#Blogtour The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy.

About the Author

Sarah Freethy is first time novelist. She has been writing for television for the past three decades. Freethy has worked as an Executive Producer in factual TV and series as varied as Big Brother and Country House Rescue, to Clive James’ Postcard from Havana and TFI Friday.  In 2020, she was a Script Consultant on two broadcast drama series, Before We Die (Channel 4) and Professor T (ITV) for Eagle Eye Drama. Sarah is a keen artist and photographer, as well as being a collector of vintage ephemera and odds and sods. Follow @freethy on X

About the book

Germany, 1929. – When Max, a Jewish architect, and Bettina, a beautiful and celebrated German avant-garde artist, meet at a party, their attraction is instant. In love with each other and the art they create, their talent transports them to the dazzling lights of Berlin. But Germany is on the brink of terrible change, and their bright beginning is soon dimmed by the rising threat of Nazism. 

When Max is arrested and sent to the Dachau concentration camp, it is only his talent at making the exquisite porcelain figures so beloved by the Nazis that stands between him and certain death. At first, Bettina has no idea where Max has been taken but when she learns of his fate, she is determined to rescue him whatever the cost. 

Now, a lifetime later, Bettina’s daughter, Clara, sets out on a journey to uncover the truth about her identity. As she weaves together the fabric of her past, she discovers the terrible secret her mother wanted hidden forever. Two lovers caught at the crossroads of history. A daughter’s search for the truth… 

Powerfully moving and beautifully written, The Porcelain Maker is a testament to enduring love and courage.

Review

Clara has managed to trace a certain amount of porcelain figures to an auction, the figures are the key to discovering something about her past. A secret that has been kept hidden from her, because the truth is too painful for everyone involved. Her hope is that the owner of said figurines can point her in the right direction – if not, then she may never discover the truth.

Although there are certainly comparisons to be drawn between the stories written by Morris, at least this author is clear on source material, and about the fictional aspects of it. There is no attempt to use a very traumatic historical narrative to enhance, instead fact and fiction run respectfully hand-in-hand to create a good read.

Aside from the tragic and traumatic story of Clara’s search for the truth about her origins, I think there is a poignant element highlighted and encapsulated in the pieces of porcelain, and indeed the path they travel. The destructive stance the Nazi regime took towards all variations of the arts is one mirrored often in fascist, authoritarian and regimes led by dictatorships.

The free thinkers, the creative, the solution seekers and those who both influenced and spoke to all senses with their creations and expressions via any medium possible. Of course any restrictive regime would limit freedom and voice, whether that be via the written word, painted picture, sculpture or music. The oppressors weren’t opposed to using the value of said art to enhance their pockets and portfolios though.

It’s a story steeped in trauma, humanity and the natural desire to uncover the fabric of our heritage and parentage. Unfortunately that doesn’t always gel well with the people guarding any secrets. I enjoyed the read and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

Buy The Porcelain Maker at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon and Schuster Uk; pub date 23 May 2024 – Paperback – £9.99. Buy at Amazon com. 

#Blogtour The Venus of Salò by Ben Pastor

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Venus of Salò by Ben Pastor.

About the Author

Ben Pastor, born in Italy, worked as a university professor in Vermont before returning to her country.. She is one of the most talented writers in the field of historical fiction. In 2008 she won the prestigious Premio Zaragoza for best historical fiction. She writes in English. 

About the book

October 1944, in the so-called  Republic of Salò, the last fascist stronghold in Italy. After months of ferocious fighting on the Gothic Line, Colonel Martin Bora of the Wehrmacht must investigate the theft of a precious painting of Venus by Titian, stolen with uncanny ease from a local residence.  

While Bora’s inquiry proceeds among many difficulties, the discovery of three dead bodies throws an even more sinister light on the scene. The victims are female, very beautiful, apparently dead by their own hand but in fact elegantly murdered.  

Review

I realised a few pages in that I have missed Martin Bora and Pastor. The figurehead of this series has grown into an entire microcosm, which is sustained by the structure of the war he is surrounded by and the constant fight for survival. In a setting that begets suspicion, threats, violence and a lack of trust, is it any wonder that enemy and friend are often one and the same thing.

In combination with the ‘acquisition’ of fine art by the Nazi regime, the net closing around Bora is getting more difficult to avoid, which makes for a multi-faceted read. It highlights the many levels of hypocrisy, especially when it comes to treating men who fought valiantly for people and country like untrustworthy comrades, merely because of their vicinity to any anti-agenda people or actions.

