What would have been a bittersweet read at anytime is especially heartbreaking and resonant while news breaks of increasing atrocities in Israel and PWhat would have been a bittersweet read at anytime is especially heartbreaking and resonant while news breaks of increasing atrocities in Israel and Palestine. In this story a young man from England with German Jewish heritage, is traveling around Europe before World War II and ends up in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). In December 1938, Prague was bursting with refugees fleeing from German violence, and Nicholas works with others to evacuate kids from Prague to Britain. Organizing paperwork and bribes from Prague, and traveling back to London to organize host families, trains full of refugee children begin rolling in March of 1939 and continue through August until Germany invades Poland and borders close. They couldn't and didn't save everyone, but 669 children arrived in London safely.
The illustrations elegantly and neatly convey the complexity of this topic. Sis depicts simple events, but also beautifully conveys how each child encompassed whole worlds and memories within them. The text shares not only Nicholas' story, but also that of Vera, one of the children on the transports. She left Prague with her sister, and when she returned to Czechoslovakia after the war, the rest of her family had been killed, either in German concentration camps or as a result of disease that proliferated in wartime conditions.
This story focuses more on Nicholas' ordinary actions that became heroic to those children and their families, and Vera's story clearly illustrates this impact. It does not matter how often I read about the Holocaust, I am always struck by the importance of ordinary people and their choices and how much those choices can affect others, both for good and in terribly horrific ways.
Beautiful and devastating, inspiring and dark....more
Leaning heavily on photos to tell the story of Anne Frank and her family, this small format book has an outsized impact. It should be impossible to loLeaning heavily on photos to tell the story of Anne Frank and her family, this small format book has an outsized impact. It should be impossible to look away from this unmoved by the size of the atrocity committed by the Nazis and everyone who helped them. Whether willfully participating or thoughtlessly collaborating, or even simply lacking the courage to actively resist, those who assisted in the mass genocide of the Holocaust continually have the capacity to knock me back....more
I got about halfway through this before needing to return it to the library. A collection of drafts and source material interspersed with an interviewI got about halfway through this before needing to return it to the library. A collection of drafts and source material interspersed with an interview with Art Spiegelman that ranges from his process to the reactions to his work and more.
I was reading this in preparation for a book group in a few weeks, and it was very interesting. I wish I had managed to make it through the whole thing....more
An accessible story about preserving family and community even in the midst of war, genocide, and mass migration. Yaffa created a photographic reconstAn accessible story about preserving family and community even in the midst of war, genocide, and mass migration. Yaffa created a photographic reconstruction of her devastated hometown through extensive work and networking to obtain personal copies of family photographs. The illustrations are warm and nostalgic....more
The second book continues both parts of the first: it picks up Vladek's narrative as he and Anja arrive in Auschwitz and Birkenau, and it continues thThe second book continues both parts of the first: it picks up Vladek's narrative as he and Anja arrive in Auschwitz and Birkenau, and it continues the modern day conversation between Vladek and his son. In looking back at the Holocaust, the horrors simply continue. Vladek's story remains much the same as before: his attention to detail, knowledge of many languages and skills, and hard work pay off. But luck and help from others play a heavy hand as well.
And this comes up early on between Art and his therapist. Art, unable to live up to his father's extraordinary acts of survival, feels guilt and resentment. His need to tell his father's story functions as both a way to process his own life, and a way to expose the atrocities that took place. But in telling the story, he comes face to face with the reality that his father did not deserve to live any more than all those murdered deserved to die. The sheer random nature of the Holocaust leaves Art (and most people I think) off-balance.
There's frank discussion as well of the limits of history and perspective and medium. Is the comic format appropriate for this story? What are the limits of Vladek's memory? Who has the right to tell these stories? While sometimes the back-and-forth between times is a little confusing, I appreciate how it allows Spiegelman to preemptively address some of the inevitable criticisms of this kind of story and this kind of format.
