As a child, Ela Stein was a Jewish prisoner in Terezin, a Nazi concentration camp in Czechoslovakia where a number of noted Jewish artists and musicians were held. The artists looked for ways to work closely with the children, and Ela, who had a fine singing voice, was one of the children selected to perform in a children’s opera called Brundibár, cast in the role of the cat. The character of Brundibár is a caricature of Adolf Hitler, and the opera lifted the spirits of prisoners every time it was performed. Despite the opera’s political overtones, Nazi leaders didn’t object. They arranged a performance for the Red Cross, successfully fooling that organization into believing Terezin was a model of how they treated Jews. (A few months later, the Nazi’s stepped up transports from Terezin to the death camps, and many musicians and performers were among those sent.) Susan Goldman Rubin worked closely with Ela (Stein) Weissberger to write this compelling volume that chronicles Ela’s experiences at Terezin as a prisoner and as a performer. Moving final chapters describe Ela’s efforts to locate friends from Terezin, as well as her efforts to educate young people about the Holocaust. Numerous photographs provide a rich visual accompaniment to Ela’s story. (Ages 10–14)

Ela Stein was eleven years old in February of 1942 when she was sent to the Terezin concentration camp with other Czech Jews. By the time she was liberated in 1945, she was fifteen. Somehow during those horrendous three-and-a-half years of sickness, terror, separation from loved ones, and loss, Ela managed to grow up. Although conditions were wretched, Ela forged lifelong friendships with other girls from Room 28 of her barracks. Adults working with the children tried their best to keep up the youngest prisoners' spirits. A children's opera called Brundibar was even performed, and Ela was chosen to play the pivotal role of the cat. Yet amidst all of this, the feared transports to death camps and death itself were a part of daily life. Full of sorrow, yet persistent in its belief that humans can triumph over evil; this unusual memoir tells the story of an unimaginable coming of age.