Under The Iron Bridge by Kathy Kacer

Fifteen-year-old Paul Ritter lives in the Unterbilk suburb of Dusseldorf with his parents. His mother is an obstetrician at St. Martin's hospital in the city center while his father is an orthepedist who specializes in bone and joint disorders. It is August, 1938, and Hitler now rules Germany with an iron fist. He has annexed Austria and will likely take over other countries too. In Dusseldorf, flags with swastikas fly over every building. Hitler's picture can be found in businesses, department stores and even Paul's classroom. 

Most boys Paul's age belong to the Hitler Youth. It was the best thing his friend Harold Becker felt he had done. But Paul doesn't want to join. "The Hitler Youth was the official organization of the Nazi party and brought boys between the ages of fourteen and eighteen together and trained them to eventually become part of the military that served Adolf Hitler." Paul once belonged to the Boy Scouts but that group has now been banned. 

As they walk home from school, Paul confronts Harold, questioning him about Hitler's views on the Jewish people. Harold doesn't like what Hitler says but isn't really concerned. However, Paul's parents have taught him that all people are equal and that what is happening to the Jewish people is wrong. 

The next day, Paul's teacher, Herr Bentz, continues to indoctrinate the class with false ideas about the Jewish people. Paul knows these ideas are false because he has a good friend, Analia Morgenstern who lives in the Kasernenstrasse district of Dusseldorf. Paul and Analia have been friends since childhood: she attended his school and they often ate lunch together. But with the new laws, Analia has had to leave school. In class, one boy, Ernst Wagner states that he would turn in his own parents if necessary. Each day students speak up, informing on those who help Jews or criticize Hitler. After Herr Bentz corners Paul, questioning him as to why he hasn't yet joined the Hitler Youth, he reluctantly decides to join. 

The meetings are held every Saturday morning across the Oberkassel Bridge, in a fairground. Paul finds the entire experience disturbing: lots of swastika flags and the message that they are being prepared to be soldiers. As Paul and Harold return home from the meeting, they argue about the merit of joining the Hitler Youth. Harold believes that Hitler has done so much for Germany but Paul responds that he jails those who don't agree with him and treats the Jewish people badly. When the two boys witness their classmate Ernst's parents being led away by the Gestapo, they realize he has done exactly as he bragged he would do in class, he has reported them.

On the weekend, Paul's parents decide he needs to join the Hitler Youth in order to protect himself and his family. Paul finds the meetings draining emotionally. Then one weekend, the boys in their group are forced to jump over a fire to prove their bravery. Although Paul, who is athletic is able to do this, Harold is not and his leg is badly burned. But Paul's success only serves to attract the attention of the youth leader, Franz as well as their school bully, Ernst. 

Paul's life changes unexpectedly through a chance meeting the following weekend. Distraught over what he's experiencing in the Hitler Youth, Paul rides his bike to the beach at Lake Kaarst where he has fond memories of times spent with Analia. There he overhears a song against Hitler and eventually meets a group of young people who turn out to be resisters. They tell him their group is part of the Edelweiss Pirates, a group with members throughout Germany. They are doing what they can to resist and to stop Hitler.

Paul meets brother and sister, Luka and Kikki who are in charge of this group and decides that he too wants to join. Paul decides not to tell his parents that he's involved in the Edelweiss Pirates. However, as the situation in Germany rapidly deteriorates, Paul finds himself drawn further into resistance and less able to pretend he's a Nazi. He is forced to make a choice: follow the Nazis and their brutal regime, or begin to really help people like Analia.

Discussion

Under The Iron Bridge focuses on one group of Nazi resistors, the Edelweiss Pirates. It's likely the Pirates, which were mostly found in western Germany, began sometime after membership in the Hitler Youth was made mandatory in 1936. Almost every city in western Germany had some time of resistance group, although they sometimes had different names.

The pressure on young people to conform to Nazi ideals was tremendous. Boys were expected to join the Hitler Youth, while girls were expected to belong to the League of German Girls. As Kacer writes in the novel, "The girls underwent physical training that included long hours of marching and hiking, just like the boys. Hitler wanted young German girls to be strong and fit, even though they weren't being groomed to be soldiers." As Kikki tells Paul, they are to be mothers who pass on Nazi values to their children. While many German youth held similar views to the character in the novel, Ernst Wagner, who turns in his own parents to the Gestapo, there were young Germans like Paul's friend, Harold who simply went along with what was happening because they were probably too afraid to resist.

Initially Paul believes "It was better to be seen going along with the others than to keep resisting." He is afraid that he will be informed on by one of his fellow students. However, as the situation for the Jewish people in Dusseldorf becomes more threatening, Paul finds it harder to "go along". When he and his Hitler Youth group are pressed into forcing Jews to scrub the pavement, Paul does nothing. This is especially painful, because within this group is his dear friend Analia. He experiences shame that she likely believes he holds the same views as the other boys.

The Pirates offer Paul a chance to act according to his conscience. At first these acts are small, but dangerous; painting slogans on a Nazi building. This earns him the Edelweiss pin. "His cheeks glowed and his eyes sparkled as he thought of Analia. There was no question that a part of him was doing this for her. But he was also doing it for the old Jewish man who had very nearly been beaten, and for all the other Jews who had been humiliated that day on the streets of Dusseldorf. And above all, he was doing this for himself, affirming hid desire and responsibility to be a good and moral person, no matter what the risk."

