The Last Train

Q&A with children’s author Rona Arato on her children's book The Last Train

On April 10, 1945, a train loaded with Hungarian Jews left the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. German officials were attempting to cover up the existence of the Jewish prisoners in anticipation of the arrival of Allied troops. Paul Arato, his brother Oscar, and their mother Lenke were three of the more than 2,000 people crammed onto that train. On April 13, U.S. soldiers discovered the train and liberated those inside.

Ahead of the 68th anniversary of that event, Rona Arato, Paul’s wife, is launching The Last Train (OwlKids), a children’s book based on her husband’s story.

Arato, a former teacher, has published 11 books for children including Ice Cream Town (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) and Working for Freedom: The Story of Josiah Henson (Napoleon & Company). Beginning in 1995, Arato spent four years as an interviewer with the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. Established by Steven Spielberg, the foundation records the testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust. Arato convinced her husband to be interviewed, and after hearing his story, which he rarely talked about, she thought about writing a book.

The Last Train, which launches Sunday at the Beth Tikvah Synagogue in North York, also shifts forward to when Paul met his liberators at a 2009 symposium organized by New York State high school teacher Matthew Rozell.

Quillblog caught up with Arato to talk about her book.

How long did it take you to write The Last Train?

Probably about three years on and off, I must have gone through at least five drafts.

What went into putting this book together?

I did a lot of research and I read the accounts of the soldiers in the 30th infantry divisions. They were quite detailed, especially of the day of the rescue. Several of them had written their own memoirs, some were online, and others were from oral testimonies. Plus, there were some of the other survivors we met at the symposium Rozell organized. It was one of the most amazing experiences we’ve ever had. And that’s where I learned a lot too. Paul was six at the time of the liberation, some of the others were 15 or 18, so their memories were a lot stronger and they corroborated each other.

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