I've had these books for almost 30 years and have read them any number of times. For better or worse, Vladek Spiegelman's story has shaped my understanding of the Holocaust and how we tell history to ourselves. As a kid and teen reading these books I found them horrifying, but full of faraway tragedy. The gas and ovens were in a historical fog just as thick as typhus. As a grown up, I wish there was more backmatter in these books (see Superman Smashes the Klan, which might have my favorite graphic novel backmatter ever). And I wish the backmatter made it more clear that these tragic times are behind us, but never gone; there are always more trying times to come. ...more
Peeling away layers of history like a semi-rotten onion. It's amazing to me how narrative truths about history come about. Recently there's this imprePeeling away layers of history like a semi-rotten onion. It's amazing to me how narrative truths about history come about. Recently there's this impression that Germany has reckoned with their past (in direct contrast to the U.S. and its slavery-Jim Crow-systemic racism issues), that Germany as a country recognized the horrors of the Holocaust and has put systems in place to make sure its not forgotten nor replicated. However, these achievements were not easy, nor were they automatic after the end of World War II.
This graphic novel narrative of Serge and Beate Klarsfeld highlights the extreme difficulties of bringing Nazi criminals to justice. Many evaded accountability for decades, others died before justice could be served. But this relentless couple, combined with a network of others who firmly believed that justice was necessary for these crimes, refused to just let it go, to let the past be the past. Their single-mindedness is both impressive and intimidating. They went so far as to attempt kidnapping some of the Nazis, but their most successful ventures included a lot of boring research in dusty archives (as depicted in the graphic novel), a lot of public pressure and working with the press to keep these crimes in the public eye, and a nearly fearless resolve to simply hound these criminals and their associates until more information came to light. While the flashy publicity stunts (like slapping the German chancellor -- a Nazi) garnered headlines and attention, it was the much less glamorous accumulation of information and witnesses that impressed me.
This book also does not shy away from reminding its readers that the U.S. was not terribly keen on justice for the perpetrators of the Holocaust.
Democracy and freedom require constant work, endless engagement, and a feeling that the government mostly serves justice. It's hard. And much like marriage, the hard work tends to be glossed over in favor of flashy taglines. The Klarsfelds clearly recognize the current moment as being ripe for the return of fascist authoritarians. While it is incumbent upon us all to get involved and engaged in politics, it doesn't all have to be violent or loud protesting. The work of self-governing comes in many forms, as is eloquently described here....more
Many times in the last year I have found myself thinking of the Trunchbull. A memorable villain from children’s literature, she was a school headmistrMany times in the last year I have found myself thinking of the Trunchbull. A memorable villain from children’s literature, she was a school headmistress who perpetrated a wide variety of abuses upon her students. One student remarks, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable...” And that, at least in part, is the history of white supremacy in the United States.
Caste is a difficult read. Well-written, but some of the abuses heaped on Black folks are so outrageous they almost defy belief. But they are well-documented. Another contributing factor to the disbelief comes because of a Big Lie: that white folk are naturally superior. This is something so patently and obviously untrue, and yet for centuries our country has believed it, has written it into law and into our justice system, has embraced both de jure and de facto racism. It is a lie that most of us claim not to believe, and yet we continue supporting the societal structures that were crafted with white supremacy in mind. These two elements of white supremacy: its outrageousness and dependence on self-deceit, are really hard to read about. Who wants to believe that humans could treat each other so badly, who wants to believe that we are part of a racist system? But they do and we are.
Wilkerson’s greatest talent, as far as I’m concerned, is her ability to take something familiar and to reframe it over and over again until you can finally look at it with fresh eyes. I don’t often step away from a book because it’s too intense, but I had to several times for this. There is no gratuitous description here, just an endless litany of mundane horror that permeates every aspect of existence. She makes ample use of her personal experiences, well-known items from the news cycle, and lesser-known incidents. And many times I found myself thinking that if just reading this is uncomfortable for me, how much more so would be living it.
