What if he had changed his mind? That soundit was like someone had kicked the front door in. She put the little kitten back under her house and ran inside for her trumpet. No room! Rubble was strewn everywhere. Finally, the Greek Coast Guard finds Mahmoud and his mother. She wont take up any room!. There was open revolt against Syria's ruler, Bashar al-Assad, following the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen. People called out to one another in Arabic, and music from radios and TVs filled the air. As her mother liked to say, Isabel could play the storm clouds from the sky. Isabel hurried after her. Aaron Landau is a well-known actor. But, Mahmouds father has stopped joking, numb and broken from the beating he had recieved after standing up to a soldier. Mami started counting clave by clapping, and Isabel frowned, trying to follow the beat. It's Playing out in His Novels (Published 2018)", "Refugee by Alan Gratz A Timely and Important Novel", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Refugee_(Gratz_novel)&oldid=1120635547, This page was last edited on 8 November 2022, at 01:30. Which is usually that dog Assad. Mahmoud breathed again with relief. With a jolt of surprise, Mahmoud realized this kind of thing did happen every day. They were headed for Hamburg, on the north coast, where his father would meet them to board their ship. Refugee book Mahmoud Bishara character drowning baby saving a life concepts 02 Share "Whether you were visible or invisible, it was all about how other people reacted to you. One of the girls had found a long piece of string and was dangling it over the side, tickling the noses of passengers who were sleeping in chairs down on A-deck. But what if his father had been hit by one of the bombs? She was barefoot like always, and wore a tank top and shorts. He wanted to be a professional baseball player when he grew up, and he was good enough that it wasnt a crazy dream. Isabel braced herself between two of the benches, trying to catch her breath. Fatima! Oh, thank God youre alive! their mom said. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. He bopped his nose hard enough to jerk awake, and Ruthie laughed hysterically. How are Josef Isabel and Mahmoud similar? It had been before Kristallnacht, before the Nuremberg Laws that made Jews second-class citizens, before the boycotts and book burnings. Along with Josef and Isabel, she is one of the books three protagonists. And dont ever do that again, the Hitler Youth told Josef. She had to find her father. -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Fatima Bishara appears in. But Josef and his mother and sister werent going anywhere. Tourists took pictures. Amara laughed and Luis smiled. Instant PDF downloads. Seor Castillo was in charge of the boat. He flailed wildly at the debris, digging and scratching at the wreckage like he could somehow claw his way back to a place where there was air. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Tell me something I dont know, Seor Castillo said. People also ask, Where does Mahmouds family plan go? The people on board try to push them off, afraid they will capsize the fragile boat. The rioters and police traded rocks and bullets, and a man with a bloody head staggered past Isabel. He took her in his arms and wrapped her in a protective hug. Mahmoud is doing homework, stopping briefly at prayer time, when a bomb hits their building. Back when people saw them. Isabel loved tagging along on trips into Havana to stand on a street corner and play her trumpet for pesos. I promise. Well let you in maana. Not that Waleed smiled much anymore. Josef remembered a time in class, back when he was allowed to go to school. He tumbled and slid back down into the ditch. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." He then hears, cry out for help, but the dinghy isnt slowing down. Mahmouds mother broke down in tears, and his father let the life jackets he carried drop to the ground. The pistol fired againpak!andping!the hull of the Castilloss boat rang as the bullet hit it. He spotted the piece of candy Josef had bought for Ruth and took it. The book revolves around three main characters from three different eras: Nazi Germany, 1990s Cuba, and modern-day Syria. North, Dad said. It was like a giant rummage sale, and it seemed like everybody in the camp was there. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Soon after landing in Greece, Mahmouds father gets them onto a ferry that will take them to Athens. Josef looked deep into Officer Padrons eyes, searching for some sign of help, some hint of sympathy. Papis eyes were wide as he stood from the kitchen table. Answers: 1. When the Jewish refugees are rejected from entering Cuba and it seems likely that the ship is going to take them back to Germany, Josef works with other passengers to try to take the ship hostage so that they can avoid this fate. The box didnt have any other Ninja Turtles in it, but Waleed would be excited to get it. In all the times hed dreamed of this day, his father had always been there to recite a blessing with him. On foot? Germany? The soldiers were silent, and Mahmoud closed his eyes tight, waiting for the shots to come. Not any longer. However, they end up driving straight into some enemy soldiers who attack the car. