The Tree of Life by Elisa Boxer

It was winter in the ghetto called Terezin. There were many children in the ghetto, scared and lonely. One woman, Irma Lauscher, was secretly teaching the children to read and write, and also to celebrate Jewish holidays. She asked one of the prisoners who left the ghetto each day on work detail to smuggle in a tree sapling. He agreed even though this meant risking his life if he were caught.

When the sapling arrived, it was a comfort to the children who planted it in a pot. Eventually, the children planted the sapling in the ground within the ghetto. To keep the sapling alive, the children each shared a few drops of their precious water each day. The tree grew taller and was known as Etz Chaim, the Tree of Life.

Meanwhile, many of the children were removed from the ghetto and sent by train somewhere even worse. But those children who remained continued to water the tree. After the war and the prisoners were released, the tree was now five feet tall. Before the children left the ghetto they gave the tree one more drink and placed a sign by it that read, "As the branches of this tree, so the branches of our people." 

Over the years the tree continued to grow, a mature, silent witness to what had happened in the ghetto. Irma survived the war and send seeds from the tree all over the world. In 2007, after a flood, the tree finally succumbed. But six hundred saplings were now living throughout the world!

In 2021, a fifteen foot descendent of the tree of life was planted in New York City. There children will come to care for it and learn more about the past, the ghetto, and the teacher and the children who had hope for a better future.

Discussion

The Tree of Life is the touching story of Jewish children creating a memorial of hope in the darkest of times, when most of them would have no future.

In January, 1943, Irma Lauscher and a group of Jewish children gathered in Theresienstadt concentration camp to plant a tree. This was to celebrate the Jewish holiday called Tu B'Shvat which is called "The New Year of The Trees".

Theresienstadt, also known as Terezin, was a Nazi concentration camp and ghetto located thirty miles north of Prague in the Czech Republic. Theresienstadt was originally a fortress created in the late 18th century by Emperor Joseph II of Austria. Terezin was located within the fortress. However, during World War II, with the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Nazis converted Terezin into a Jewish ghetto and concentration camp. The ghetto held over fifteen thousand Jewish children, of which only one hundred fifty would survive. Most of these children and the Jewish adults as well, were sent to their deaths at the extermination camps of Treblinka and Auschwitz.

Unlike many other camps, Terezin prisoners were scholars, philosophers, scientists, musicians and artists. The camp was used as a propaganda tool to prove to the world that the Nazis were treated the Jewish people well. In 1943, the camp was beautified in response to a request by King Christian X of Denmark to inspect it. Named Operation Embellishment by the Nazis, the camp was cleaned, fakes shops and cafes were created and thousands deported to Auschwitz to alleviate overcrowding. When the inspection was done in June of 1944 by Danish officials they saw freshly painted rooms holding no more than three Danish Jews per room. The officials did not ask to see areas of the camp that were not part of the official tour and any questions they asked of residents were not answered. Rafael Schachter, a Czech composer, along with other Jews, was forced by the Nazis to give a repeat performance of Verdi's Requiem. He was deported to Auschwitz in October 1944  and gassed the next day. In September 1944, the Nazi's made a propaganda film titled Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet  or, Terezin: A Documentary Film of the Jewish Resettlement. 

Despite this, the children of Terezin were educated, even though it was apparent most of them would not survive. This was a ploy by the Nazis to hide the camp's true purpose. Irma Lauscher was one of the teachers. She was born in Hermanuv Mestec in 1904 and went on to earn a teaching degree from Chales University in Prague. In 1932 she married Jiri Lauscher. They had a daughter, Michaela in 1936.  Irma continued teaching even after they were deported to Terezin in 1942, helping the Jewish children learn about Jewish history and traditions.

The seeds for the tree were smuggled in by an unknown prisoner who worked outside the camp. In the spring of 1943 the tree was planted in one of the Terezin yards. Another version has Irma bribing a Czech guard who smuggled in a sapling of a silver maple. The tree survived the war by being watered by the children of Terezin, most of whom did not survive. Irma and her family also survived. 

After the war, Irma often visited the tree at Terezin, who grew into a stout sixty foot silver maple. Unfortunately, the tree was destroyed by a flood in 2003. But by that time many saplings of the original tree grew in the United States and Israel.

