One night Heinz suspects something unusual is going on: most of the servants including Nanny are given the evening off and their beloved Aunt Charlotte pays a surprise visit. Peter and Ellen are doing their homework in the nursery, giving Heinz the opportunity to eavesdrop on his mother and aunt. From their conversation, he learns that his parents are planning to leave Berlin that very night. They believe the situation will only grow worse. Heinz's mother begs Charlotte to come with them but she refuses, saying that her work is too important.
At dinner that night, Father announces that they are leaving for the Hague, where he has been offered a new job. Both Peter and Ellen protest, unhappy that they will be missing their science and art shows. Heinz startles everyone by asking if they are Jewish - a question that is not answered. They pack their suitcases, Heinz taking his Peter Rabbit toy he has named Funny Bunny Blue.
As they drive through Berlin, Heinz recalls that things have changed subtly in the past weeks and months: his parents no longer go out to restaurants and cabarets, his mother's prized artwork has been disappearing of their walls and he has seen her sewing an emerald necklace into the lining of a dress. Their leaving in the dark, without saying good-bye to Aunt Charlotte, Nanny or any of their friends seems equally strange.
They travel all night stopping at a gasthouse to freshen up and get something to eat. Father warns both Peter and Heinz to tell anyone who questions them that they are travelling to the Hague for their mother's aunt's funeral. At the gasthouse, first Heinz and then his father encounter Captain Rolf Konig who questions them about where they are going and why. Captain Konig's interest is unsettling and their suspicions are confirmed when leaving, Frau Klein warns Rifat and Else that the captain has taken down their vehicle registration and called the Gestapo.
The Avigdor's continue driving towards the German border with Holland, but soon are stopped by two German soldiers in a black car. The soldiers are suspicious of Rifat leaving the country as he is in charge of one of the largest aeroplane parts companies. When his father is ordered to open the boot (trunk) of the car, Heinz, sensing his father might need some help, runs out and asks for his stuffed toy, corroborating his father's story about going to the Hague for a funeral.
The soldier, touched by Heinz's sweet disposition and youth, discreetly tells Rifat that he is being watched for at the border and that should he try to cross he will likely be arrested. The soldier then lets them go. Back in the car, Rifat reveals that they will have to cross the border through the fields. After eating the food from Frau Kein's basket, Heinz and his family begin their journey to cross the farmers' fields and into Holland. Burdened with heavy suitcases, the trek is tiring. Heinz stumbles and sprains his ankle. Once again they encounter what appears to an obstacle to their crossing the border into Holland, when they are discovered by the farmer. However, the man is sympathetic to their plight and not supportive of Hitler, and willing to help them. After spending the night resting, the farmer offers to drive them across the border hidden amongst bales of hay. But this also goes awry when Rifat is discovered. Heinz, once again hoping to help his father, bravely jumps out of the hay. They are fortunate in that Rifat is able to bribe the border guards with his valuable stamp collection.
Safe in Holland, the Avigdor's rebuild their life. But soon war will overtake them once again, meaning difficult decisions will have to be made if they are to save themselves.
Discussion
Boy From Berlin is an exciting, well-written middle school novel that will appeal to young readers, especially boys. The story is based on the real-life events experienced by Heinz Avigdor, the late husband of the novel's author, Nancy McDonald.
McDonald, who has worked as a journalist reporting on various television programs and as a freelance journalist, first met Heinz Avigdor when he was working as a producer on CTV's W5 and she was a journalism student at Western University in London, Ontario. The two fell in love and married. After Heinz's death in 2015, a bereft McDonald discovered copies of letters written by his father, Rifat. McDonald knew little about Heinz's early life as he rarely spoke of his childhood. McDonald knew little about why her husband's family left Germany or how they escaped from Holland to England. Her research led her to Rome to meet surviving cousins, to Berlin to visit the family home that had survived the war, to the Hague and the harbour at Scheveningen where they made their escape to England, and back to Toronto to meet Heinz's brother-in-law and sister-in-law. As she gathered information about her husband's family, McDonald thought she might write a family history but instead, the story of a boy from Berlin began to take shape.
The novel, although only 129 pages in length is filled with many suspenseful moments such as when the Avigdors are attempting to escape Germany and they encounter German soldiers. The war catches up with them in Holland, and they barely escape, again under tense circumstances, as the country falls to the Germans. These moments of tension engage the reader and lead up to a suspenseful climax.
A subplot explores the relationship between Heinz, his older brother Peter, and their father Rifat. Heinz feels that his father favours his older brother Peter, who like their father has a mind for math and science. Peter captures their father's praise for his ability to work with his hands, constructing model airplanes and putting together a crystal radio. In contrast, Heinz's father feels he is being babied. However, Heinz proves to be intelligent, quick thinking and resourceful in ways that are different from Peter. Eventually Heinz's father comes to recognize this asking him to care for his mother and Bibi on the voyage to Canada and telling him, "...I'm very impressed by how brave and resourceful you can be."
Boy From Berlin is an engaging short novel that will appeal to younger readers. McDonald is working on a sequel to Boy From Berlin which will be published in September 2019.
Book Details:
Boy From Berlin by Nancy McDonald
Toronto: Iguana Books 2018
129 pp.
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