The concentration camps were so horrific that stories about them are usually done with incredible care and some trepidation. When we think of children in the concentration camps, many of us rightly cannot hold that idea in our minds for very long. It is just too awful. Children were there. Most were killed but some were there. But few of us have the fortitude to consider that idea very closely or for very long.
But what about children in the camps? What happened to them? Anne Holm gives us a small window into that idea in I Am David (reprinted as North to Freedom). Mercifully, however, the story opens with a guard telling twelve-year-old David about the escape he has planned for him. David breaks out of a Bulgarian concentration camp in the first few pages, so all of our knowledge about his experiences in the camp comes to us through his memories when he is safely on the other side.
“In his mind’s eye David saw once again the gray bare room he knew so well. He saw the man and was conscious, somewhere in the pit of his stomach, of the hard knot of hate he always felt whenever he saw him. The man’s eyes were small, repulsive, light in color, their expression never changing; his face was gross and fat, yet at the same time square and angular. David had known him all his life, but he never spoke to him more than was necessary to answer his questions; and though he had known his name for as long as he could remember, he never said anything but “the man” when he spoke about him or thought of him. Giving him a name would be like admitting that he knew him; it would place him on an equal footing with the others.”
The guard tells David that when he lights his match, the circuit will be cut and David will have 30 seconds to get across the yard and over the fence. David is baffled by the man’s suggestion that he should escape and is sincerely concerned that the man is setting him up to be shot.
“And then quite suddenly David decided he would do it. He had turned it over in his mind until his head was in a whirl, and he still could not understand why the man had told him to escape. David had no wish to make the attempt: it would only be a question of time before he was caught. But suppose it were a trap and they shot him – it would all be over quickly anyway. If you were fired at while trying to escape, you would be dead within a minute. Yes, David decided to try.”
The man not only provides a means of David’s escape, but he also promises that hidden in the field on the other side of the fence there would be a pouch with a little bread, drinking water, a knife, and a compass. He tells David which way to run and to head for Italy. And, once there, to go North. And just keep going North until he gets to Denmark. He does not say why David must get to Denmark, but he insists on it.
Once David successfully breaks free of the concentration camp, we realize that he has no memory of any life outside of the camp. He has no idea what cities look like, how normal people interact with each other, or what a beautiful mountainside looks like. Every experience is new and terrifying for him. His journey is a bit of a pilgrimage. And he is learning how to be human after only ever being a caged animal. In some haunting ways, he reminds me of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster – hiding in the woods, watching people in order to understand how to be really human.
As he goes along, we learn that David was kept separate from other children in the camp. He grew up in a place where his only companions were men from many different countries, a teenage mentor, and the guards. Consequently, David learned many languages by mimicking all of the men he heard speak. He speaks Oxford English, noble Italian, everyday French, official German, and robust Yiddish. His linguistic abilities serve him well in his journey North through Europe.
At one point, David spends some time with a wealthy Italian family. The mother gives him milk and vitamins. He realizes that in the camp he had been given milk and vitamins. At the time, he thought they were poison meant to keep him weak. In light of the love of this Italian mother for her children, he realizes these were good things. And he ponders why “the man” would have given him good things to make him healthy. He reflects on how everyone in the camp eventually died of starvation-related complaints. And yet, he was being given nourishing milk and smuggled vitamins. Why?
In the camp, David had one friend. A French teen named Johannes who was assigned to be David’s companion and tutor. Johannes died in the camp of a heart attack. Before that, however, Johannes taught David not just languages and history but also ethics and manners. As David journeys North, he realizes that that too did not make any sense. Why had “the man” taken such an interest in David’s education? If everyone was destined to die in the camps, why bother to educate the child and teach him how to be human?
David was not raised with any religion. But, he was not unaware of many of the faiths in the camp. On his trek, he decides that he needs a god to believe in. He remembers a man in the camp praying to the God of green pastures and still waters. Once he sees the beauty of the mountains for the first time, he realizes that that is the God he longs to serve. Without anyone to teach him how to pray, he fumbles his way into a relationship with that God hoping that he has chosen the right one. The storytelling here is excellent. David’s mistakes and his faith are innocent and beautiful and God does not abandon him.
This story has some hard parts, but it does end well. The ending is a bit miraculous but not unbelievable. I would recommend this for a mature middle school reader and above. The context is hard but not graphic. This would be a wonderful first concentration camp story for young readers who are not yet ready for sadder or more devastating classics like The Hiding Place. I think this would be even better than Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl.
The audio version of this book is excellent. You can learn more about this fascinating book at Biblioguides.com.
There is a dog in this story. If you are concerned about what happens to the dog, please scroll down. If you do not want any spoilers, read no further.
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/i-am-david-aka-north-to-freedom