Paul proves that he's up to the risk, when he drops food off for Analia and her family, when he partakes in a mission to wreck the Gestapo cars, and when he distributes pamphlets at the train station. But he takes the biggest risk of all, in saving Analia during what comes to be known as Kristallnacht, "Night of Broken Glass". 

Kacer realistically portrays the different responses of German youth to Nazi ideology. through the characters of Paul, Harold and Ernst. Paul has been taught that all people are equal and knows the Nazi views of Jews is wrong. Harold also believes what is being taught to them is wrong but he struggles to reconcile what he knows to be right with his participation in the Hitler Youth. Deeply conflicted he tells Paul, "But what are we supposed to do?....We have to be part of the Hitler Youth. We have to obey the rules. You saw them take away Ernst's parents. I don't want that to happen to my family --or yours!" While Harold believes resistance is impossible, Paul is not so sure. He's not willing to accept that they can do nothing. And then there is Ernst who represents most German youth. Ernst is an avid Nazi. In class when Ernst Wagner states that he would turn in his own parents, Paul notes that only a few students looked uncomfortable with this idea

Under The Iron Bridge is another excellent novel by Canadian author Kathy Kacer. In her Author's Note at the back of the novel, Kacer informs readers on many different topics and events covered in her story including Kristallnacht, The Hitler Youth and the Edelweiss Pirates. The novel takes its title from the iron bridge the Pirates used as a secret meeting place from which to plan their acts of resistance. Look for more outstanding novels from Kacer in the future.

Book Details:

Under The Iron Bridge by Kathy Kacer
Toronto: Second Story Press    2021
222 pp.

Call Across The Sea by Kathy Kacer

Sixteen-year-old Henny Sinding lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with Mor (her mother) and Far (her father).  Henny has grown up on the waters of the channel, learning how to sail before she could walk.Their boat, the Gerda III is "Henny's home away from home."

Far, a naval officer in Copenhagen, is head of the Danish Lighthouse and Buoy Service. It is his job to supply the Drogden Lighthouse, situated at the south end of the channel. Helping on the Gerda are two crewmembers, Otto and Gerhardt who have worked as engineers as long as their father has.

On a warm, sunny day, with Henny steering the boat, Far's attention is drawn to a small boat flying the Nazi flag. The Nazis have occupied Denmark, for the last three years, since 1940 when King Christian X surrendered to Adolf Hitler. He was hoping to spare his country the horrors others had experienced at the hands of the Nazis. Now in 1943, the situation appears to be changing; more Nazi troops marching on the streets and now boats in the channel.

Far doesn't want to catch the attention of the Nazi boat so he orders Henny to cut the engines. This time they are lucky, the Nazi boat does not pursue them and they return to shore safely. On their way home, Henny notices her father is unusually quiet. At dinner Far reveals that the lighthouse staff told him Nazi boats have stopped at the lighthouse and the men have been interrogated by the Nazi police.  They wanted to know who stops at the lighthouse and were considering using it as a base. Mor wonders if the Nazis are planning to take control in Denmark, as they've done in other countries. Mor and Far, like their fellow Danes, are appalled at Hitler's treatment of the Jewish people. Fortunately Danish Jews are respected and their rights are the same as everyone else. 

After dinner Henny is paid a visit by her ten-year-old neighbour, Suzanne Rubin along with Suzanne's two-year-old brother Aron. The Rubins are Jewish. Henny promises to take Suzanne sailing in two days. At school the next day, Henny meets up with her friends, sixteen-year-old Lukas, and Emma and Sophia, twin sisters. Henny is not a good student, preferring sailing to studying. When the bell rings to announce the school day, Henny notices papers that fall out of Lukas' bag, with the Nazi swastika crossed out. But when she asks Lukas what the papers are, he tells they are nothing.

The next day Henny takes Suzanne sailing after having done a run to the lighthouse with Far. She meets Mr. Rubin at the Gerda's berth and assures him that she will walk Suzanne home after their boat ride. Out on the water all goes  well until Henny spots a boat flying the Nazi flag moving towards them. Otto and Gerhardt take down the sails and after starting up the motor they head back to shore.

The next day Henny corners Lukas in the schoolyard and learns that he's part of the Danish resistance, passing out pamphlets outlining the evils of the Nazis. When Henny reminds Lukas of the extreme danger, he asks her if she's heard what is happening to Jews in other countries. Lukas challenges Henny to speak out against the Nazis, reminding her that she is friends with a Jewish family who is at risk and as the Nazis appear to be preparing to do in Denmark, what they've done in other countries. He also asks her to keep his secret. On her way home, Henny witnesses an elderly Jewish man being arrested by Nazi soldiers. When a young man attempts to intervene, he too is arrested. At home, Henny tells Far and Mor what she saw and they confirm what Lukas told her. The Nazis are attempting to tighten their control over Denmark. 

This leads Henny to consider that maybe it's time she started to get involved. The next day Henny approaches Lukas to tell him she wants to join his resistance group. A few days later, Lukas tells her to meet him later that night outside the train station. Little does Henny know, the important role she will come to play in helping save hundreds of Danish Jews.

Discussion

Call Across The Sea is the fourth and final installment in the Heroes Quartet that focuses on ordinary people who acted courageously to save Jewish citizens from the Nazis. In Call Across The Sea, the focus is on Denmark and the efforts of Henny Sinding, who is credited with saving many Danish Jews. As Kacer acknowledges in her note entitled Who Was Henny Sinding?, Henny was actually twenty-two years old when the events described in the novel occurred. 

