Posts Tagged 'concentration camp'

They Went Left by Karen Hesse

Published April 16, 2021 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Genre: Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 364

Zofia survived the Holocaust camps and now is on a mission to find her younger brother, Abek, whom she promised to find once the war was over. She knows the rest of her family will not be found simply because when they entered the camp they were all directed to go left and she went right because she was considered a useful worker. She knows they never left the camp and is focusing all of her energy on finding her brother. Zofia has been recovering in a hospital for several months once the camps were liberated simply because her body and mind are weak and she often has trouble remembering things. Her first goal is to go back to their family home, but she knows there is a good chance her brother will not be there and her home might not be there. There are many people looking for lost family at this time, but she is determined to keep looking until she finds out what happened to her brother. As she sets off on her journey she finds that there are many people along the way who are all coping with the war in different ways, but are all trying to start over. Along the way, Zofia is forced to face the horrors of her past that her brain has been trying to forget, but she knows that in order to truly move forward she must accept her past, as bad as it is. Recommended for readers who like the Holocaust and historical fiction.

Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke

Published April 26, 2016 Historical Fiction , RAC Leave a Comment
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secrets she kept

Genre:  Historical fiction

# of Pages:  405

RAC:  Yes

This title has been on my list to read for awhile and it was worth the wait.  Hannah and her mother have never been close, but when her mother dies of Cancer she finds herself lashing out at those around her as if she’s struggling more than she expected.  After going through her mother’s things she realizes that not only was her mother German, not Austrian like she’d always been told, but she still had a living grandfather in Germany.  She decides to go see him and try to learn why her mother was the way she was.  Meanwhile, the story keeps flashing back to Hannah’s mother, Lieselotte as a girl growing up with the ever growing Nazi presence.  Lieselotte’s father and brother become completely engaged in the Nazi party, but she finds herself horrified by the injustices she’s seeing around her.  She works with a family who was very kind to her mother as she lay dying of Cancer, to aid those being chased from their homes.  Hannah slowly uncovers what happened to her mother and why she never told her about her past or her grandfather.

This is a fresh take on WWII fiction in that it really depicts what it was like growing up in Germany during this time no matter where your loyalties laid.  At the same time it depicts the lingering affects of WWII and the Nazi mentality.  Since Hannah was born and raised in the U.S. she has a hard time understanding why there are still so many hard feelings until it is explained to her just how bad things got for Jews during this time.  The story unfolds nicely and it’s easy to see why Lieselotte ended up feeling bitter and betrayed.  Highly recommended.

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