She draws some connections between the U.S. and Nazi Germany, and some to the Indian caste system, but her focus is clearly on the U.S. and its caste relationship to slavery and race. And I found that fitting. History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. There are a lot of rhymes to be found between these systems.
I would have preferred footnotes or numbered endnotes, because there were many times I wanted to explore her resources further, and I found her method of citing sources cumbersome as a reader. The repetitions were sometimes grating, but effective in demonstrating the pervasive perniciousness of caste. Very different in feel from The Warmth of Other Suns, but just as moving, just as challenging to preconceived ideas of white supremacy. This offers a lot to think about.
NOTES (in hindsight, I should have written in the book): The Man in the Crowd: One of the reasons Holocaust fiction is so popular is because we all want to see ourselves as resistant to the Nazis. “What would it take to be him...” indeed. Part 1: Toxins in the Permafrost Ch1: The Afterlife of Pathogens 7 She’s trying too hard to avoid the President’s name. 8 Teri Kanefield’s hierarchy vs fairness concept. A heartbreaking litany of mass shootings after 2016. I want footnotes. 12 A lot going on — thawing permafrost and hibernating anthrax, the 2016 election, and earthquakes. The Vitals of History: knowing your history is vital Ch2: An Old House & an Infrared Light 15 More metaphor, now hidden rot in an old house. Actually, this metaphor works rather well, and accounts for the “I didn’t do those bad things” argument. 17 But the metaphors ARE out of control. Caste as a hidden household problem, as a quiet usher with flashlight, as the grammar we learn as children. Ch3: An American Untouchable MLK goes to India and sees parallels to the U.S. An Invisible Program: another comparison, caste to the programs running in The Matrix. Part 2: The Arbitrary Construction of Human Divisions Ch4: A Long-Running Play 39 Yet another comparison, caste to parts in a play. 43 White laborers could run away, Natives were on their own turf and thus difficult to enslave. Black laborers were in unfamiliar territory and highly visible. 44 She addresses the lie that slavery was “part of its time,” instead she references the contemporaries who denounced it. 47 “Good and loving mothers and fathers, pillars of their communities, personally inflicted gruesome tortures upon their fellow human beings.” 51 If “whiteness” was manufactured as an opposite to the lowest caste, what does that mean for those of us who are white, but want nothing to do with a caste system? How do you reject whiteness or transform it into something positive? Ch5: The Container We Have Built For You The way we create these containers and then assume we know the contents is truly baffling. Surely at some point we realize our assumptions are garbage. Ch6: The Measure of Humanity Another comparison, this time describing our existing caste system between short and tall, instead of black and white. *repetitive 67 Seeing race (the social constructs) is not the same as seeing color (facts) 70 “Caste is insidious and therefore powerful because it is not hatred, it is not necessarily personal. It is the worn grooves of comforting routines and unthinking expectations, patterns of a social order that have been in place for so long that it looks like the natural order of things.” 71 “Sith Lord of Caste” Ch7: Through the Fog of Delhi 77 A fundamental truth = all humans want to be free. It says as much in the 1776 Report, and yet the two works are very much opposed. Ch8: The Nazis & the Acceleration of Caste 81 Lynchings inspired Hitler. Getting ideas from the white supremacists in the early 20th century did not surprise me, but this tidbit about the lynchings — knowing how cruel the Nazi policies were — is painful and shameful. 82 I’m not usually a fan of comparisons to Hitler, but reading about his rise to power, the parallels to Trump are discouraging. 85 The lack of clear definitions of race in the U.S. became a “useful inconsistency” (and the lack of logic was further demoralizing to Black citizens). 88 The one drop rule was too harsh for Nazis. Ch9: The Evil of Silence Holocaust stories are so stark, so distant, in focusing on the Jewish religion, they seem to convince U.S. readers that we are on the side of good. One lynching has no comparison to six million slaughtered, and yet the joy and self-righteousness in the torture is the same. Lynching came with souvenirs and was very much on public display. In contrast, concentration camps were a public secret, marketed as positive places with the implicit understanding they were actually chambers of horror. 