Elisa Boxer tells the story of the Tree of Life in this lovely picture book with digitally created artwork by Alianna Rozentsveig. It is a gentle retelling that focuses on the sacrifice of the Jewish children, to create a symbol of hope and peace, for a future they would never have. This symbol was spread throughout the world, in the form of saplings planted in different cities. Each tree is  a reminder to children of all peoples and faiths, of the lives lost and offers a reminder to fight hatred in all its forms.

The artwork portraying life in Terezin is dark and conveys a sense of foreboding with shades of beige, brown and black while the children are shown in brighter colours. The train taking the Jewish children to their deaths in Auschwitz, belches black smoke against an ominous dark sky. In the postwar images, the background is light, conveying a sense of hope.

There is an Author's Note at the back as well as a Selected Sources section which offers readers the opportunity to explore more in-depth the story told in the book.

Book Details:

The Tree of Life. How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Elisa Boxer

New York: Rocky Pond Books    2024

Fireflies in the Dark by Susan Goldman Rubin

Fireflies in the Dark tells the story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, an artist and a teacher who worked with children using art. When Hitler came to power and set up a dictatorship, he began to implement many policies to rid Germany of its Jewish population. In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. Friedl lived in Prague at this time. Concerned for her well being, given the Nazi policies towards Jews, friends had arranged for Friedl to emigrate to Palestine, the new Jewish state, but she refused to leave her friends. Eventually, Friedl, like most of the Jews in Czechoslovakia, was sent to a concentration camp in 1942. Friedl, her husband Pavel Brandeis were sent to a camp called Terezin or better known as Theresiendstadt.


When Friedl was packing to leave for Terezin she took many art supplies including paint, brushes and paper. Her motivation for doing so were the children that she knew would be in the camp. Friedl felt that art would be able to help many of the children in the camp. Friedl and her husband, along with all the Jewish population of her town and many others had to lug their suitcases almost two miles into Terezin which was once a Czech army fortress. All of the town's non-Jewish inhabitants were ordered to leave and it was turned into a camp.

At the camp the Nazi guards took away anything of value that the Jewish people had brought with them but Friedl's art supplies were left untouched. Families were separated so Friedl lived in a separate barrack from Pavel. She was sent to live with the children in a "home" called L410 which was for girls. Conditions in L410 were terrible as it was cramped and cold. Friedl managed to create a small area away from the packed barrack that allowed children some space.

In the camp, Friedl and other adults taught the children in secret as they were not allowed to attend school but only to study music and crafts. Friedl's effort in this endeavour was to give art lessons to any child who wished to learn. It was through art that Friedl helped the children to express what they were feeling, to escape the horrific situation they had been placed into and to retain some dignity during a time when hope was lost. People including the children did not receive enough food, had to cope with bedbugs and lice, and were often sick. In addition was the ever present fear of being named to the transports which meant being sent east to a death camp.

In 1943 Friedl and the other tutors at Terezin had the children put on a production of a Czech fairy tale called Fireflies. With Friedl's help they created the costumes for the musical. On October 6, 1944, Friedl along with thirty of her students, was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau were she was murdered.

At the end of the war when Terezin was liberated by the Russians, two suitcases containing five thousand children's drawings were found in the attic of L410. The suitcases were brought to Prague by Willi Groag who had been the head tutor at L410. Nothing was done about them until ten years after their discovery when they were finally exhibited. Today these drawings are now catalogued and preserved. Both the Jewish Museum in Prague and Beit Theresienstadt in Israel retain the drawings.

Discussion

Fireflies in the Dark is about the heroic efforts of Austrian-Jewish artist and educator Friedl Dicker to help Jewish children imprisoned in the concentration camp, Theresiendstadt.

Friedl Dicker was born in Vienna in 1898 to Simon and Karolina Dicker. Her father worked as an assistant in a stationary shop. Friedl's mother died when she was only four-years-old.  She attended drawing classes at the School of Art and Crafts where she took classes given by Professor Franz Cizek. In 1916, Friedl studied in Johannes Itten's private school. There she met Franz Singer and Anny Wettitz both of whom would be come good friends. Friedl also became interested in music during this time and studied harmony at Arnold Schoenberg's studio. 

Friedl studied at the Weimar Bauhaus school from 1919 to 1923. She moved there after Itten closed his school and moved to take up a teaching position at the Bauhaus. She was able to attend lectures by Paul Klee in 1921. These lectures opened Friedl to new ideas about children and art. This would lead to Friedl art courses in 1931 to kindergarten teachers, teaching them to use a child's unique personality and artistic abilities when creating art. 