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. If the phones were out, he was probably working on trying to fix them. what were two observations the boys made about lesbos from the boat? Boats built out of Styrofoam and oil drums. He didnt even leave to go to the bathroom. Please! Mahmoud cried. They tumbled into the ditch beside his parents. She was barefoot as usual and dressed in a tank top and shorts. Two of the Nazis yanked Josefs father to his feet and dragged him toward the door. Mahmoud and his family travel through Serbia and into Hungary, where they are detained at a refugee camp that is built like a prison. People caught criticizing Fidel Castro were thrown into jail and never heard from again. The family hikes across the border to Macedonia. Then, Mahmoud and, Mahmoud: Somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea 2015, 11 days from home (2), the bottom of the sea, and says a funeral prayer for him. Mahmoud's brother. She had to think of some answer to all this, some solution that would keep her family together. The second time, his boat had a motor, but hed been caught by the Cuban navy and had ended up in jail. Mahmoud Bishara (12) In what year did the Arab Spring come to Syria? Her father and grandfather were still arguing in the kitchen, so she slipped in the back way. He looked over his shoulder like he wanted GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Hes going to have his bar mitzvah next Shabbos. A bar mitzvah was the ceremony at which a boy officially became a man under Jewish law. Freedom! chanted some of the rioters. Again. The couple is very kind, welcoming them and sharing their own stories. Mahmoud is 12 years old, he is kind of stoke has thick black eyebrows a strong nose and wears a hoodie. Disappear. They used it on the door handles of cabins up and down the passageway on A-deck, then hid around the corner and waited. Khalid (17) IWB does part of the story take place in 1939? It barely qualified as a boat, but it was big enough for the four Castillosand maybe four more guests. It was a salsa tune she liked to play, but this time she listened past the music. Could it really be? DOCX University of Exeter Soon enough, a steward balancing a large silver tray came down the hall from the other end and knocked on a door. Josef and his sister followed their mother through the crowd at the Lehrter Bahnhof, Berlins main railway station. Without these stupid armbands, without the letter J stamped on his passport, would anyone know he was Jewish? The desks were wide enough for three students at each, and Mahmoud sat between two other boys named Ahmed and Nedhal. Well, I need money. I dont have any money, Isabel said. I dont have time for games, he would tell me. Josef, his mother, and Ruthie stopped short just inside the first-class social hall. The soldiers direct them to a route that avoids the battles in return for a ride. There were butterflies in his stomach as he got up in front of such a large audience, and his voice broke as he stumbled through the Hebrew words, but he did it. They spilled into the streets, and the few policemen on the Malecn were quickly overwhelmed. The rebels and the army and Daesh are all fighting here, he said, pointing to places on the map. And food ration booklets were pretty worthless anywaythere wasnt enough food to go around, whether you had a booklet or not. Did no one else see the Nazi flag overhead as we came on board? Will you not go to your own sons bar mitzvah, then? Josefs mother and Ruthie were already dressed in their nice Shabbos dresses. Josef walked the Promenade deck by himself, a new man. Josef Landau shot straight up in bed, his heart racing. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. She needs a name, Ivn said. But the good people couldn't help you, either." Alan Gratz Hed already forgotten about the stalls in the womens bathroom. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Before he could protest, the girls dragged him to a womens restroom. It all sounded so wonderful, but when it came down to it, all Isabel really wanted was a place where she and her family could be together, and happy. Dad started the engine, put the car into gear, and they were off. Ill find you again. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. It was hungry Cubans. Castro rambled on without a script, quoting novels and telling personal anecdotes about the Revolution. Nothing else mattered in that moment but air. It will be expensive, but we can pay. Soon the whole boat was singing, and Lito stood and held out a hand to Amara, inviting her to dance. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Injustice and Cruelty vs. Barrel bombs were filled with nails and scrap metal, and if you didnt have a wall to duck behind youd be shredded to pieces. They came to a compartment with a man in the uniform of the Gestapo, the Nazis Secret State Police, and Josef stumbled. Where did Mahmoud and his family live for 4 weeks? Mahmoud took his younger brother by the hand, turned around, and found a different way home. It demolishes an entire outside wall. He and his mother and sister would be put off the train, maybe even sent to a concentration camp. Not without Josefs father. Mahmoud and his mother fight to live in the Mediterranean, but the Greek Coast Guard finally saves the family. Mahmouds father got back in the car. Getting noticed by the Syrian army or the rebels fighting them, he knows, is "just inviting trouble." When the bell rings in school, Mahmoud finds his 10-year-old brother Waleed to walk him home. Isabel turned, holding a hand up in front of her eyes and expecting to see a police searchlight shining on her. But by then it will be too late. Mahmoud remembered the horror hed felt when his apartment building collapsed and hed thought his mom was still inside. They threw Josef and Ruth on the floor once more and flicked on the overhead light. The villagers on the beach cheered for them, and Seor Castillo revved the engine, leaving the charging policemen in their wake. Two giant tan smokestacks stuck up from the middle of the ship, one Mahmoud could hear music beyond the fence. She listened now, intently, trying to hear the heartbeat of Cuba in her own music. Together they hurried to the ramp as best they could, carrying all the suitcases. One group is distributing diapers. Amara laughed and took his hand, and the two of them danced as best they could in the swaying boat. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. The Hitler Youth breathed hard, his face red like he was the one in trouble. My brother, just a boy, becoming a man at last. Castros face was everywhere in Cubaon billboards, on taxis, in picture frames on schoolroom walls, painted on the sides of buildings. Hush, Ruthie. As her grandfather arrived and helped Isabel get her father to his feet, she understood. The shadows tore down pictures, pulled drawers from their bureaus, and flung clothing everywhere. long days trying to get to the boat on time, and now it isnt coming. It collapsed onto the sixth floor, and then into Mahmouds apartment, and on down like dominos. The MS St. Louis had left all that behind. But the food shortages had driven more and more Cubans to el norte. The Adventure A former teacher, doctor, rescue worker, and media activist relate their experiences of love, death, and survival from a besieged Syrian suburb. No station agents stopped to ask if they needed help finding their train. Her lunch hadnt been much bigger than the catsjust a few beans and a small pile of white rice. Smoke rose from behind an apartment building. WHO chief visits Syria for the first time after the earthquake His dad hesitated, and Mahmoud held his breath. I dont know. We can stay there until all this is over. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. This wasnt what the tourists had paid for. man wouldnt be talking and laughing with him. And what is your name, pretty one? Lito asked her. They fail, but they are not sent back to Germany. He starts to panic that, Mahmoud: Just Outside Aleppo, Syria 2015, 1 day from home. Mama! Josef cried. refugee_-_alan_gratz Pages 1-50 - Flip PDF Download | FlipHTML5 You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. The reaction in Munich is the same as it is in Austria. Refugees, just like Mahmoud and his family, who had left their homes in Syria and were walking north to Turkey. Desperate, Mahmoud jumps out in front of a car to get the drivers attention, choosing to become visible in order to make something happen. The residence of her family. Germany was somewhere up north, in the heart of Europe. Whats happened? Mr. Sarraf asked Mahmoud, and then he saw the missing wall and his eyes went wide. Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 6 days, Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 8 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 10 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (2), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 11 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (3), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (1), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 14 days, Isabel: The Straits of Florida 1994, 1 day (4), Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey 2015, 11 days (2), Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean 1939, 17 days, Isabel: Straits of Florida 1994, 2 days, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (1), Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (2), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 4 days, Mahmoud: The Mediterranean 2015, 11 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (1), Mahmoud: Lesbos to Athens 2015, 12 days (3), Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Mahmoud: Macedonia to Serbia 2015, 14-15 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (1), Mahmoud: Serbia to Hungary 2015, 15-16 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (2), Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (3), Josef: Vornay, France 1940, 1 year, 1 month, 10 days, Isabel: Coast of Florida 