96 Henry Fonda witnessing a lynching as a teen — the horror stuck with him all his life. Part 3: The Eight Pillars of Caste The Origins of Our Discontents Pillar 1: Divine Will & the Laws of Nature The laws of caste are as religious mandate, or inherently bestowed by nature. These are difficult to argue, especially when religion holds power, or when science has not reached a point to disprove natural inferiority. Of course, recognizing the humanity in each other should be enough... but it’s not. Pillar 2: Heritability Buying or working your way out of your caste is nigh impossible. 106 You can work or luck your way into a higher class, but you will still be part of your caste Pillar 3: Endogamy, the Control of Marriage, Mating Romance, sex, and marriage create a shared potential future. By eliminating those connections, a brutal indifference ensues (Wilkerson talks about enmity, which I understand, but I think the concept of “they have nothing to do with me” seems less violent and appealing to “good” people, while still having the same effect). Of course rape, abuse, and exploitation of lower castes was fine and gov’t sanctioned. Pillar 4: Purity vs Pollution 123 I am not a fan of the way she is using “curate” in reference to shaping societal breeding patterns. It’s not inaccurate, but as both a historian and a librarian, curating information is something I have seen as a positive force. In this context it is sickening and hard to read about. The Trials of the Middle Castes: the Race to Get Under the White Tent 126 She talks about a two caste system, but it seems clear that it’s at least three — white, not white (Asian, Indian), and Black. Regardless, the divisions are irrational and artificial. Defining Purity & the Constancy of the Bottom Rung Pillar 5: Occupational Hierarchy, Jatis & the Mudsill Foul, yet necessary tasks may not be done if people had a choice — so don’t give them a choice. Northern caste custom was as strong as Southern caste law. 139 Direct comparison between slave owners and SS officers using cruelty as entertainment. Pillar 6: Dehumanization & Stigma Harder to dehumanize an individual in front of you. Physical separation makes this easier as does dehumanizing the group, making any individuals into exceptions. 142 Individuality is only for the dominant caste 147 The Nazi regime was defeated, tried, and sentenced — how does one move forward in the U.S.? How do you begin restorative justice between groups that have inherited systems? 148 Medical experimentation 149 Culture of cruelty — seemingly small, mundane barbs, caricatures “jokes” that steadily dehumanize another group Pillar 7: Terror as enforcement, Cruelty as control 153 A litany of horrors. Andrew Jackson used bridle reins made from Native American skin. The violent and dehumanizing cruelties of slavery. Pillar 8: Inherent Superiority vs Inherent Inferiority 162 The utter lack of actual merit-based advancement is particularly torturous. To understand that a stupid white person would always be better, more valuable, more accepted, and simply more likely to succeed than the smartest Black person is a unique torment. Being ruled over by those absolutely unfit... and then I think of the recent presidency and people competing for scraps and favors. Part 4: The Tentacles of Caste Brown Eyes vs Blue. The slightest differences can create division, dissension and abuse. Ch10: Central Miscasting Meeting an Indian from an upper caste who doesn’t feel he fits there. Ch11: Dominant group status threat & the Precarity of the highest Rung 182 As civil rights advanced in the mid 20th century, whites fumbled with their crumbling “psychological security” of their place at the top. 183 “The disaffection is more than economic. The malaise is spiritual, psychological, emotional. Who are you if there is no one to be better than?