Friedl fled to Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1934 after she was briefly imprisoned for being involved in Communist activities. There she met and married Pavel Brandeis, her cousin who worked as an accountant.  In Prague, Friedl worked teaching the children of political emigre's from Germany applying the concepts she had learned from Johannes Itten. She was also politically involved while living in Prague and at this time met Hilde Kothny who was to become a dear friend.

Although Friedl was able to obtain a visa for Palestine in 1938, she refused to leave and instead she and Pavel moved to Hronov where she worked as a textile designer. Despite the worsening situation in Czechoslovakia, Friedl painted but was not able to exhibit. In 1942, Friedl and Pavel were deported to Terezin in December of 1942. There she taught drawing to the imprisoned children, held exhibitions of their artwork and even did the costuming and sets for childrens' plays. She advocated for children being allowed to express their feelings through art rather than following a prescribed art format. Friedl was eventually deported to Auschwitz along with some of her young pupils in October of 1944 and gassed. Eventually over five thousand drawings made by the children of Terezin were discovered and now are exhibited in the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Fireflies in the Dark captures the essence of Friedl's work with the children of Terezin as well as their experience in the concentration camp, with the many reproductions of their artwork. For example, A Train Travelling Through a Night Landscape by Alice Guttamanova who died in September, 1943 effectively portrays "a train hurtling the night, carrying the prisoners into the unknown." with its dark bold lines amid a full moon. Other paintings such as Flowers and Butterflies by Margit Koretzova display beautiful colours that suggest an escape to a happier more peaceful realm. The overarching theme is how art helped these young children deal with the horrors of war and the struggle to live and even to die.

The author, Susan Goldman Rubin was able to meet some of the survivors of Terezin including Eva Stichova-Beldova, Helga Weissova-Hoskova, Kurt Jiri Kotouc and Doris Grozdanovicova. She also had access to the unpublished diaries written by some of the prisoners. All of this plus the help of numerous others contributed to a book which passes on the story of the children of Terezin to a new generation of young people.

Book Details:
Fireflies in the Dark by Susan Goldman Rubin
New York: Holiday House     2000
48 pp.

A Faraway Island by Annika Thor

Twelve-year-old Stephanie (Stephie) Steiner and her seven-year-old sister Eleonore (Nellie) arrive in Goteberg, Sweden by train. They are part of a group of refugee children from Vienna, Austria. A lady escorts Stephie and Nellie along with the other children to a large waiting area where a lady from the local relief committee welcomes them. Each child's name is called and an adult comes forward to claim them. But Stephie and Nellie are taken by taxi to the harbor where a boat takes them to an island. 

There they are met at the dock by a woman who tells them her name is Alma Lindberg or Auntie Alma. Aunt Alma's home is "...a yellow wooden house with a glass-enclosed veranda."  She has two children, Elsa and John. Inside, Stephie and Nellie meet a stern-looking woman, Aunt Marta. Neither Stephie nor Nellie speak Swedish but they manage to learn a few words to understand what is happening.

After some milk and buns, Stephie leaves with Aunt Marta, causing Nellie to be very upset as their mother had promised they would stay together. Stephie rides on Aunt Marta's bike, far along the island road to "...an isolated house, pressed up close to a stony cliff..." with a red boathouse by the water's edge. To Stephie, the house feels like it is at the "...end of the world." Stephie's room is small with a sloping ceiling and a small window. She has a bed, dresser and table but no books or art except for a picture of Jesus. Not long after Stephie settles in, Uncle Evert arrives. Stephie immediately feels a connection to him as they try to talk in a mixture of German and Swedish. 

Stephie and Nellie, along with Aunt Alma and her children spend their summer days at the beach swimming. Stephie doesn't swim however because she only has an old black woolen swimsuit that Aunt Marta has given her. When Aunt Alma's husband, Uncle Evert returns, Stephie learns that he is a fisherman who has a boat named Diana. Aunt Alma's husband,Sigurd is a member of the crew along with a boy named Per-Erik and four others.

Stephie continues to write letters to her parents describing a pleasant life in Sweden so her parents won't worry. Meanwhile she and Nellie wait and hope their parents can leave Austria. However, with the start of World War II, Austria is now at war as it is part of the German Reich. One day Vera Hedberg, a girl with red hair, shows Stephie and Nellie where to pick blackberries. This ends in a disaster for Stephie who stains and tears her skirt and is punished by Aunt Marta. The sisters are taken to a "revival meeting" as the island's Pentecostal Church. When they are overcome with emotion by the music and cry, they later learn that Aunt Alma and Aunt Marta believe they have accepted Jesus and are now redeemed. A few weeks later both girls are baptized and begin attending Sunday school. 

