In 1939, author Simon Eichel was fifteen years old and lived in the Upper Silesia region of Poland. He was old enough to know that ‘politics were taking an ugly turn and that life would undoubtedly become more uncomfortable for Jews. All the same, he was most concerned with his life at school, his academic challenges, and the attentions of a particular young lady. Before he could blink an eye, he found himself packed into a boxcar with his father and numerous other deported Jews. His old life ended, and he began an unimaginable journey. The Family Whistle shares the unlikely odyssey of the Eichel family out of Europe, through the horrors of Nazi brutality and the rigors of a Siberian Labor camp, and finally to safe harbor and success in the United States. Drawn from Eichel’s surviving journals, The Family Whistle is a story of tragic loss and uncommon family strength.