“ Building your existence on an implicit, persistent lie is no good. 184 The New Deal bolstered whites, but did not have the same uplifting effect on Blacks (redlining as well as specific exclusions) 186 After centuries of being privileged, equality feels like oppression. Also, for poor whites this is the ultimate gaslighting — work hard to achieve deserved success, never recognizing the assistance built into the systems, and when you don’t achieve success you look for blame. Unconscious Bias: A Mutation in the Software 187 Conscious equality combined with unconscious bias leads to rampant denialism 189 The consequences of caste — detriments to the dominant group (so often we talk about consequences for the “lower group” — Black people, women, etc. — instead of looking at how awful these systems are for everyone). Ch12: A Scapegoat to Bear the Sins of the World How easy to use the caste system to blame someone else for your own actions. Other times the caste system obscures one’s ability to see reality. In the case of the white man who shot his wife and tried to blame it on a mysterious black man, I do wish that she had addressed what happened to the falsely accused man. 201 Ebola was casually dismissed as a lower caste issue until the disease leapt to white people. An unfortunate and all too obvious precursor to our current pandemic. Ch13: The insecure alpha 203 True alphas are not aggressive bullies. Wilkerson has a real talent for taking a concept, an idea, or a reality you thought you understood, and showing it to you in a new light. Here she demonstrates that a typical wolf hierarchy is the natural result of inherent characteristics and personalities, not the result of artificial or superficial traits. This is unlike human caste systems that are based on arbitrary definitions and irrelevant characteristics that put unfit people in leadership roles. Ch14: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life Basically microaggressions. The way that assumptions, stereotypes, and unconscious bias create a powerful and hard-to-describe structure for behavior. Adhering to this structure can be automatic, but dealing with the fallout can be extraordinarily exhausting, because it is based on an illogical caste system. 219 Her description of racial profiling at Detroit Metro Airport hit hard. Both because I know that airport, and because her description of going into mental overdrive to 1) figure out what these people wanted 2) try to make sense of why Drug Enforcement officials would zero in on her and 3) assess how to respond without escalating the situation, sounded exactly like my own anxious stress response to small absurdities. In short, I know exactly how she felt: the muddled confusion, the inability to process any logical explanation, and the tentative hesitancy of crafting a reaction. I’ve never been targeted for my race, or by people with such power, so clearly this doesn’t happen to me on the same scale or intensity. But being able to identify with that kind of anxious response, and then imagining it happening with frequency or with potentially life-threatening results, is very disturbing. Ch15: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung “Uppity” — the WWII veteran who doesn’t say “sir,” the respected grocery store owner who prevents a white man from harming a Black boy, the Black person who tries to vote and inspires a massacre. 232 Smallpox variolation came from Africa. Ch16: Last Place Anxiety: Packed in a Flooding Basement Colorism and other ways of creating hierarchy among the lowest; perceived scarcity; the reaction of Black immigrants to the racism of the U.S. Reasons why lower caste members enforce caste discrimination (they are rising or see opportunities to rise if the only work within the system) Ch17: On the Early Front Lines of Caste Caste affects even research about itself. White researchers came to different conclusions and got better reception than a research team led by a Black man. 255 A researcher who did not believe the U.S. had a caste system uses a very similar argument to the church when it tries to claim that men and women are equal even as they have different roles to play and even as the man is supposed to be the head of household. *remember Allison Davis, the Black researcher who documented the caste system of the U.S. Ch18: Satchel Paige and the Illogic of Caste One more example of how the “superior” caste cuts off its nose to spite its face. Part Five: The Consequences of Caste Ch19: The Euphoria of Hate Why do people — otherwise “good” people — choose to support and even cheer on evil horror? Not talking about the complicity of silence, but the joy of participation. Ch20:The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste 268 Whites on top, Model Minorities just below, Indigenous people mostly forgotten or ignored (erased), and finally Black scapegoats. 270 “Group narcissism leads people to fascism.” -Takamichi Samurai 271 “The narcissism of the leader who is convinced of his greatness, and who has no doubts, is precisely what attracts the narcissism of those who submit to him.