It Rained Warm Bread: Moishe Moskowitz’s Story of Hope
Can a child still hope after being torn from his family and identity? Moskowitz-Sweet’s story, based on her father’s experiences, answers this question. Told in simple, elegant, narrative poems by Hope Anita Smith, this novel follows the life of Moshie, a young Jewish boy. His story starts with the invasion of Poland, details the death marches of Jewish prisoners, and ends with the liberation of Europe.
Moshie, his parents, and his two siblings live a simple and happy life in Kielce, but it is clear from the first chapter that he and his family face dangerous anti-Semitism each time they leave their home. Young Moshie even employs “bodyguards,” whom he pays in homework, in exchange for protection. While the Moskowitz family is a happy one, their outside world is hostile well before the German wolves arrive in 1939.
As the Germans move closer to Kielce, Moshie’s parents struggle to protect their children. His father is left heartbroken by the choice to leave his family behind and seek refuge with American relatives. Ultimately the family remains together, only to be slowly torn apart as the German occupation intensifies.
Seen through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Moshie, young readers understand the impossible choices families faced during the Holocaust. Moreover, Smith’s approachable and beautiful poems convey a message of hope and love on each page; a message that is unfathomable in such dark times, yet essential to both surviving and preventing them from happening again. I highly recommend this stunning novel for middle-schoolers and beyond.