In real life, in 1943, Henny was approached by four crew members of the boat, Gerda III. They were Captain Einer Tonnesen, and crew members John Hansen, Otto Andersen and Gerhardt Steffensen. The Nazi's had occupied Denmark since 1940 and seemed uninterested in Danish Jews. But they suddenly decided to round up all of Denmark's Jews and deport them to concentration camps in one night. This operation was leaked to a prominent Dane who then set about helping his country's Jewish citizens. The Gerda crew had a plan to get these people to safety in Sweden, an unoccupied country, by sea. But to do so would require Henny's help by obtaining permission from her father, who as a Danish naval officer, was in charge of the Lighthouse and Buoy Service. This was not a problem. They also needed Henny's help in bringing those Jewish families in hiding to the boats to be rescued.

With connections to a university-based resistance group, Henny was given a list of people, where to meet them. She set about retrieving these people, who were eventually rescued by boat to Sweden. At least three hundred Jews were secreted to safety on the Gerda III during the month of October by Henny and the crew. You can read more about Henny Sinding  at the Museum of Jewish History: https://mjhnyc.org/blog/the-22-year-old-woman-behind-the-rescue-of-over-300-danish-jews/

Call Across The Sea portrays the basic elements of Henny's amazing story in a format that is appealing to younger readers. A map showing the location of Copenhagen, Denmark relative to Sweden would have been very helpful for readers, allowing them to appreciate better the risks Henny undertook to help her fellow countrymen.

Kacer captures the essence of the situation in Denmark in a realistic manner. The Danish people considered their Jewish neighbours to be no different from themselves, and this is reflected in the characters of Far and Mor, Henny, Otto and Gerhardt as well as Lukas. A hint of their courageous resistance is portrayed by Henny, Lukas and other resisters but Kacer also shows that there were some Danes, represented by Henny's classmate, Erik who were not so honourable. Call Across The Sea is a fitting conclusion to the Heroes Quartet, which featured some lesser known heroes of World War II, who risked everything to help those in their most desperate hour.

Book Details:

Call Across The Sea by Kathy Kacer
Toronto: Annick Press   2021
207 pp.

Louder Than Words by Kathy Kacer

Twelve-year-old Eldina Sternik lives with her mother and her younger sisters, six-year-old Gennadiy (Nadia) and baby Galya. They are Jews who live in the city of Proskurov, Ukraine. Dina's Papa had died a year earlier and her mother is planning to take over his job as a literature teacher at the local high school. Working fulltime means that the Sternik's need a housekeeper and to that end they hire Mrs. Pukas, who is a Catholic and who goes by the name of Nina. Although she is friendly and kind, Dina is reluctant to like her.

It is February, 1941 and there are reports that Hitler has invaded the Ukraine.Dina and her family have heard of the laws against Jewish citizens passed in other countries that Germany has invaded. There has been a long history of persecution of the Jews but so far only isolated incidents are happening.

When Dina's mother returns to work as a teacher, Nina begins walking Dina and Nadia to school every day with baby Gayla in the baby carriage. Their walk to school meant passing by Mrs. Timko who ran a candy shop in Proskurov. She was the happiest person Dina had ever seen and she always offered the children passing by her store a treat.

At school Dina meets up with her best friend Esther. In the playground, Avrum,one of the Jewish students is bullied by Ivan and a group of boys. One of the teachers, Mr. Petrenko approaches the boys to intervene but stops and doesn't move to help even when Dina begs him to do so. When Dina realizes no one will help Avrum she intervenes and stands up to Ivan. Later that night Dina's mother warns her to be careful, that incidents like this are happening at her high school too.

When Nina asks Dina to teach her more about the Jewish faith, Dina decides to take the housekeeper to the local library. However, she discovers that Nina can't read, so Dina sets out to teach her. This act of kindness will save their lives in the not too distant future. 

In early spring, Dina and Esther set out to have a picnic in the park. However, when they arrive at the park, they find signs stating that Jews are no longer permitted in the park. While Dina wants to defy the order, Esther is worried someone might see them and the two girls return home.

At home, Dina's mother tells them they must not draw attention to themselves. However, the situation rapidly deteriorates over the coming weeks. Dina, Esther and all the other Jewish students are moved to the back of their class in school.Then Mama comes home one day with a bag of yellow Stars of David that must be sewn onto all of their clothing. Then one morning on her walk to school, Mrs. Timko refuses to give candy to Dina. Even worse, Jews were no longer allowed to shop in stores and had to obey a curfew. Even worse, Mama and the other Jewish teachers are let go at the high school. 

But their life takes a turn for the worse when their house is set on fire by the Nazis. Although they are taken in by Mama's brother, they need a new plan as Dina's Uncle Leo and Aunt Maria are not keen to take them in. The daring plan Dina's mother devises might just save all of them!

Discussion

Louder Than Words is based on the true story of  Frima Sternik, a Jewish high school teacher who lived in Proskurov with her daughters and her Catholic housekeeper, Nina Pukas. As in the novel, Frima's home was destroyed by fire along with her important identity documents. To protect her children, she registered her children as belonging to Pukas, giving her children a chance to be protected from the Nazis. Although Frima did not survive the war, her children did, thanks to the efforts of Nina Pukas.