“ -Erich Fromm Ch21: The German Girl with the Dark, Wavy Hair What happens when the scapegoats are gone after an entire society has become accustomed to blaming everything on the lowest caste? Suspicious eyes turn to the lowest of the upper caste. Germany erased its Jewish problem, and then attention turned to the least Aryan Aryans. Ch22: The Stockholm Syndrome & the Survival of the Subordinate Caste The need for subordinates to please their “superiors” or risk further retribution. 287 A horrifying link — two news stories I thought were unrelated but really shed light on the disgusting extent we have all (even today) bought into the white supremacy myth. 289 Forgiveness as performance art, designed to appeal to the forgiven (white) instead of to heal the forgiving (Black) 290 “Caste is more than rank, it is a state of mind that holds everyone captive, the dominant imprisoned in an illusion of their own entitlement, the subordinate trapped in the purgatory of someone else’s definition of who they are and who they should be.” Ch23: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy 296 People reveal themselves and their conscious or unconscious investment in the caste system. But when the hidden becomes known, they lash out — whether from irritation and/or embarrassment. Ch24: Cortisol, Telomeres, & the Lethality of Caste Genetics and research don’t support inherent differences that lead to higher incidences of disease on the part of Black citizens of the U.S. Implicit animus as well as navigating the world as a lower caste stresses our very bodies. 305: Dealing with your own unconscious bias can improve your health. 307: Experiencing discrimination has serious health consequences, even more so as people actively push against the caste system Part 6: Backlash Ch25: A Change in the Script Obama. I’m ashamed to admit that while I could guess that Obama was more acceptable because he’s lighter-skinned and “acted white”, I did not fully put together the picture that he does not have a slavery spectre in his past. His parents being a white woman and a Black immigrant shift the caste conversation a bit, and put him in the upper levels of the lower caste. 315: I am disgusted that a majority of white voters failed to support more inclusive democratic politics For many, the election of Obama was not a sign of a post racial society, but an indication of the beginnings of a breakdown in the caste system and a future loss of political power. 321: Reference to Rush Limbaugh (who just died two days ago) and his reaction to Obama’s second term: we’re outnumbered. Ch26: Turning Point & the Resurgence of Caste 326: The election of 2016 and the political parties becoming stand-ins for caste (Democrats as lower, Republicans as upper) — one party skates by with obscene awfulness and the other’s tiniest misstep is carefully scrutinized. 332: A threat to a group’s hierarchy is more serious than a simple economic downturn—it is psychological and portends long term doom Ch27: The Symbols of Caste Monuments and the very different consequences for Nazis in Germany vs slaveholders in the U.S. Ch28: Democracy on the Ballot Democracy vs whiteness in 2016 Ch29: The Price we Pay for a Caste System We live in a harsher country because of our insistence on hierarchy — not haves and have nots, but deserves and deserve nots. And we all lose. Part 7: Awakening Ch30: Shedding the Sacred Thread Renouncing the markers of one’s upper caste — how do you do this with whiteness? The Radicalization of the Dominant Caste (experiencing the discrimination oneself) Ch31: The Heart is the Last Frontier. Connecting to others on a personal level (added labor, but sometimes gets results) — was the surly plumber unconsciously biased, or just surly? Does it matter? Epilogue: A World Without Caste 379: “The more I feel an American, the more this situation pains me... I can escape the feelings of complicity in it only by speaking out.” —Albert Einstein 387: “It is no honor to be tolerated. Every spiritual tradition says love your neighbor as yourself, not tolerate them.“ 388: “We would see that, when others suffer, the collective human body is set back from the progression of our species.“...more
I read this over several days in which I also watched the movie - JoJo Rabbit. While the twisting humor and shadowy terror were similar in both formatI read this over several days in which I also watched the movie - JoJo Rabbit. While the twisting humor and shadowy terror were similar in both formats, the book takes the story too far (as in too far past the point when it should have ended) and the movie takes the story too far (too far into the absurd). And yet neither of them were really too far, because what is “too far” when you’re talking extremism, fanaticism, selfish disdain for the humanity of others, etc.
