Category: Holocaust

book-review, books, Holocaust, reading

The Little Liar by Mitch Albom

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Nico is a Jewish boy living in Salonika, Greece during World War II. He’s known for one thing: he never tells a lie. Because of this reputation, a Nazi commander takes him in and uses him to spread false hope to Jews being evacuated from Greece. He tells them there will be new homes and safety when they get to the destination—not knowing they were truly being sent to concentration camps.

Nico’s brother, Sebastian, has always been jealous of Nico’s goodness. When their family is forced onto a train, Sebastian believes Nico betrayed them and promises to get revenge.

Later, Nico realizes he was tricked into lying. Feeling guilty, he decides to find his family. By pretending to be different people based upon the situation he finds himself in Nico is able to survive the war.

Meanwhile, Sebastian and the rest of the family are sent to a concentration camp. Sebastian refuses to obey the Commandant—the same man who tricked Nico. The harsh treatment handed down to deliberately break him only fuels Sebastian’s anger and desire for revenge.

Years pass. Nico somehow ends up in Hollywood. Fannie, his first love and Sebastian’s estranged wife, finds him. As the truth slowly comes out, we learn that Nico tried to help the people who had protected him, while Sebastian hunted down those responsible for the suffering. Both brothers are trying to make sense of the pain they endured.

This is a bold and emotional story, though it relies on too many lucky escapes to feel fully believable. It may not be the strongest Holocaust novel, but it offers a satisfying ending for readers who want closure.

book-review, books, Holocaust, literature, reading

All the broken places

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Guilt and complicity. What you have done and what you have not done. Both are things that can torment people. I had heard John Boyne speak about his book All the Broken Pieces , and was intrigued by the idea of what you are complicit of allowing versus what you have committed – and how the sins of the parent are cast on the child. All these ideas led me to buy this book.

I admit, I never read the first book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.  I also admit I had no idea of the backlash – that the book was considered controversial in its way of conveying the atrocities

The story is simplistic, while trying to deal with complex issues. Gretel grew up faithful to the Third Reich, proud of the part her family played in it, including her father’s role as commander of Auschwitz. As Gretel’s mother states, it was the Jewish problem – first the problems they made for Germans that forced the need for extermination, and then for the problems they wouldn’t stop talking about after the camps were closed – that were a disgrace. Gretel, however, understood the terrible things her father had led. She knew her place in allowing this to happen, even as she hid behind “I was only a child” excuses.  This was underscored in the book by others excuses – they were only following orders or they didn’t know anything about it. Being forced to see the horrors by the French Underground, other Nazi hiders, documentary films and camp survivors, Gretel understood she would live with guilt for the rest of her life. She kept her true self away from others. She tried to atone for the sins she knew, in the only way she knew how.

As the parts of history are unraveled, and the new realities of cruelty she faced within her own building, Gretel finally takes action – to not be one that stands by doing nothing, fulfilling her destiny as she and others had hoped it would be. It is, however, a destiny that is rooted in violence – acting on the brutality of her father’s answers for solving a “problem.”   

I felt this was an interesting read. I am glad I have taken my time to read this. With so much hatred in the world, in the US particularly, understanding the need to stand up and speak out is just as important as jumping into the fight directly.  While I understand that it only glimpses at the true horrors that were experienced by those that were taken and lost their lives at these camps, I don’t believe this story is about them. As in every story, there are always two sides. You do not need to agree with them both, but to ignore them is to do the same thing the Germans did to the Jews. Not all Germans are monsters, just as not all Jews are bad. For me, it is Gretel’s final decision to act with brutality to solve a problem that doesn’t make her a saviour but that allows her to accept she is her father’s child.

book-review, books, Holocaust, reading, romance

A good weekend of reading

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With my work deadline met, my dinner club attended, and the laundry almost done, I have been able to catch up on some reading this weekend.  While technically behind my regular pace, I remain above the majority of those that graduate and never read another book.  Can’t say that I have seen the Avengers, or that I have purchased the tickets yet, but you know where my priorities are.

From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon

This is a book about being Jewish during the Second World War in Italy.  The story centers around two people that meet as children, one a boy sent from America because of his one leg, to be a priest. The other is an Italian girl whose family helped the boy and his grandparents. This improbable pair become fast friends, and grow close.  The lack of belief that the Fascists would harm the Jews of Italy mirrors what happened in the rest of Europe, but the underlying negativity and Anti-Semitism of the time is glossed over.  The number of “close calls” and “near misses” are very convenient, as is the theory that the Catholic Church was organized well to save Jews.  I believe the truth of that was how the Pope did not intercede, in life or in fiction, to help them.  As for the improbability of the ending – this was a very Hollywood ending. While it is nice to see something good come from such evil, this is the least believable part of the whole story.

My Ex Life by Stephan McCauley

The story of two formerly married people that, after a brief marriage and decades apart, are brought back together by one’s daughter.  David, a gay man that had married Julia when she found she was pregnant, is contacted in San Francisco by Mandy, Julia’s teenage daughter. Mandy has brought him up to keep her divorcing parents from using her as a pawn against each other. David, who runs a successful(ish) consulting company helping the children of wealthy parents get through the college application process (no bribes here, however).  He comes out to New England to help based upon Mandy’s request, and a need to leave SF as he is losing his rental to a former lover and his new partner.  Julia, who has been taking hits of weed every day for years, is slightly muddled and unfocused about herself and her home, which she loves passionately, but will probably lose in the divorce.  As David sets to straighten up everything (the gay man going straight line here is too obvious), and Julia allows him to take care of her, they fall into a companionable life together, as though time had not passed.  While Mandy acts out on her and her mother’s lack of belief in themselves, David is the one that puts the pieces together and saves the day. But only because each person takes responsibility for their own actions, past and present, to be able to build a new future.

Next up: The Seven Sisters, A Place for Us, and The Alice Network.  Someday I may finish Becoming.  Right now I am bored so I am not wasting my time.