Eventually Stephie and Nellie are able to speak Swedish well enough to attend school. Stephie is disappointed to be placed back in the sixth grade which she completed a year ago in Austria. She is even more disappointed to be given used textbooks and workbooks. But Uncle Evert surprises her with a new wooden pencil case. School proves to be challenging for Stephie as she has to deal with being bullied by classmate Sylvia and her friends. However, Stephie excels and decides to try for the opportunity to attend the grammar school in Goteberg. That notion is quickly put to an end however by Aunt Marta who tells her they cannot possibly afford the tuition nor to board her in the city.

With the outbreak of war and the invasion of Norway and Denmark, Stephie begins to realize that her family's dream of obtaining visas to America and leaving Europe is now unlikely to happen. Her only hope is to have the relief committee consider sponsoring her parents. So desperate is Stephie that she attempts to walk across the ice to Goteberg. When this fails, Aunt Marta and Uncle Evert attempt to make a case for helping her parents without success.  As she struggles to deal with this reality, Stephie continues to move forward with her life, making new friends, and gradually capturing the heart of Aunt Marta too.

Discussion

A Faraway Island is the first book in a four book series by Swedish author, Annika Thor, about two Austrian-Jewish sisters who are sent to live in Sweden during the Second World War. The books were written in 1996 and have recently been translated from Swedish into English. The first two books have recently been published by Random House Yearling Books, with the final two slated to follow soon, although no date has been issued as to when.

Annika Thor was born into a Jewish family living in Goteborg, Sweden sixty years ago. Thor considers that had her paternal grandparents not immigrated from Belarus in the early 1900's, she would likely not have been born. After the Kristallnacht in November, 1938, the Jewish community in Sweden arranged for the transport of over five hundred Jewish children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to safety. Sadly, the parents of these children were never allowed to immigrate with them, and many never saw their children again in this life. The Jewish children generally ended up living in rural areas, very different from their middle class upbringing. The cultural shock, in addition to the stress of relocating alone, must have been enormously traumatic. As with many Jewish children who were placed with families of other faiths, often their cultural and religious heritage was not respected. Thor based her books on "interviews with about a dozen of the real refugees who shared their childhoods, their letters, and their diaries, as well as on the research of Ingrid Lomfors, a Jewish historian in Sweden who explored the destinies of the five hundred refugee children."

Told through the narrative of twelve-year-old Stephie Steiner, Thor effectively portrays the cultural shock that many Jewish children would have experienced. Stephie's family were well off Jewish Austrians living in Vienna. At this time, Vienna was the cultural capital of Europe with its music, literature and fine arts. Stephie's father was a doctor,her mother an opera singer when she was younger. Stephie's parents were well off and took part in the vibrant culture that existed at this time in the city.  In Vienna they had a large apartment with a cook, a housemaid and a cleaning lady. Stephie's family attended concerts and movies, and took vacations. When Britta asks Stephie if her family are rich, this brings back memories of her life in Vienna. "She remembers the large apartment, the beautiful furniture, the soft rugs. She remembers her mother's elegant clothes, her fur coats and hats. And Papa's study with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, filled with leather-bound volumes". The photograph of her parents show that her mother was well dressed, "Her permed hair, her lipsticked lips, the elegant stole around her neck."  

Stephie finds herself in an isolated house, at the end of the island and feels like it is at the "end of the world." Life is sparse and plain. Stephie notes that her bedroom at Aunt Marta's has no books and no art. Her own mother looks so different from "the women on the island with their tightly twisted buns, their plain faces and cotton dresses." She speaks German and cannot understand Swedish, although she learns the new language quite quickly. Everything from the landscape, to the climate, to the food and even to the school are very different from life in Vienna. 

As was very common during this era, the religious beliefs of Jewish refugee children was not often respected. Those who were placed with Christian families were often coerced into practicing the Christian faith. In some cases, learning to recite Christian prayers or being baptized was done to protect Jewish children from being identified by the Nazis. However, in Stephie and Nellie's situation that immediate danger is not present. When Stephie arrives at Aunt Marta's home she immediately notices the picture of Jesus in her bedroom. Soon after she and Nellie are baptized, enrolled in Sunday school. They do not resist as they are young children, totally dependent on the adults who are caring for them. Their foster parents seem oblivious to the fact that they might believe differently. Stephie doesn't tell her mother about being baptized because she is worried this will upset her. It is a troubling secret that she believes she will have to keep the rest of her life - a burden no child should have to carry. Although Stephie feels some confusion about Christian beliefs, the author doesn't really explore this aspect of life for the two girls.