1994, 5 days (4), Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany 2015, 17 days. They had been drafted into the police, and they werent allowed to leave. In the days to come, Josef learned that his family wasnt the only one the Nazis had attacked that night. Josef Landau, a Jewish boy, is 12 years old at the beginning of the book, living in Nazi Germany in 1938. A bar mitzvah alone didnt make him an adult. Mahmoud's Story - The Scholarly Teacher Must be doing sixteen knots, easy, said one of the stewards. Mahmoud told his dad that he wanted to board a boat and go to Italy, where he'd have a chance to go to school. Renata and Evelyne jumped out from behind a lifeboat and grabbed Josef by the hand. Cuba might decide shes full-up with Jews when we get there and turn us away. Josef looked out to sea. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Josefs mother and sister left to go back to visit his father in their cabin. He howled louder than a fighter jet, and his parents didnt even tell him to hush. A whistle blew. No, my son is just twelve. A specimen. Mahmoud remembered neon malls, glittering skyscrapers, soccer stadiums, movie theaters, museums. They are reunited with, Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany 2015, 17 days from home, and other supplies. Mahmoud didnt have any friends. He turned Josef this way and that, pointing out the curve of his nose, the slant of his chin. She had bright eyes, wild brown haircut in a bob and parted on the side a little gap between her 2 front teeth. Dont stop. The fact that Lito informed the Jewish passengers on board the St. Louis that he was Jewish haunts him. I should do something, he whispered. But now? Ruth! Mama cried when she saw them. The smuggler had just told them their boat wasnt leaving tonight. He stepped back and held her at arms length. Were refugees! Mahmoud yelled, unable to stay silent any longer. BANG! They only see us when we do something they dont want us to do, Mahmoud realized., I see rocks! someone at the front of the dinghy yelled, and there was a loud POOM! Everyone on the crew had treated Josef and his family with kindness and respect, despite his fathers repeated warnings that all Germans were out to get them. If Castro was letting anyone leave, her father would be gone before the sun rose the next day. Youssef Bishara Mahmoud, Waleed, and Hana 's father, and Fatima 's husband. They were leaving Cuba, her village, her homeeverything shed ever knownbehind. After what seemed like an eternity of looking over their papers, the border guard finally stapled temporary visas onto their passports and let them through. They had played shuffleboard and badminton, and the crew was putting up a swimming pool, which they promised to fill with seawater once the St. Louis hit the warm Gulf Stream. When his father is released six months later, Josef, his mother Rachel, his sister Ruthie, and his father, now traumatized by his experiences at Dachau, all board the MS St. Louis, which is set to take them to Cuba. Page 17 - New Politics I want to be able to choose who I vote for, Luis said. An Industriales baseball game played on the television in the corner, and Isabels grandfather turned down the volume. And why did it matter which one got there first? Each floor had a living room and a kitchen just like theirs, all decorated differently. Waleed didnt seem to get excited about much these days. Or Javier? Mahmoud's baby sister. From there, they could choose to return to Cubaand Castroor languish in a refugee camp while the United States decided what to do with them. They were right. excluding an estimated 2.5 million nomads; 24,532,000 (2006E, including nomads). A jagged line of real bullet holes bisected Assads face. Through Azaz. The soldier opened the back door of the car and slid inside, pushing Waleed into the back of the station wagon. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. He hadnt forgotten that if he were wearing his armband, this No one is coming to help us. But when the Soviet Union went away, so did all their support. Officer Padron just looked away. I have to find him! Chabela! her grandfather cried. This was an era when the Syrian civil war was going on. thinks that he will never forget the fear of being so powerless in that moment. The soldiers throw tear gas and take the refugees into custody,loading the subdued refugees up in trucks and driving them to a detention facility almost all the way to Austria. They called it Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. He sobbed with the effort of fighting off the mans fingers and hanging onto the dinghy. No! Isabel cried. Seor Castillo shrugged. One. The ships bulletin board announced that the first-class social hall would be converted to a synagogue, a Jewish house of prayer, which meant Josef might have his bar mitzvah after all. Mahmoud saw a cardboard box of used toys at one of the shops and knelt to dig in it while his No one wore their Jewish armbands on the ship, and there were no Js above any of the passenger compartments, because all the passengers were Jews. It was a boat. It all came flooding back to him