Kacer, whose own parents survived the Holocaust, successfully portrays the wide range of people and their beliefs during the Nazi occupation.  The novel includes both Christians who helped their Jewish neighbours as well as others sided with the Nazis and joined in the persecution. For example, the character, Mrs. Timko who owns a candy store in Proskurov, is described as "the happiest woman" and a "devout churchgoing woman who was always talking about what the Lord did and didn't do for us. She crossed herself and looked up to the sky as if she was waiting for someone or something to answer her."  However, when the Nazis invade Proskurov and persecution against the Jewish population begins, Mrs. Timko is one of the first to single out Dina and her family and other Jews by refusing her candy. 

There is Mr. Petrenko, Dina's teacher who doesn't support the Nazis but who is too afraid to act, even among children who are bullying Jewish students. Yet he does try to help in his own small way when Dina goes looking for her mother who has disappeared. And of course the focus of the story is Nina Pukas, in real life, Ludviga (Nina) Pukas, a Catholic who risked her own life to take on the care of the Sternik children. If she had been discovered by the Nazis, Nina Pukas would have been executed for hiding Jews. Her actions speak "louder than words", the title of the novel.

However, Kacer gets it wrong when she has Nina tell Dina about the "blood libel". When Nina expresses an interest in learning more about the Jewish faith she tells Dina that "My own church teaches us that Jewish people tortured Christian children -- even sacrificed a child once during the Easter celebration." This has NEVER been a teaching of the Catholic church and it is misinformation to imply that it ever was. It is not known when the myth of blood libel began but it dates back to Roman times into the Middle Ages where it gained some acceptance. It was opposed by many popes, among them Pope Gregory X who noted that his predecessors held the same, and who wrote, “Most falsely do these Christians claim that the Jews have secretly and furtively carried away these children and killed them, and that the Jews offer sacrifice from the heart and blood of these children, since their law in this matter precisely and expressly forbids Jews to sacrifice, eat, or drink the blood, or to eat the flesh of animals having claws. This has been demonstrated many times at our court by Jews converted to the Christian faith: nevertheless very many Jews are often seized and detained unjustly because of this.”

So while this may have been a horrific belief amongst Catholics and Christians that persisted into the 20th century and while it might have fueled the antisemitism so rampant throughout Europe, it was NEVER a teaching of the Catholic church as Nina Pukas suggests in the novel and it is wrong to teach young readers that it was. 

In this third of four books in the Heroes Quartet, Kacer effectively portrays the drastic situation that develops for Jews in the Ukraine, once they are invaded by the Nazis. But Kacer also demonstrates just  how fortunate Dina and her sisters are, especially once Dina sees the ghetto where her mother has been imprisoned and where she also recognizes her friend Esther, by her red coat. They do not survive the war.

Louder Than Words is another well written novel for younger readers that features a true heroine, Ludviga (Nina) Pukas whose brave actions were "louder than words". The back matter features a short Author's Note about the Nazi invasion of Proskurov and about the real life events that inspired the novel.

Sources:

https://sites.sju.edu/ijcr/2020/04/01/blood-libel-never-a-church-teaching-says-prominent-us-catholic-academic-as-defenders-of-antisemitic-italian-painting-come-forward/

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/g10-jews.asp 

Book Details:

Louder Than Words by Kathy Kacer
Toronto: Annick Press 2020
231 pp.

Masters of Silence by Kathy Kacer

Masters of Silence is the second novel in the Quartet series by Kathy Kacer. In this story, two young refugees from the Nazis are helped by Marcel Marceau to safety.

Fourteen-year-old Helen Rosenthal and her ten-year-old brother Henry, have journeyed from Germany to southern France with their mother in the hopes of finding safety with the nuns at a convent. Their home had been in Frankfurt, but as Jews, the city and the country had become increasingly unsafe. Mr. Rosenthal was seized by the Nazis a year earlier and they do not know his fate. After his seizure, Helen, Henry and their mother packed a few belongings and traveled to Kronberg where they were taken in by a Catholic family. Frau Weber was willing to keep their mother because she could be passed off as a servant. However, the presence of Helen and Henry would have been more difficult to explain even though their blond hair meant they did not look Jewish. 

After Frau Weber told their mother about a convent in southern France taking in Jewish children, the three set out on their journey. Now at the convent, Helen and Henry's mother hands over their identity documents and to their shock says goodbye. She tells them she is returning to Kronberg to wait for news of their father and that she loves them both. Henry cries loudly and Helen is so shocked all she can do is stare at her mother.

The two children are taken to their dorm rooms by the kindly Sister Cecile. The next morning Helen meets one of the girls in her room, Michelle who tells her that they are all in the same situation. Many have no idea where their parents are or have no parents at all.  Michelle explains the convent's routine, that they have church services, go on outings to town to shop and have visits from a clown who does shows. Michelle also warns Helen to watch out for Sister Agnes, who is very strict and seems to have a mean streak.

Helen and Henry go to meet Mere Superieure. She tells them to stop thinking about their parents and to focus on learning the rules of the convent. Mere Superieure explains that the convent houses Jewish children from all over Europe. Although the convent is a safe place for the children, Nazi soldiers are searching through the towns of southern France for Jews who are in hiding. Because of this, they must learn and obey the rules to keep everyone safe, and learn to get along with the other children. They are to pretend they are Catholic children who have been orphaned and they will attend church, learn Catholic prayers so they can pass as Catholic if questioned.   They must also change their names. Mere Superieure tells Helen and Henry they will now be called Claire and Andre Rochette.

After dismissing Henry, Mere Superieure tells Helen she is very concerned for Henry who has not spoken since his arrival. Helen pleads that he just needs time, but the nun warns that if he does not adjust this may become a problem. Henry continues to struggle, doesn't speak or interact with anyone, even Helen, and isn't eating well. Instead he spends time writing in a small notebook that Sister Cecile has given him.

