Historical fiction/WWII – Page 6

Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson

When Ben Solomon begins his tale of how Otto Piatek, taken in and cared for by Ben’s family, turned against all of them and became a Nazi war criminal, you have the sense of this being just another Holocaust tale. However, as his tale unwinds, you also begin to get sucked in to the charges that he stole from Ben’s family and how a civil suit is the means by which Ben might expose his true identity. Otto Piatek, alias Elliot Rozenzweig, has created a persona for himself, however, enmeshed in the highest society of Chicago and known for his generous philanthropy. It takes the team of a gutsy PI named Liam and an attorney with high ethics and strong drive, named Catherine, to help Ben pursue his challenge.

Essentially there are 2 stories that intertwine, with the telling of Ben’s story that took place in Poland and the tale of the legal procedures. While the beginning of the book focuses on Poland, the latter part focuses on the lawsuit and the suspense of the legal proceedings builds and builds and makes the book very hard to put down. The author definitely draws you in to feeling such affection for Ben and wanting to see him win in his cause. You are also drawn in to feeling sympathy for Catherine who is fighting a whole team of expensive lawyers singlehandedly. Catherine is quoted as saying that this made “David and Goliath seem like a fair fight.” While it is only fiction, when you are reading it, it feels very real and very true, I think because of how well you’ve come to know the characters. By the end, you just can’t help cheering them on or booing the “bad guys.”

An essential read for anyone who is interested not only in the Holocaust, but in anything related to human rights and in justice being served.

The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer

I have a love-hate relationship with Holocaust-related books. I hate them because they are painful and tear at my heart and I often can’t sleep at night because of them. I love them, because they are essential to keeping the memory of what happened burning in our minds and they are often poignant and dramatic stories in and of themselves. I have read many, although each time I am leery about starting them. This one I put off for a long time, but it was recommended by so many people that I had to give in and take the plunge.

This one, though, was worth the heartache. It is a brilliantly written story of a young, Jewish man named Andras who goes from Hungary to Paris in 1937 to study architecture. While there, he falls in love and gets swept up in the politics of war.

This great literary saga truly captures the day-to-day miseries of the Second World War. The characters are loved and lost just as they were during the war. The separations and sacrifices are dramatic, just as they were in real life at that time. This book is also unique both in how it goes into detail about the earlier antisemitic forces both in France and in Hungary (prior to the war) and in its description of the war in Hungary specifically, which is often omitted in Holocaust books.

In short, The Invisible Bridge is worth every tear you will shed.