Let me
start by saying that I have loved reading about this part of history since I
was twelve and learned I shared a birthday with Anne Frank. I was fascinated by
the resilience of the Jewish people. I was fascinated by kindness and often the
sacrifice of their own lives that a handful of non-Jewish people showed in the
face of such atrocious adversity. John 15:13 says, Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” In the case of
the holocaust, often the person who laid down their life for the Jews were
total strangers, yet they exhibited true love.
When I read these stories and memoirs I find myself angry at those who
saw what was happening to their neighbors and did nothing and then when the war
had ended tried to pretend like they knew nothing or that it was all a
lie. Those same feelings came back as I
read where Max had returned to his hometown and this was the attitude of so
many. So many still blamed the Jews.
This
book starts of with the author finding boxes of old documents which her father
tells her she can throw out. Instead she takes them home and organizes them. She
cobles together an account of her father’s survival and resistance to the Nazi atrocities
around him. It is obvious that he saw himself as more than just a survivor of
the atrocities thrust upon the Jewish people. It was years later after
discovering and organizing the materials that she finally had them translated.
She used those findings along with massive amounts of her own research to write
this book. One thing that became clear was the importance of keeping alive
memories. Not all of us have gone through something so horrific. However, memories
of our past and those of our parents and grandparents are important. Does that
mean we should all write books about what our parents went through? No.
However, the importance of documenting not only good times, but extreme
hardship is what may make the difference in future generations not repeating mistakes
and atrocities of the past.
I was
shocked to learn that Jews who were not real strict followers of their Jewish
religion often survived compared to those who stuck religiously to their Jewish
beliefs.
When I read the percentage of murdered Jews from different
countries, I was shocked to learn that 85% of the Dutch Jews were wiped out
compared to other countries. It still
boggles my mind that we as humans could let something like this happen. Yet for
centuries we have allowed this to happen.
One thing that stood out in this memoir is found in the following
excerpt where the author explains why and how her parents survived the German
occupation. She mentions what her father considered the most important lesson
he learned. He said, “There are some good people in this world.” The author said, “Dad’s belief is not to
be confused with Anne Frank’s naïve idea that there is ‘some good in everyone.’” As a teacher I have taught “The Diary of
Anne Frank” for years. I don’t know how many times I have pointed out that
quote. It wasn’t until I read this book
that I truly see how naïve she truly was.
This is not a put down to her. I believe we all want to believe that
there is good in everyone. However, after reading this book I actually have to
agree with the author’s father’s statement.
If there was “some good in everyone” then those who stood by and let the
Nazis do what they did, or turned their neighbors in for money, we would have
to conclude there was more evil than good in them.
For me one of the things I really loved about this book is
all the references. Obviously, the
author did so much more research to add to her father’s accounts. For me it just added so much more for me to
read to add to my own understanding. I as a non-Jew can never understand what
they went through. However, I can increase my understanding of those times to
try to pass that knowledge on to future generations. I highly recommend this
book to anyone who wants to learn more about the holocaust.