Several days later, Sister Agnes takes Helen and Henry into town to purchase some new clothing. However, the trip almost ends in disaster when Henry wanders off and is spotted alone in a store by several Nazi soldiers. Henry doesn't answer the soldiers' questions, leaving Helen to rush over and give their names. Fortunately, Sister Agnes intervenes, but the three leave the store badly shaken.

This leads Mere Superieure to stop the visits to the town because they have never had the Nazis so close until now. Helen is so shaken, she is unable to sleep that night. While up to get a drink of water, she meets a Jewish boy, Albert Gotliev. Albert is from Vienna and has lost both his parents after they were taken by the Nazis. He was smuggled out of Austria along with a group of Jewish children. Albert tells Helen about the visits by a clown, Marcel Marceau, who normally visits the convent every week.

Meanwhile Henry continues to struggle, feeling both profoundly sad and scared over the absence of his parents. He refuses to get up one morning and starts a fight with another boy who suggests that Henry's father may be dead. The fight is broken up by Albert, who tries to talk to Henry.

However, things drastically change when the clown, Marcel Marceau arrives one day to give a show at the convent. Henry is mesmerized by his performance and stays behind afterwards. Marcel helps Henry deal with his feelings but more than that, he helps Henry find his voice and leads him and his sister to safety after the Nazis raid the convent.

Discussion

Masters of Silence is the second book in the Quartet series by Canadian children's author Kathy Kacer. The focus in this second series is on the World War II hero, Marcel Marceau who was responsible for saving the lives of Jews and Gentiles. He was born Marcel Mangel, in 1923, in Strasbourg, France to Charles Mangel, a kosher butcher and Anne Werzberg.

With the Nazi invasion of France imminent, the French government evacuated the population of Strasbourg to Perigord in southern France. The Jews of Strasbourg fled the incoming Nazis and Marcel's family fled to Limoges. Marcel was only sixteen at this time. He and his younger brother Andre joined the French Resistance.  He used the name Marcel Mangel and posing as a Scout Master, he helped evacuate a Jewish orphanage in France to the safety of neutral Switzerland.

When he was a young child, Marcel was fascinated by American silent movie star, Charlie Chaplin. After the war ended, Marcel studied at the School of Dramatic Art in Paris. By 1947, Marcel's career as a mime was firmly established with the success of a character, Bip the Clown whom he created. What most did not know at this time, was the important work Marcel had been a part of during the war.

Kacer has crafted a believable storyline to showcase Marcel Marceau's work with the French Resistance in saving Jewish children. The two main characters in the story, Helen and her younger brother Henry have just arrived at a Catholic convent in southern France. The story could have just centered on these two children and their journey into France but Kacer adds another layer to the story. Henry Rosenthal, is a young boy who is so traumatized by what he and his family have experienced that he has become mute. No one is really able to help Henry and he continues to withdraw into himself as well as act out by fighting with the other boys, until Marcel, affectionately called "the clown" by the children at the convent, arrives to do a show. Through Marcel's patient teaching of mime, Henry finds a safe way to express himself and is able to verbally communicate when a dangerous situation develops at the convent. From this point on he shows himself to be a very brave little fellow.

The novel also highlights how many of the of the French helped the Jewish people during the war. Ordinary French citizens like the nuns at the convent were taking very serious risks. While hidden Jews were sent to camps, French citizens hiding them were shot.Hiding an entire group of Jewish children in a convent under the guise of an orphanage would have been an incredible risk and required a great amount of courage. Kacer also portrays just how dangerous it was for Marcel and his young charges to journey to the Swiss border.

The title, Masters of Silence is a play on the name given to Marcel Marceau who was given the same title for his work as a mime. And of course, Henry turned out to also be a "master of silence" with his skill as a mime. 

Book Details:

Masters of Silence by Kathy Kacer
Toronto: Annick Press Ltd.     2019
263 pp.

The Sound of Freedom by Kathy Kacer

The Sound of Freedom is a fictionalized account of a young girl whose family manages to escape Poland with the help of  world-renowned violinist, Bronislaw Huberman. Huberman was a child prodigy who studied with Joseph Joachim. He began touring Europe when he was only fourteen. When Adolf Hitler came to power, Huberman surmised that the situation for Jews in Europe would only get worse. Although he left Germany for Austria he found the situation not much better. It was apparent the situation for the Jewish people would only worsen. So he began to plan to bring the best Jewish musicians to Palestine to form an orchestra. This novel tells of one family's hope to be part of that historic event. 

Twelve-year-old Anna Hirsch lives in Krakow with her father, Avrum Hirsch who is a gifted clarinetist and her Baba. Anna's father plays in the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra and also lectures at the music academy.

The novel opens with Anna and her best friend Renata stopping at Mrs. Benna's shop on the way home on a Tuesday afternoon while her father gives lessons.While snacking on their donuts they witness a group of boys who have lately been targeting Jewish kids try to bully Mrs Benna. She stands up to them and they leave. However when Anna and Renata are walking home they see the boys vandalizing the window of  Mr. Kaplansky's butcher shop while the police chief Constable Zabek watches without intervening. At home Anna tells her papa and her baba about what happened and she is warned to stay away from the boys. That night they listen world famous violinist Bronislaw Huberman play a violin concerto by Tchaikovsky. However the radio broadcast is interrupted by a speech by Adolf Hitler. In his speech Hitler promises to provide jobs and good schools to all German citizens, to build a strong army to defend the country and to start by "cleansing Germany of all Jews. Country after country will follow."