Equally the theft of priceless art during the occupation and run of power of the Nazi’s, and the fierce determination of Conforti to ensure there would be a trace left of the perfect war crime. All of this is folded neatly into a Matryoshka doll of crime within a crime, whilst the Matryoshka represents the crime of the fascist regime itself.

I have to admit I was ready to write an – oh, no how could you – rant. The last few pages had me holding my breath there, don’t do it there must be more Bora! As always, a fantastic read, Pastor never disappoints.

Buy The Venus of Salò at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Bitter Lemon Press, pub date 23 May 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Grand Illusion by Syd Moore

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Grand Illusion by Syd Moore, who is back with a thrilling new series set in WW2.

About the Author

Syd Moore is currently Essex Libraries’ first Author in Residence. Twice shortlisted for a CWA Dagger, she is best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries, a series that explores the witch trials in Essex between 1560 to 1680.  The series was shortlisted for the Good Reader Holmes and Watson Award in 2018 and 2019.  Syd founded the Essex Girls’ Liberation Front and successfully got the term ‘Essex Girl’ removed from the Oxford dictionary in 2020. Her debut screenplay, Witch West will go into production in 2024.  She lives in Essex. Follow @SydMoore1 on X

About the book

JUNE 1940.  As Hitler prepares to invade Britain, a secret office hidden away in Whitehall is catapulted into a frenzy of activity and expansion.  Aware of the Nazis’ obsession with the occult, the British Secret Service sets out to exploit this potential weakness in the enemy’s high command.

Twenty-two-year-old Daphne Devine is performing on the London stage as assistant to magician Jonty Trevelyan, aka ‘The Grand Mystique’, when the secret service calls.

Daphne and Jonty find themselves far from the glitz and glamour of the theatre, deep inside the lower levels of Wormwood Scrubs prison.  Here they join secret ranks of astrologers, illusionists and other theatre performers co-opted to the war effort. Soon Daphne realizes she must risk everything if there is any chance of saving her country…

In the opener to a new historical fiction series Syd Moore brings her unique perspective to a different period – the Second World War. The Grand Illusion is inspired by an event alleged to have taken place in the New Forest in the summer of 1940 – a spectacular magical ritual –  “The Cone of Power” – that would be witnessed by German agents in the area and reported back to the Führer.  Its goal: to avert invasion on British shores.

Review

Can you even imagine being recruited to help save your country, to be part of the greater and wider war efforts to deter the enemy. Oh, and your talents are being a magician and his glamourous assistant. Yeh, either the math ain’t mathing or this is going in a very interesting direction. How are you supposed to save everyone? Perhaps with the bunny in a hat trick?

I have always been intrigued by the strategic decision making during WW2 by Germany or Hitler and his leadership team. Just leaving aside the horrific obsession the man had with eugenics and his planned genocide of the Jewish population and just looking at his strategy to occupy one country after the other. From a strategic point of view the choice to focus on Russia and come back to Britain at a later date is what cost him the war. He overestimated his resources and their ability to stretch, supply across such a vast area, and underestimated the country.

By taking the what can only be described as one of many unusual approaches to saving Britain from an invasion or becoming one of the many occupied countries during the Nazi regime, the combination of fact and fiction come together to create this remarkable and interesting story. I kind of love the thought that this could have a smidgen of truth at the core. I’ve read other books that mention a certain obsession with the occult and asking for direction, which would have made a specific person susceptible to being led in decision making.

It has the old-school charm of Foyle’s War with the chaotic element of wartime Jonathan Creek with Daphne as the driving force of the story. She is the glue that keeps Jonty upright, on task and from self-destructing. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next.

Buy The Grand Illusion at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Magpie, an imprint of Oneworld, pub date 18 April 2024 – Hardback £16.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya.

About the Author

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was Director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. After the bomb, he continued as Director there for several years before taking on a teaching role at Okayama University Medical School. He retired in Okayama and passed away in the 1980s.

About the book

With what this poor woman had been through the sight of her crying tore at my heartstrings. What if something should happen to her; who would care for her little baby? To conceal the fear and terror in my heart I left her, trying to put up a cheerful front. But no one could conceal from her the ominous import of the dark spots that had appeared on her chest.

The Doctor of Hiroshima is the extraordinary true story of Dr Michihiko Hachiya, whose hospital was less than a mile from the centre of the atomic bomb that hit on that warm August day. Somehow, in immense shock and pain and extremely weak, the doctor and his wife manage to drag themselves to the hospital, where their horrific wounds are treated, and they slowly begin to recover. Tentatively, the doctor starts to reckon with the utter devastation of the bomb, and to investigate the strange symptoms afflicting his patients.