The Jewish experience during this early part of the war is told through flashbacks of Stephie remembering events in Austria prior to her and Nellie leaving. For example Stephie remembers how they were not able to go to the beach in Vienna as this was forbidden to Jews. She also remembers returning from the playground with Nellie and seeing the elderly furrier and his wife on their knees scrubbing the sidewalk as people mocked and laughed at them. And when she struggles to tell Aunt Marta about what happened with the summer guests' dog Putte, she reveals how the Nazi soldier shot her beloved dog Mimi in front of her.

Although the novel focuses on the journey of Stephie and Nellie, there is also a second journey that involves Aunt Marta. She is a crusty, severe woman described as "...a woman with a thin, stern-looking face. Her salt-and-pepper hair is twistedinto a tight bun at the nape of her neck." She is critical of most everything Stephie does. It is revealed later in the novel that Marta Jansson lost her daughter, Anna-Lisa and was never the same. This loss seems to have locked her heart and her emotions deep inside her. However when Aunt Marta becomes aware of just want Stephie and Nellie have endured, she stands up for Stephie after an altercation between Stephie and the shopkeeper's son. She defends Stephie, calling her "my little girl". This term of endearment goes a long way to healing the hurt and loss that Stephie has been experiencing.

Despite the setting in rural Sweden and a different era with the onset of World War II, A Faraway Island is in many ways similar to the novel, Anne of Green Gables written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The movie adaptations by Kevin Sullivan in 1985 were extremely popular through the late 1980's and well into the 1990's. There are similar characters and events: stiff and no-nonsense Auntie Marta is similar to the crusty Marilla Cuthbert, quiet, unassuming Uncle Evert is like Matthew Cuthbert able to connect with the young girl they've taken in, Sylvia is like the irritating bully Josie Pye, while Stephie's teacher,  Miss Bergstrom is similar to the wonderfully uplifting Miss Muriel Stacy. At one point in the novel, Uncle Evertt, in a moment reminiscent of Matthew Cuthbert, tells Auntie Marta, "She's a fine girl. I'm glad we took her in." As with Anne Shirley whose attempt to dye her hair leaves her with short hair, Stephie also ends up with short hair after attempting to trim the burned hair from her braid.When Stephie is told she cannot go on to grammar school in the city of Goteberg, an unexpected benefactor, their summer guests - a doctor and his wife, arrange for Stephie to board at their home in the city. 

This short novel is well written and holds the reader's interest with the ongoing troubles and tribulations of the young protagonist who must adapt to her new life in Sweden. Stephie's plight is real and it's easy to feel a great deal of empathy for her, especially since we know the likely fate that awaits her parents in Austria. Annika Thor doesn't go into too much detail as to the Jewish experience in Austria, just enough to demonstrate the cruelty of the Nazi regime to younger readers. The author has set up the story for the next novel, with Stephie moving to Goteberg to continue her studies.

This book will be of interest to girls, aged 8 to 12 who enjoy historical fiction. 

Book Details:
A Faraway Island by Annika Thor
Random House Children's Books 2009 translated by Linda Schenck
247 pp.

Far to Go by Alison Pick

Either way, when I think of the human potential stolen, of the millions of little lights snuffed out, I can't help but wish that the living, at least, would embrace what was taken from the dead.

Far To Go is the interweaving of two stories - a current narrative which overlaps a historical one. The present day narrator is an elderly woman whose identity isn't revealed until almost the end of the novel. The past narrative is the dominant one of the novel and recounts the story of a Jewish Czech couple, Pavel and Annelise Bauer who are living in the Sudetenland in 1938 and who struggle to survive in the rapidly deteriorating conditions prior to the Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland and the beginning of World War II. It is told by the Bauer's governess, twenty-three-year-old Marta Mueller, who comes from a troubled background.

Pavel and Annelise live with their son, Pepik, in a small town in the Sudetenland, where they own a factory built by Pavel's father. Pavel, whose father fought for the Germans in World War I, is a Czech nationalist. Pavel is the eternal optimist while Anneliese is emotionally distant, fashionable and more practical.

