Mala´s Cat – Kacenbergová Mala (2023)

Alone in a forest with only a cat for company - this is the deeply moving true story of one little girl's remarkable survival in the shadow of the Holocaust. Growing up in the Polish village of Tarnogrod, on the fringes of a deep pine forest, Mala had the happiest childhood anyone could hope for. But, when the Nazis invade, her beloved village becomes a ghetto, and family and friends are reduced to starvation. Taking matters into her own hands, she bravely removes her yellow star, and sneaks out to the surrounding villages to barter for food. On her way back she receives a smuggled letter from her sister warning her to stay away; her loved ones have been rounded up for deportation. With only her cat, Malach, for company and strength from the stories taught to her by her family, she must flee into the forest. Malach becomes her family, her only respite from loneliness, a guide and reminder to stay hopeful even in the darkness. With her guardian angel by her side, Mala must find a way to navigate the dangerous forests, outwit German soldiers and hostile villagers, and to survive, against all the odds.