nowswaying and humming along with the prayers, craning his neck to see the Torah when it was taken out of the ark and hoping to get a chance to touch it and then kiss his fingers as the scroll came around in a procession. And do you know what the greatest failures are? he asked. The vacationers dropped their voices, and even though Mahmoud couldnt understand what they were saying, he could hear the disgust in their words. But Josef remembered how it used to be. Mahmoud leaned over to see. She worked her way to one of the cars stuck in the riot, an old American Chevy with chrome tail fins, still around from before the Revolution in the 1950s. Mahmoud Bishara is leaving Syria during the volatile regime of Bashar al-Assad in 2015. . As she blew, her fingers tapped out the notes she knew by heart. Amiel The connection between Isabel and Josef's story is that Lito was the police officer who jumped off of the U.S St. Louis to save Josef's father when he tried to commit suicide. He screamed even louder than his little sister, drowning her out. We didnt ask for civil war! What kind of person is Josef in refugee? - KnowledgeBurrow.com They pluck Mahmoud and, Mahmoud: Lesbos, Greece, to Athens, Greece 2015, 12 days from home (3). Josef couldnt think of any Jewish people he knew who did look like those pictures. Ill be right behind you. Book hotel rooms. What happens Hana refugee? - TimesMojo But that trumpet was everything to you! No, not everything, Isabel thought. Sometimes it was the back alleys; there could be fighters in the streets, who were always targets for the opposition. Im sorry. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Josef could barely walk. Israel vs. Palestine Through the Eyes of Confucius | Teen Ink Well all go, while Castro is letting people out, she went on. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. The leader of Syria. Each one came up to Isabels chest. Other children darted in and out among the adults, laughing and chasing each other into the alleys of tents off the main drag. Incidents like this were common in Aleppo lately. Wearing that uniform turned boys into monsters. We cant stay here. He felt tears come to his eyes and wiped them away. Fight the tyrant Assad! Between Assad and Daesh and Russia and America, Mahmoud thought, there wasnt much of a Syria left to fight for. When they didnt, he ran the rest of the way down and burst out onto the street, Hana still in his arms and his brother right behind them. He wore the same thing he did every time he was on television a green military jacket and flat round capand sat behind a row of microphones. The Americans had a new policy everyone called Wet Foot, Dry Foot. If Cuban refugees were caught at sea with wet feet, they were sent to the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, at the southern end of Cuba. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. How would they live? Some of them wore regular clothes: white shirts with the sleeves rolled up, gray slacks, brown wool caps, leather work boots. Source (s) Refugee (Alan Gratz) (This displacement has been decided upon or forced for 55% of Syrians since the start of the war in 2011. Mahmoud Bishara is a 12-year-old boy from Aleppo, Syria who lives in 2015 in the book Refugee. Activities at StoryboardThat include Refugee book summary, themes, & more. name, asks in perfect Arabic if Youssef and his family are seeking asylum in Germany. Cuba was a communist country, like Russia had been, and for decades the Soviets had been buying Cubas sugar for eleven times the price and sending the little island food and gasoline and medicine for free. The man at the concession stand sold newspapers, and Josef took one and put a coin on the counter. There was a riot on the Malecn, Lito said. Just then, Mahmouds father receives a text about a boat arriving. Mahmoud couldnt understand why his mother had bothered to save their backpacks until he saw that they were stuffed with clothes and diapers. No, no, you cant go through Azaz anymore, the soldier said. So I have more things to sell! He laughed, and Josef smiled. He stood on Josefs armband, his eyes wide with surprise. It felt like ages since hed been inside a synagogue. He rolled out two matsone for him and the other for Waleed. Had to go back for the phone, he told them. Its French, and old, and plays like a dream. The fisherman sighed. The floor lurched up under Mahmoud and threw him and the table and chairs back against the wall of the kitchen. All Isabel could see was the metal side of the boat in front of her face, but she heard a commotion behind her. Lots of them! And then, six months after hed been taken away, they got a telegram. On top of this, he deals with coping, loss, and hardship. Get out of the car! he cried. like a bomb exploding, and Mahmoud went tumbling into the sea.. Just a moments kindness from each of them might mean the difference between death and survival for her mother and everyone else on the little raft. feet, he wasnt coming back. Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Ruthie Landau/R Lito/Mariano Padron is a character in the film Lito/Mariano Padron.