Told simply and poignantly through Dr Hachiya’s daily diary entries, The Doctor of Hiroshima is the inspiring story of how a doctor and his patients fought to survive and rebuild their lives in the face of unimaginable loss.

Review

This translated diary of Dr Hachiya is a testament to why historical events must be underpinned by eyewitness accounts, they serve as testimony to events and tragedies that are otherwise skewed by the narration or third parties or people who write history – the victors. Ethically there are no winners in this scenario. 

The victors argue that the Japanese were so persistent, driven and strategic that this intervention was a necessity. Was it, or was it merely a power play that also gave a realistic measurement of true impact, devastation and potential? Guinea pigs, real data, the possibility of knowing how and when to use, and perhaps most importantly to ensure the world is aware of their cutthroat attitude and willingness to destroy humanity without any hesitation at all.

I’m not sure how anyone could read this and not have an ounce of compassion towards the victims. Were the Japanese guilty of heinous crimes, yes. Does that warrant the deaths of innocents, the impact of such a weapon leaving its mark on people for many decades – I think not.

Having such a remarkable in the moment transcript of the death toll, the injuries and being able to experience first-hand the importance of putting science above emotions in order to study the physical effects of radiation and exposure.

It’s a book that delivers the truth on the ground, the shock and lack of comprehension at being at the core of such an atrocity, whilst simultaneously learning bit by bit what the true extent of the damage to persons, place and spirit would be and was.

Buy The Doctor of Hiroshima at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Monoray, pub date 29 Feb. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin.

About the Author

Madeline Martin is a New York Times and International Bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance novels filled with twists and turns, adventure, steamy romance, empowered heroines and the men who are strong enough to love them. Follow @MadelineMMartin on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter)

About the book

A heart-warming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the NYT bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.

It is 1939, and nothing could prepare Marta and Janina for the Nazi occupation of their homes and families in Warsaw. Friends since childhood, the two women couldn’t be more different – Marta is Polish and a stubborn, practical planner; Janina is half-Jewish with fanciful ideas of war and heroism.

But as the bombs rain down on Warsaw and Hitler’s forces surround the city, a series of tragedies spur them to action. Both avid readers, they find ways to join the war efforts using one of the only weapons that still feel safe to them: literature.

While Marta and her father become active in the underground and work to salvage books in danger of being destroyed, Janina aids a secret library in the ghetto, lending and delivering books to orphans.

As the round ups and executions intensify, these books become a life preserver for members of their community. But the closer Warsaw gets to liberation, the more dangerous it becomes for the women and their families – and escape may not be possible for everyone. Through the destruction and death raging around them, Marta and Janina must fight to preserve their culture and community, finding hope in each other in order to survive.

Review

In 1939 Marta and Janina are aware of another possible German encroachment, but matters of education and reading books on the banned books list seem far more important. Overnight their world is changed to one of destruction, fear and intimidation, as Warsaw loses the battle to hold off their enemy and oppressor.

Jews are targeted, opposing voices are silenced, and the underground resistance begins a fraught battle of survival. Small moments and actions become monumental, such as saving books from the hands that seek to destroy them. The same hands who plan to systematically eradicate Poland’s leaders and intellectuals, their culture and their literature. To break the country by breaking the spirit of its people.

I think it’s important to keep revisiting certain moments in history, especially if there is a possibility of  avoiding the same atrocities again. It’s equally important to remember the victims, the losses and both the named and unnamed people who tried to save, help, comfort and oppose. This book does all of that, and also gives a glimpse into the planned and well executed destruction the Nazi regime showered upon its own country and the many countries they invaded.

Kudos to the author for creating a story around the perhaps lesser known historical facts and situation in Warsaw, during the German occupation in WW2. When I say lesser known I mean outside of the more commonly known facts, because they are certainly known the people of Poland. That includes the interesting connection of the Guides and Scouts and their involvement during this period in history.

It’s a riveting story of perseverance, of resistance, friendship, loss and tragedy – one based on factual historical events, which makes it even more poignant.

Buy The Keeper of Hidden Books at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎ Hanover Square Press pub date 1 Aug. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Counting Lost Stars by Kim Van Alkemade

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Counting Lost Stars by Kim van Alkemade.