However Anna's father refuses to talk about Hitler or what's happening in Poland. At school the next day Anna and Renata are confronted by Sabina Zabek who tells them that soon they won't be allowed to attend any school. After school Anna misses Renata who has indicated she has something important to tell Anna, so she visits her father's orchestra rehearsal. She is stunned to see all the Jewish members of the orchestra segregated at the back of the orchestra and not in their respective sections. She is so upset that her clarinet lesson with her father is a disaster.

During the next two weeks, there are more attacks on Jewish businesses, the headlines in the newspapers are decidely anti-Jewish. Anna's friend Stephan Ungar tells her that his father has said they will not be kicked out school, that these are isolated incidents and that this troubled time will pass, but Anna is unconvinced. They meet Renata who finally reveals that her family is fleeing Poland for Denmark in a week's time. Renata states that her parents want to leave before the situation worsens, especially since it is so difficult for Jews to obtain papers to travel to another country and that many countries do not want to take in Jewish immigrants. Anna is desolate, partly because she knows her best friend is right and partly because her own family seems reluctant to acknowledge what is happening all over Poland and Germany.

Anna confides in Baba about Renata's family leaving but her grandmother attempts to calm her by telling her everything will be fine. However Anna tells her about what she saw at orchestra practice, confronting Baba and demanding she tell her the truth. Baba tells Anna about the "ghetto chairs" for the musicians but she believes that they will be safe.

That night Papa tells them about Bronislaw Huberman's trip to Poland to recruit musicians for an orchestra in Palestine. Papa tells Anna and Baba that Huberman is inviting Jewish musicians to audition. When Anna hears this she attempts to convince her father to audition by telling him everything that she has witnessed in the streets. However her father refuses to believe that the situation is dire, stating that their lives are in Poland and they cannot simply leave for something so uncertain. Anna is completely devastated. How can she convince her father that they must leave Poland and that Huberman's auditions may be their only way out?

Discussion

The Sound of Freedom portrays a real life event that occurred just before the onset of World War II through the eyes of a young girl. The Hirsch family is fictional; there was no Avrum Hirsch who was a clarinetist  recruited by Bronislaw Huberman. But Huberman did recruit seventy musicians for his Palestine Orchestra which was formed in 1936.  At a time when getting travel documents was almost impossible for people of Jewish heritage, somehow Huberman managed to obtain enough to bring not only the musicians but their families too. The novel covers the period up to the historic concert given by the Palestine Symphony Orchestra on December 26, 1936, conducted by Maestro Toscanini.

Kacer seamlessly incorporates many historical facts into her novel; the increasingly violent harassment of Jews in Poland, Huberman's method of auditioning musicians, the difficulties he encountered obtaining visas, the theft of his Stradivarius violin, and life in British Mandate Palestine. Kacer mentions some of the challenges Anna and her fellow emigrants experienced in moving to Palestine, including learning Hebrew and dealing with attacks on the area by Arabs. Life in Palestine would most certainly have been vastly different for European Jews who settled there.

 

Toscanni and Huberman Palestine Symphony Orchestra

When Anna's friend Eric and his family decide to return to Poland, Anna is distraught. Although Palestine is also struggling with conflict, the Jewish people are safer than in Europe and Anna wonders about the fate of Eric. Some musicians and their families did decide to return to Europe. Those who did, would not survive the war. Near the end of the novel, Anna learns that Bronislaw Huberman brought over one thousands Jews to Palestine and as history now knows - saving these gifted musicians and their families -from the death camps of Adolf Hitler. If only more people had acted, how many more could have been saved?

Kacer is a Canadian author whose parents are survivors of the Holocaust; her mother survived by hiding and her father survived the death camps. The novel was written at the suggestion of the publisher, Annick Press. The Sound of Freedom is the first in what will be a series of four books called the Heroes Quartet. The next installment, a book about the famous French mime artist Marcel Marceau is due out March 2019. In light of the recent poll that suggests many children under the age of fourteen do not know what the word Holocaust refers to, Kacer's novel is all the more timely.

Readers are encouraged to view the documentary, Orchestra of Exiles which examines Huberman's efforts to put together an orchestra in Palestine and preserve some of the Jewish musical heritage which he felt certain would be destroyed by the coming cataclysm.

Information on the Palestine Symphony Orchestra can be found at the Jewish Virtual Library: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-palestine-symphony-orchestra

Image credit: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/orchestra-of-exiles/files/2013/03/1246.jpg

Book Details:

The Sound of Freedom by Kathy Kacer
Toronto: Annick Press Ltd.      2017
249 pp.

I Am Not A Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer

I Am Not A Number is a picture book that presents in a way most suitable for young children, the reality of the residential school situation that existed in Canada for a century and a half. The picture book tells the story of author Jenny Kay Dupuis's grandmother Irene Couchie Dupuis who was sent to a residential school for one year.

Irene Couchie was an Anishinaabe girl growing up on the shores of beautiful Lake Nipissing in the early 1920's. She lived with her mother, her father who was chief of their community and her siblings. Their life was simple with plenty of healthy food but none of the basics such as running water or electricity. Aboriginal culture placed a strong emphasis on family.  In 1928 when Irene was a mere eight years old, an Indian Agent came to their home and told Irene's parents they had to give up their children so they could attend the residential school. Irene and her two brothers were placed in the Spanish Indian Residential School for the year, against the wishes of her parents. It was a lonely year for Irene who was separated from her brothers and forbidden to speak her mother tongue.

