Prisoner B-3087

Yanek's story begins in Nazi-occupied Poland.  He and other Polish Jews are imprisoned in the Krakow ghetto and subject to food shortages, work details, and violence.

But that is only the beginning.  Over the next nine years, Yanek will be separated from everyone he knows and loves and shuttled to ten different concentration/extermination camps.  Through it all, Yanek holds fast to his determination to survive no matter what.

Yanek's story is based on the true story of Jack Gruener, a real Polish Jew who survived the hardships and atrocities Yanek faces in the book.  This first hand account of life in the camps is heartbreaking and painful, but it is ultimately a story of survival against the odds.

Read Alan Gratz's novelization of Jack Gruener's real experiences! Watch the video to see and hear the real life inspiration for this book.