Another blogger suggested I read this, a true accounting of a family which were impacted by WW II...living in Czechoslovakia and Germany.
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I had just blogged a novel which looked at the lives of a German soldier and his wife during the war. So when I moved into the reality of this book, I had to take it in small doses.
It started out without much of the brutality which happened later in the war. A modern day woman starts looking into her father's history. She finds a lot. She connects with many distant relatives. And they fill in many of the blanks of her father's and grandparent's lives before and during WW II.
I have never been able to read or watch much about the holocaust. It's as if I've seen and heard many voices of those who suffered, and I have to turn them off so I can go about my days. I also hate horror movies.
So I slowly went through this book. And I am amazed at how much material the author was able to find. Fortunately there were descendents of other members of the family who also had stories and documents that fit together to make a whole. As a geneaologist, I am in awe. As a human, I'm again so very touched by how war makes everyone crazy.
I give it five stars and my recommendation.
Today's quote:
What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup.
-Boris Pasternak, poet, novelist, Nobel laureate (1890-1960)
...I'll take your word for it, reading is just too difficult for me.
ReplyDeleteThat's ok, I read enough for two, or three...or...
DeleteIt sounds like a difficult read, thanks for the review. Take care, have a great day and happy new week!
ReplyDeleteThere are some things I push myself through, knowing there will be suffering. I guess I feel that they suffered, the least I can do is honor their lives by reading about them.
DeleteThere have been many books written on this subject. One author that comes to mind is Martin Goldsmith who wrote about family members who were on the boat that was denied entry to US and Cuba before that. I believe it was his uncle who was returned to France where he died in a concentration camp. It is tough reading but important that the stories be told.
ReplyDeleteI would like to read that Martin Goldsmith book...but after I read a few more "light and fantastical" books.
DeleteI don't read books about the holocaust, but I am always moved that the stories are told. My mother's family lost many in that horrific time. Their stories are in my blood and fear.
ReplyDeleteOh how awful to know of family members who suffered through that time. Yes, there's a dna/genetic trauma that is passed through descendents. So sorry.
DeleteI think there was a whole tv series, fictionalized IIRC, back in the mid-seventies.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't sound like a show I'd want to watch!
DeleteExcellent review.
ReplyDeleteAs much as my opinion may be worth.
DeleteI agree, a slow and not an easy read, but so worth the effort.
ReplyDelete