The Witch of Treblinka is a bold reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's Hansel and Gretel, reframed through the lens of twentieth-century atrocity. Set against the backdrop of World War II, this haunting novel traces the journey of a Roma Gypsy family as they flee the tightening grip of Nazi persecution across Bukovina, the Carpathian Mountains, and the ancient forests of eastern Poland.
When their mother dies, young Hansel and Gretel are left vulnerable to the will of a faltering father and his ruthless new wife. Abandoned in the vast Bialowieza Forest, the children confront not just wilderness and hunger, but the monstrous legacy of war itself. Deep within the trees, they encounter a figure whose name is spoken in dread - the Witch of Treblinka.
Weaving together elements of folklore and historical fact, The Witch of Treblinka is a story of endurance and terror, of innocence undone and reclaimed. It is a meditation on memory, myth, and the darkness at the heart of human cruelty, rendered in vivid prose and grounded in the forgotten histories of Roma suffering during the Holocaust.
Not recommended for readers under the age of 16.
