into the wider world. Finally, she went to study in Zurich for her degree, married, and had children of her own. She and her French husband became the house-parents at the French house in the children’s village. After Joseph was arrested, the Germans took his wife to work in the labor camps. Now their three children, Ruth, Edek and Bronia, who managed to escape the house after Margrit was taken, live in the cellar of a ruined house. Food is sparse, but Edek is a gifted smuggler and brings what they need. Ruth starts a school in the cellar; when she mentions this at the soup kitchen, she is given school supplies and a Bible. The novel tells the poignant story of a group of children’s search for their parents in World War II ravaged Europe. The story revolves around the siblings Ruth, Edek and Bronia, and their friend Jan – a resourceful but eccentric, street-smart kid. I am sad to say that The Silver Sword wasn’t a magical experience the second time around. The story is simplistic, the characters are one-dimensional and the happy-ending is unrealistic. That said, it in no way diminishes my memories of what I loved about the book 30-odd years ago. Then the trials of these children: their hunt for safe places to sleep, finding food, trying to stay out of the way of the Nazis, searching for their parents, was both thrilling and heart-wrenching. I can only attribute my disappointment to the fact that I am older and jaded. Born in London, Serraillier was educated at Brighton College, and took his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He became an English teacher, first at World War II. It was during this period that his first published work appeared, in the form of poetry for both adults and children. In 1946 his first children's novel was published. It was followed by several more adventure stories of treasure and spies. His best known work, The Silver Sword, was published in 1956 and has become a classic, bringing to life the story of four refugee children and their search for their parents in the chaos of Europe immediately after World War II.At the time of its first publication, The Silver Sword was unusual in its depiction of World War II, and its effects on huge swathes of the European population. There was little to compare it with, particularly in its depth of research, and its portrayal of child refugees, written for a child audience. Serraillier spent five years researching and writing the book, drawing upon accounts of refugee support work undertaken by the Quakers, and recorded in their magazine The Friend. As Julia Hope observes, it was “the first widely known Children’s book, written in English, where the refugee experience is the major theme of the narrative” ( 2008, p.296). Hope points out that when The Silver Sword was first published there were concerns about its suitability for children, due to its unflinching portrayal of war. Over sixty years on, such attitudes have changed, and the book reveals itself as an early prototype of literature for children which unflinchingly discusses the collateral damage inflicted on civilian populations, particularly children, by war and conflict. Hope lists the messages that these books promote: “citizenship, tolerance, respect and integration, as well as the enduring nature of the human spirit in the face of terrible circumstances”( 2008, p.296). The Serrailliers, in their work at New Windmill, revealed their understanding of the liminality of the territory between adult and child. Indeed, a central theme within The Silver Sword is the shifting boundaries between adult and childhood-states: at some points in the narrative, Ruth’s maturity and resilience makes her appear as essentially the adult of the party, yet, when we view her through the eyes of others, she reverts to being a child. Another example of these blurred boundaries is in the relationship between the children and the adults they encounter, as the chaos of war subverts received notions and constructions of childhood in the hierarchy of age. Although the wartime setting of The Silver Sword certainly magnifies these confusions, the Serrailliers believed more generally that children on the cusp of adulthood required a particular sort of book. As Karen Sands-O’Connor observes, the New Windmill Series was “one of the earliest imprints to publish and promote books specifically for the teen audience” ( 2017, p.20). The trajectory of the list was such that, having started by predominantly publishing books written for children, albeit at the older end of the spectrum, by the middle of the 1960s, a significant proportion of the list was made up of books originally published as adult novels. The characters are all well developed from the children themselves to the various characters they meet on their journey. The plot in gripping and harrowing and gives you a real sense of how war can effect even the youngest, most innocent of children in such an extreme way.