The residential school system was in existence for some time before the 1800's but by the 1830's most Christian denominations in Canada were running some schools. It was the treaties and agreements from 1870's onward which shaped the residential schools in Canada. The government of Canada was obliged to assimilate aboriginal peoples into "Canadian" culture and it was decided that the residential school system was the best way to accomplish this. At first many First Nations people also agreed that learning how to live in the new European-Canadian culture would be beneficial but the schools did not live up to their expectations. Families were separated, children grew up disconnected from their parents, their culture and their communities. Language and customs were forgotten.

Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer capture all of this and more in this short, simple story based on the life of Dupuis' grandmother. The story is accompanied by Gillian Newland's beautifully expressive watercolour illustrations. The illustrations are done in browns, beige and black mimicking the sad subject matter of the book. The picture book's title is a reference to the common practice in residential schools of assigning aboriginal children a number rather than using their given name.

For those who would like to learn more about the Residential schools check out the Canadian Encyclopedia entry.

To explore the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada please visit this website as well as the archived TRC website.


Book Details:

I Am Not A Number by Jenny Jay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer
Toronto: Second Story Press     2016

Stones On A Grave by Kathy Kacer

Stones On A Grave is part of a series of seven books authored by various Canadian writers for young teens. The series, known as the Secrets, can be read in any order. An orphanage, known as The Benevolent Home For Necessitous Girls burns to the ground in June of 1964, leaving all its residents homeless. The younger girls are sent to various families, but the seven oldest girls, Dot, Malou, Sara, Tess, Cady, Toni and Betty are each given information about their past and told they must now make their own way in the world. Their stories are the basis for the seven novels in the series.

Stones On A Grave tells Sara's story. It begins the night of the terrible fire at the orphanage in the town of Hope. Sarah and the rest of the girls who live there make it safely out of the fire. Sara manages to grab her tin box holding her savings. Their matron, Mrs. Hazelton and their teacher, Miss Webster also make it out. The girls are taken to the church where they are told by Miss Webster that because the fire has totally destroyed the orphanage, no one will be able to return and that plans are being made to help each of the girls. The girls spend the night sleeping on the pews of the town church.

The next morning Sara, who is the oldest of the girls at eighteen, decides to go to her job at Loretta's, a diner where she's worked for the past few years. Normally Loretta's wouldn't be open on a Sunday but the owner, Mrs. Clifford has opened the restaurant to those who helped with the fire. When she sees Sara, Mrs. Clifford is shocked and tells her she can manage fine if she needs to take some time off. However Sara wants to work as it keeps her from worrying about what the future holds for her.

Sara's boyfriend Luke comes to the diner. Sara met him a few months ago when she went to the garage where he works to put air in her bicycle tires. Luke noticing her that day made Sara feel special. Mrs. Clifford doesn't like Luke however and questions him about whether he was involved in the orphanage fire. She also tells him she heard that he's been harassing Malou, one of the seven older girls at the orphanage. Luke denies this and Sara refuses to believe what Mrs. Clifford has said, but when Malou arrives at the diner, he ridicules her in front of Sara.

After work Sara goes to see Mrs. Hazelton at her cottage near the orphanage. Each of the girls has come to meet privately with her and Sara is anxious, wondering what Mrs. Hazelton will tell her. Mrs. Hazelton hands Sara two envelopes; the first contains a document from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation that lists information about her birth. Sara learns that she was born in Fohrenwald, Germany, that her mother's name is Karen Frankel and that she is Jewish. Mrs. Hazelton tells Sara that Fohrenwald was a camp for Jewish refugees who survived the Holocaust. She tells Sara that her mother was imprisoned in a concentration camp which was liberated at the end of the war. Her mother contracted tuberculosis which was passed on the Sara. The second document is a medical certificate clearing Sara for travel to Canada and was signed by Gunther Pearlman, a German doctor. Mrs. Hazelton has no information on Sara's father nor how Sara ended up coming to Canada. However, she wants to help Sara as she starts her new life and gives her an envelope containing money to help her get started.

This new information and her conversation with Mrs. Hazelton make Sara realize that in order to face her future she needs to discover her past. And to do that she needs to travel to Germany. It is a journey that will uncover her past and help her plot her course for the future.

Discussion

Stones on a Grave is a well written, high interest, easy read for those who enjoy historical fiction and mystery. The novel is set in the mid-1960's and explores the aftermath of the Holocaust on Germans and those who survived the war. When Sara arrives in Germany she finds Dr. Pearlman initially helpful until she reveals her identity and tells him about her mother. The doctor becomes angry and refuses any further help. Kacer portrays a country struggling to come to terms with what happened and determined to try to forget. The older characters, for example Dr. Pearlman and Frau Klein, who lived through the war, do not want to talk about what happened and do not wish to remember. However, Peter, who represents a new generation of Jewish Germans becomes determined to help Sara uncover her family history. Frustrated at the lack of help she is receiving from Germans, Sara wonders Peter also attempts to explain to Sara the question many people asked themselves after the war, "How could the German people not know what was going on?"

