Customer Reviews

When the Soldiers Were Gone

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Have you ever been with someone else for so long that you don't know your real parents? It is based on a true story. It's about a boy named Henk who was hidden during the war. His real parents came to get him, but he doesn't remember them. When they got home they celebrated his return with cake. One day they went to the park, but Henk was afraid because he remembered when a Nazi soldier would come out of his position and try to hurt him. He remembers other things from his past, which help him adjust to his new life.
I like this book because it's historical. It was after World War II. It also tells how Jewish people were treated. The soldiers didn't let the Jewish people do anything. After the war the Jewish people could have normal lives. I give it four stars, because it was good. It told what it was like while he was hiding during the war and went on with his life.

. This is a super great book. I say you should read it. The characters are Hank (Benjamin), Mama, Papa, Elsbet, and David. The problem in this story is Hank has a problem with someone in his class, the bully's name is Max. He threw a rock at his head and made a big cut on his for head. My favorite part is when Hank went to his real parents. The setting was in the county and the 1900's. I give this book 5 stars because it is a super book. I would recommend this book to a friend because he likes the books I read and they are like the book I read.

Our third grader enjoyed the historical perspective, the Dutch names, and could relate to the feelings of fear and confusion of the little boy.

When the Soldiers Were Gone is a great book that tells how life was for an 8-year-old boy when the Nazis came. When you read this book you will find out how and why Henk (Benjamin, his real name) and his parents got separated. Although they were not separated their whole life, he still did not remember his real parents. He finally remembered them when they moved back to their real house and found one of his old toys that he used to play with when he was a baby.
I liked most of the book, except for the part when he was living on the farm and when the "bad" soldiers came. He had to hide in the dirty laundry basket. It was very sad when Benjamin thought some weird people he didn't know were taking him away. I would highly recommend this book to ages 10 and under.

I enjoyed reading, When the Soldiers Were Gone, by Vera Propp. The book focuses on the time period of 1945 when World War II was ending. The author writes about a boy who gets sent to a farm during the war to protect himself and his family. The boy, Henk, is really Jewish but he disguises himself as a Christian so the Nazi's won't come after him. This book is very interesting because it describes what was happening during the war from the eyes of a child that is about my age, 10 years old. Henk has wierd dreams about his past, and in the middle of the book he realizes that the dreams are real and that he has actually has a different family. The ending was a real surprise for me. This historical fiction is well worth reading.

Have you ever read a War World II book before? Here is a book that describes what happens before, during, and after the war with children, mothers and fathers. I think the author wrote the book very well. She described what had happened. She told about the events and the characters. I feel the author really understands children, because she told about a young child. I feel the book was well written.One day after the war, two strangers walked up to Henk. Henk's real name is Benjamin. The two strangers were his mother and father. As he got to know them he started to remember. He was happy when he knew that they were his parents. What I think this book is a very sad story. I was surprised that this really happened to a man, who is still alive today. I rate the book five stars. It was hard to follow, because there were so many characters in the book. It was sad, but well written.

I had to read this book in lit circles at my home school in Montgomery, PA. Overall I really liked this book. The book starts out about a little eight year old boy. His name is Henk he lives on a farm with the staal family. Henks parents had to hide from the Nazi's because they were jewish. Henk was to young to come along so they gave Henk to the Staal family. After the war Henk's real parents come back for him. Henk doesn't want to live with them but later in the book Henk starts to like his real parents. While Henk is living with his real family he gets to do many things that he couldn't do before with the Staal family. Henk gets to go to school and meet a couple of new friends and some enemies. At school Henk finds out about his life and what happened to Jewish people and about Hitler.

As anyone that has experienced "The Diary of Anne Frank" in any form can attest, some of the most powerful voices about the terror of the Holocaust belong to children. Their stories of uncertainty; fear of the unknown and the things that were done for their own safety are timeless lessons of a child's view of the world.
The main character of this book is a Dutch boy named Henk that is living with a farm family during the Second World War. When the war is over, a strange man and woman come to "Papa and Mama's" house, tell him that he is their son and take him to the city. Henk, real name Benjamin, finds it very difficult to understand that he was sent to live with a Christian family in order to avoid the rounding up and deportation of the Jews. Several times, German soldiers came to the farm and he was hidden from them. On the occasion when he could not hide, it was the presence of the Christian cross around his neck that saved him. Eventually, Benjamin is able to come to grips with some of the terror of the war and to start living a reasonably normal life.
While the story of Benjamin may be fictional, the events are not, having been repeated thousands of times across Europe during the Second World War. Many brave people risked all to provide aid and comfort to "the enemy" as defined by German propaganda. These people were truly heroes and deserve all possible accolades that they receive. This book is a powerful message of what they did and the difference they made.

Everything about this book is simple. The plot is simple. The writing is simple. The view is simple.

And yet it is that that strikes the reader. Having read this several years ago as a young child, I found it all believable and understandable. I enjoyed it. Upon rereading it several years later, it became clear just HOW simple the book really is.

Everything from the writing style to the way Henk (or Benjamin, the main character) sees the world and understands it is simple and basic. Nazism and racism are reduced to their simplest form - children mocking one another for no reason. The shock and despair that reigned in Europe after the Holocaust is shown as a lack of chocolate. The early signs of anti-semitism before the war against citizens are showed with Henk/Benjamin being told that he can longer go to the park with his friends because he is Jewish.

It is all quite interesting, but unless a young child is reading it, it's all a bit much. While, yes, the story is interesting and haunting and real, if someone can read something even more slightly complex, there are better Holocaust stories out there. For children ages nine and up, I always recommend "The Devil's Arithmetic", an excellent book. "When the Soldiers Were Gone" can really only fit a tiny group of readers - slower children around ages nine or ten who would not deal with the more complex books but ought to know about what happened.

Mostly, this is not a bad book. For an early reader, this is even a good book. However, as there are better books of similar topics out there, I'd recommend heading over to those first.

I personally liked this book because I like war realated subjects. the only part about the book that I don't like is that Henk is never told that he is a foster child. If you like war based books you should read this.