The Bauer's story, as told by Marta, opens with ominous indications that the Germans will occupy the Sudetenland, which they lost after World War I. Czech Jews are beginning to experience the effects of marginalization, their factories and businesses are being occupied,  including Pavel's factory. Other Jews are beaten to death or attacked. Anneliese wants to leave while they still can, but Pavel refuses, saying that they must "live what we believe in". Because Pavel insists upon staying, Anneliese decides to take matters into her own hands and does something that drives a permanent wedge between her and Pavel.

Eventually, the family along with many other refugees, relocates to Prague amid further chaos, in the belief that Czechoslovakia will safe. They are mistaken and as the crisis intensifies, they see their options slowly dwindle and eventually disappear. Unable to obtain the necessary exit visas and travel permits, in desperation, the Bauers make a decision that changes their lives forever. They decide to try to get Pepik onto the Kindertransport out of Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain.

Within Pavel and Anneliese's story is that of Marta. Marta is romantically involved with Ernst Anselm, a married man and Pavel's assistant at the factory. But Marta learns that Ernst is not loyal to Pavel and is a Nazi sympathizer. In fact, he is a sadistic and cruel man who thinks only of himself. Marta is a complex person, undecided about who to be loyal to and quite frightened of being abandoned. She has no family and is terrified she will be left behind by the Bauers, whatever they decide to do. Ernst warns her that she will ultimately have to choose and soon. Marta experiences great conflict, changing her mind frequently based on what happens in the Bauer household. The choices Marta makes directly impact the Bauers, in ways she could not have fathomed resulting in tremendous guilt. However, this guilt never seems to really impact how Marta behaves. She simply does what she feels she needs to - perhaps what many people do in dire situations.

Interwoven, infrequently with the Bauer's story, is the present day story told by an elderly narrator who is a Holocaust researcher by the name of Lisa. Among her many areas of research, Lisa also has studied the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport was a program in which Jewish children were sent out of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany to safety in Britain. It began after the pogrom of November 9 and 10, 1938, known as Kristallnacht.  Lisa is trying to make contact with someone, a person she has spent her entire life looking for. Finally, after all her years of hard work, cutting through the reticence of Holocaust survivors to share their stories, she has managed to locate this one person whom she has more than a passing connection to. Lisa sets up a meeting with this survivor which eventually reveals to the reader how all the narratives fit together -the past finally catching up to the present.

Discussion

Far To Go is an engaging historical novel. The writing in this novel is brilliant and eloquent. It's difficult not to read the Bauer's story and feel a sense of impending doom and overwhelming tragedy. Readers know that if the Bauer's don't act quickly, it will be too late and know what lies in their future. Their story is all the more poignant because as Europe careens towards war, their relationship unravels, the result of personal tragedy, personal loss, betrayal and the developing crisis in Czechoslovakia. There is tragedy on many levels too - ethnic, national and personal.

Author Allison Pick excels at depicting the gradual descent of Europe as a region and also on an individual level, into racial hatred and war.  This is especially well demonstrated by the character of Ernst, who whispers to Marta, asking her if she's noticed whether Jews smell.When he blurts this out during one of their clandestine meetings, he immediately retracts it. He's not sure what he should or should not say. Later on Ernst talks about how he's is beginning to feel that Germany and the Sudetenland would be better off without Jews and that it's not about religion but race. While Marta doesn't know what she believes, she does make a point of noting whether or not her Jewish employer,  Pavel Bauer smells. However, Ernst is an opportunist, or maybe worse yet, a predator. He begins to actively try to seize all of the Bauer's assets. But he still has a glimmer of conscience when he appeals to Marta for affirmation. "He was more uncertain than he was letting on, about  his feelings towards the Jews and how his old friend Pavel might fit in with them. He wanted to be bolstered, reassured. Ernst too, Marta realized, felt guilty. Even if he himself was unaware of it."

Pick keeps her readers engaged by the ongoing mystery of the identity of the book's narrator and her connection to the Bauer family. It works well and creates a multi-faceted story that holds till the very end. Far To Go is a unique blend of historical fiction combined with a modern mystery. There are themes of identity, loss, and betrayal throughout. A few unnecessary items creep into the story but overall a brilliantly conceived piece of story-telling.

For more information on the Kindertransport please check out the Kindertransport Association website at www.kindertransport.org.

Book Details:
Far To Go by Alison Pick
Toronto: House of Anasi Press    2011
314 pp.