At times some of the plot twists seem contrived, such as when Hedda Kaufmann decides against the rules to help Sara and also when by amazing coincidence she knew Sara's mother. Readers will probably quickly realize the real identity of Gunther Pearlman and also how Sara's mother became pregnant. One aspect of this novel that is particularly well done is Kacer's treatment of the war crime of rape and how it can affect the family of the victim.  Sara learns from Frau Kauffman at the International Tracing Center that her father was not her mother's husband, Simon Frankel but a Nazi soldier who raped her mother in the concentration camp. When Sara first learns this fact about herself, she is very distraught. She flees the center, her mind racing with questions. "How was it that she had traveled all this way to find out about her family only to discover that her father -- her father -- was a Nazi guard? What did that even mean? Was she part Nazi? And what part had come from him? The anger? The irritation? The blue eyes? It was almost too much to imagine."  Sara believes that this is why her mother gave her up, that looking at her meant remembering the rape. Sara decides to leave Germany immediately, regretting seeking out her past.The next day while waiting for Peter, Sara tells Dr. Pearlman that she discovered the truth about her past and that her mother "...must have thought I was a monster."

When Dr. Pearlman, who is Sara's grandfather, realizes how this tragedy is affecting his granddaughter, he decides to reveal the truth to her. He tells her that in fact, while "We were all afraid to look at you, knowing where and how you were conceived" her mother gazed at her with "pure love." "Those first few days after she was hospitalized, she wouldn't let you go. She held on to you as if together you could give each other strength to heal. Even as she grew weaker and we tried to pry you from her arms she still refused to let you go..."  The realization that her mother truly loved her helps Sara come to terms with the fact that she was born from an act of violence and to begin to accept that she is NOT her father. A moving letter from Frau Kauffman about her mother, makes Sara understand that there is much of her mother in her. Like her mother she is spirited and like her mother she dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Frau Kauffman's entreaty that she take what little she knows about her mother and be inspired pushes Sara past her anger and grief towards acceptance.

"Everything was becoming clearer to her. Yes, she would carry the man who had raped her mother somewhere inside her. Every time she looked into a mirror, stared at her blue eyes, she would be reminded of her roots. But she knew now that she was not him, and never would be. She would live her life trying to prove that."

Kacer does incorporate some interesting historical facts into her story. One example is Bad Arolsen, a town in northern Germany where documents from the war have been stored in a special center. Bad Arolsen is the location of the International Tracing Service which was begun in 1946 after the war to locate missing people and reunite them with their families and to let others know the fate of their loved ones. The Nazis kept detailed records of who was sent where. The names of Jews, what concentration camp they were sent to, how and when they died, or if they survived what displaced persons camp they were sent to was recorded in an effort to reunite survivors. Its vast archives were only made available to the public in 2007.   The English website may be found at International Tracing Service.

The book takes its title Stones on a Grave from the Jewish custom of placing stones on a grave.This ancient tradition is explained by Peter as follows: "Well, flowers disappear quickly. The belief is that stones last forever, just like the memory you hold of the one who has died."

Overall Stones on a Grave is a touching story about a young woman who learns the truth about her past and her struggle to come to terms with it. Part of the Secrets series conceived by Eric Walters, this novel is a good read for younger teens. It's unfortunate the cover design, like many good Canadian novels, is unimaginative at best.

Book Details:

Stones on a Grave by Kathy Kacer
Victoria: Orca Book Publishers      2015
213 pp.

The Magician of Auschwitz by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Gillian Newland

The Magician of Auschwitz tells the story of  young Werner Reich who met a remarkable man while imprisoned by the Nazi's at Auschwitz. Werner was taken to a concentration camp called Terezin and then onto Auschwitz were he met  Herr Levin. Werner shared a bunk with Levin and struggled to survive the exhausting work on little food and sleep. One night the barracks was roused by the guards shouting at Levin to wake up. Once awake, they demanded he perform magic tricks for them. Levin spent hours that first night performing card tricks for the camp guards. Werner thought these tricks were wonderful and told Herr Levin that perhaps this would mean he would receive extra food. But Levin told Werner that the magic was likely the only thing preventing him from being shipped out to be killed. He would spend hours many nights entertaining the guards. 

One night weeks later, Werner, who was always hungry, hid a piece bread while he slept only to awake the next morning to discover it had been stolen from him. He was very very upset and was on the verge of giving up. But Herr Levin told him that he should not be too hard on the person who stole the break, telling him that this person was just trying to survive like everyone else.To ease his mind Herr Levin showed him one of his tricks and then taught Werner that trick. Herr Levin showed Werner that someone cared about him and that gave him hope. After surviving the concentration camp, Werner never lost his love of magic and did perform tricks.

After telling the magician's story through Werner Reich's eyes, there is a section titled How It Happened that tells who Herr Levin was and what happened to both him and Werner after the war. Herbert Levin was a famous magician who performed in Berlin. His stage name was Nivelli. Nivelli along with his wife and son were sent to Auschwitz where they eventually perished. Nivelli survived the camp and rebuilt his life as a magician, moving to the United States and eventually remarrying. There are plenty of photographs of Nivelli and also Werner Reich both as a young boy, with his sister Renate who also survived and as an older man. 

Where It Happened tells about Hitler coming to power in 1933 and how this led to the Jewish Holocaust and World War II.

The picture book portion is beautifully illustrated with Gillian Newland's watercolour paintings. Based in Toronto, Newland's artwork effectively captures some of the darkness of Auschwitz with the dark pallette of greys, whites, browns and blacks. At the same time she shows the humanity of the people in the camp. Kacer was introduced to the story of Nivelli the Magician by Jon Freund who also helped her contact Werner Reich.

Book Details:
The Magician of Auschwitz by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Gillian Newland
Toronto: Second Story Press 2014