Shortly after Joseph was taken to the prison camp, German soldiers had broken into the family house and taken his wife away, after the Germans had called for 1 million foreign workers to be taken to their country for the war effort. Edek had fired shots at the van in a bid to stop them from getting away. Ruth had admonished Edek for his foolishness and decided that they had to escape to avoid being captured or killed, so the children climbed along the rooftops of the adjacent houses and watched from a distance as their house was blown up by the Nazis. Joseph walks for over a month to reach Warsaw. It is now a bleak, lonely, ruined place. People still live there, though, and do what they can to survive. The railway is the only lively place.Popular Western series for kids that was made along similar lines to The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid and other successfully syndicated US shows of the late 1950's.

Jan is torn. He sees Ludwig in the distance, but he realizes for the first time what he has in Ruth. This is the moment he begins to grow up: he leaves Ludwig and jumps in the boat. Nel, Philip. (2018) Introduction: Migration, Refugees, and Diaspora in Children’s Literature. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 43(4). 357–362 Born in London, Serraillier was educated at Brighton College and took his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He became an English teacher and it was during this period that his first published work appeared, in the form of poetry for both adults and children. In 1946 his first children’s novel was published. It was followed by several more adventure stories of treasure and spies. His best known work, The Silver Sword has become a classic, bringing to life the story of four refugee children and their search for their parents in the chaos of Europe immediately after World War II. He was born in London, the eldest of four children. His father died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic when he was only six years old. He was educated at Brighton College, and took his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and became an English teacher. He taught at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire from 1936 to 1939; at Dudley Grammar School in Worcestershire from 1939 to 1946; and at Midhurst Grammar School in West Sussex from 1946 to 1961. As a Quaker, he was granted conscientious objector status in World War II.

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The appeal of this salty and lively novel is to “young adults”, thoughtful, questioning, intelligent, of the calibre to study for “A” levels […] 15+, with some political awareness, disillusioned with society as at present organised and anxious to explore new ways of doing things, and new solutions, conscious too of the gap that yawns between themselves and the older generation, having to follow along the accepted grooves of examination-passing, and wanting to make a hit with their girl-friends when they feel they ought perhaps to be at their books, studying.” (1972) Joe Wolski is an American soldier of Polish descent; because of this, he identifies with the children right away. He drives them to safety and assists in their being found by their father. The Burgomaster We invited you to let us know which titles you thought were missing. Here's our list of some of the great books that didn't make our final cut, but that you told us were your favourites. World War II is over. Three siblings---Ruth, Bronia, and Edek---along with their new friend, Jan, are on their way to Switzerland to find their father. The home of the three siblings in Poland has been destroyed by the war, and their mother and father were both taken away by the Germans. Jan has been orphaned and is living on the streets, making his way by hook or crook.

Jan brags that he saved them all and found Edek’s boat. He sailed them to it, but Edek had fainted; so, Jan pulled him out. Joseph affectionately tells Jan to eat his food, and Ruth hugs him tight.

The author has skillfully used themes such as family, friendship, kindness and his portrayal of human nature is commendable. He has deftly demonstrated how humans can act contrary to their nature under extreme circumstances, and how even “mature” kids try to make up for their lost childhood when they get the chance. List, Shane. (1981) Letter to Ian Serraillier. University of Reading Special Collections, Ian Serraillier Collection. Box 25 The book, published in 1956, was serialised on BBC Children's Television in 1957. The setting is a bleak and freezing winter in Poland during the German occupation and tells the story of a Polish family, The Balikis; father Joseph and mother Margrit and their three children, Ruth, Edek and Bronia, who are torn apart when Nazi Storm Troopers arrest Joseph for turning a picture of Adolf Hitler towards the wall, contravening an edict imposed on the Polish people that they show the same respect and adoration of their leader as their own people. Following Joseph’s arrest, Margrit is taken away by the Germans, who then burn the family home to the ground, leaving the children parentless and homeless. Outside, he sees a van. Voices downstairs stop, and outside Edek can see Stormtroopers taking his mother to the van. When she is inside, he fires, hitting a soldier in the arm and puncturing a wheel. The van careens away swiftly.