A difficult read that warps simple notions of good and evil in a very dark and discouraging way. The movie left me feeling more hope in the midst of tragedy, but the book dragged me down and held me under. This portrayal of a narcissistic young man living in Austria during WWII was in many ways more disheartening than reading about the many ghettos and concentration camps. The tepid bravery of Johannes’ parents was not enough to overcome their son’s speedy embrace of Naziism, nor the icky feeling of Johannes’ doing the right thing only because it happened to serve his own ends, and more often doing the wrong thing in order to serve his own desires.
Despite the utterly depressing tone barely leavened with a sense of humor and biting criticism, it was a unique portrayal of the intersection of reality and madness.
Notes while reading: Reading this gives me chills. It paints the lure of white supremacy, including the idea that you are unique and valuable to the race war, even if no one else values you. Shivery, indeed: “We learned new, frightening facts. Life was a constant warfare, a struggle of each race against the others for territory, food and supremacy. Our race, the purest, didn’t have enough land—many of our race were living in exile. Other races were having more children than we were, and were mixing in with our race to weaken us. We were in great danger, but the Führer had trust in us, the children; we were his future. How surprised I was to think that the Führer I saw at Heldenplatz, cheered by masses, the giant on billboards all over Vienna, who even spoke on the wireless, needed someone little like me. Before then, I’d never felt indispensable; rather I’d felt like a child, something akin to an inferior form of an adult, a defect only time and patience could heal.”
Phew. Okay. Parts are painful, but then there’s this: “Nothing’s as necessary to existence as diversity. You need different races, languages, ideas, not only for their own sake, but so you can know who you are! In your ideal world, who are you? Who? You don’t know! You look so much like everything around you, you disappear like a green lizard on a green tree.”
I don’t know that I ever heard before that Kristallnacht began because of a rumor that a Jew had killed a German embassy official. Smacks a little like an American lynching, in which any excuse is taken for violence against an imagined enemy.
“Feelings were mankind’s most dangerous enemy. They above all were what must be killed if we were to make ourselves a better people.” They are making cybermen: erasing all feeling... to flip that on its head, how can we as a society encourage feeling? Encourage empathy?
I am at the point where Johannes’ father returns from questioning, believing he has been denounced by his son. How terrifying and sickening to be so afraid of your own child. But children are so inherently inconsistent, living with such a limited understanding of the world. How could parents not be afraid?
“If I could have stopped time I would have, but time is the greatest thief of all: It steals everything in the end, truth and lie.”...more
Rachel finds herself being shuffled around from one place to another trying to keep one step ahead of Germans who are relentlessly pursuing Jewish chiRachel finds herself being shuffled around from one place to another trying to keep one step ahead of Germans who are relentlessly pursuing Jewish children. She changes her name to Catherine, learns a new religion, takes little ones under her wing, and survives one day and one place at a time. ...more
Like many books-in-verse, this one packs a surprisingly large punch. With limited words, Moishe’s story is told, describing his slow but steady loss oLike many books-in-verse, this one packs a surprisingly large punch. With limited words, Moishe’s story is told, describing his slow but steady loss of home, friends, and family. He never quite loses himself, but it’s a near thing, and the way he hangs on to his name and to hope is both painful and powerful.
Some parts bring history sharply into the present: “We are caged. We cannot leave. We are trapped, while the animals roam freely.” (61)
“I saw love. Not because we were their sons or husbands or fathers but just because we were. We mattered.” (133)
Sometimes reading Holocaust stories can make the reader feel almost too self-satisfied. As though just because I’m pretty sure I’d never actually murder people in a methodical and cold-blooded way, I’m a good person. This story doesn’t focus so much on the Nazis themselves (the wolves), but twice Moishe’s life is in the hands of ordinary farmers who choose to turn him in to the police. This makes the reader face up to a more realistic self-examination. Not “would I march in enthusiastic lockstep with people committed to killing an entire race or class of being, and participate in said murderous activities?” (Of course not!) But more along the lines of “if I saw a starving and desperate person in hiding, would I turn them in to authorities who might certainly torture or kill them, and tell myself I was just following the law?”
The end brings with it photographs of the real-life Moishe and a few additional notes. ...more
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