About the Author

Kim van Alkemade is the New York Times bestselling author of the historical novels Orphan #8 and Bachelor Girl. Born in Manhattan, she grew up in New Jersey and went to college in Wisconsin, where she earned a Ph.D. in English. For many years, she was a professor at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. Now a full-time writer, she resides in Saratoga Springs, New York, with her partner, their two rescue dogs, and three feisty backyard chickens.

About the book

New York Times bestselling author of Orphan #8, Kim van Alkemade returns with a gripping and poignant historical saga in which an unmarried college student who’s given up her baby for adoption helps a Dutch Holocaust survivor search for his lost mother. 

1960, New York City: College student Rita Klein is a pioneering woman in the new field of computer programming—until she unexpectedly becomes pregnant. At the Hudson Home for Unwed Mothers, social workers pressure her into surrendering her baby for adoption. Rita is struggling to get on with her life when she meets Jacob Nassy, a charming yet troubled man from the Netherlands who is traumatized by his childhood experience of being separated from his mother during the Holocaust. When Rita learns that Hitler’s Final Solution was organized using Hollerith punch-card computers, she sets out to find the answers that will help Jacob heal. 

1941, The Hague: Cornelia Vogel is working as a punch-card operator at the Ministry of Information when a census of Holland’s population is ordered by the Germans. After the Ministry acquires a Hollerith computer made in America, Cornelia is tasked with translating its instructions from English into Dutch. She seeks help from her fascinating Jewish neighbour, Leah Blom, an unconventional young woman whose mother was born in New York. When Cornelia learns the census is being used to persecute Holland’s Jews, she risks everything to help Leah escape.

After Rita uncovers a connection between Cornelia Vogel and Jacob’s mother, long-buried secrets come to light. Will shocking revelations tear them apart, or will learning the truth about the past enable Rita and Jacob to face the future together?

Review

The story switches between Rita and her numbness at the rejection she is experiencing and the loss, after being forced to give birth and then hand the baby over to strangers. In another timeline a few decades earlier we meet Cornelia, who is drawn into the machination of data collection and its deadly impact on the Jewish population. How do the two lives become connected when both women live in different times and countries, what do they have in common?

One question rears its head quite often, when discussing the Holocaust. People ask why is this particular atrocity worse than other genocides ect. Not that there should be any comparisons drawn when it comes to the murder of innocent people – the question is rather why the Holocaust stands out as a constant reminder of what humans are capable of doing to their fellow humans. My answer is always: the level of planning, the profit margin in a constant comparison to the end goal, the machinery of vast collaboration and the minutiae of the execution of said plans.

The author captures exactly that element of the Holocaust, which I find one of the most inhumane facts of its entirety. The documentation, the structure and evidence of their crimes that they didn’t manage to destroy, is quite frankly horrifying. The Hollerith machines were used to collect and process data, specifically in WW2 to collect Census data, which was used to identify and find their victims. Then further used to trace, track in camps – evidenced in certain camps, assumed in others.

I enjoyed the way the author brought characters with the generational trauma of the Holocaust into the story and combined it with characters living with the trauma of forced birth, which is a topic that has once again become a reality for many women in the 21st century. The grandchildren of the millions of children taken from unmarried girls and women, before contraception and abortion were legal legislative options, are now returning to the dark ages of control over women.

It’s an excellent read and also an informative one from an historical perspective. The story never loses sight of the tragedy, regardless of whether it is on a personal level or on a global level. The two levels inevitably become the tie that binds.

Buy Counting Lost Stars at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  WmMorrowPB; pub date 31 Aug. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Fighter of Auschwitz by Erik Brouwer

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Fighter of Auschwitz by Erik Brouwer.

About the Author

Erik Brouwer is a Dutch sports journalist and the author of eight historical non-fiction titles on topics as diverse as Argentine football and the actress Jetta Goudal. Spartacus, his book about Jewish Olympic athletes at the start of the Second World War, won the Nico Scheepmaker award for sports books in 2009.

About the book

In 1943, the Dutch champion boxer, Leen Sanders, was sent to Auschwitz. His wife and children were put to death while he was sent ‘to the left’ with the others who were fit enough for labour. Recognised by an SS officer, he was earmarked for a ‘privileged’ post in the kitchens in exchange for weekly boxing matches for the entertainment of the Nazi guards. From there, he enacted his resistance to their limitless cruelty.

With great risk and danger to his own life, Leen stole, concealed and smuggled food and clothing from SS nursing units for years to alleviate the unbearable suffering of the prisoners in need. He also regularly supplied extra food to the Dutch women in Dr. Mengele’s experiment, Block 10. To his fellow Jews in the camp, he acted as a rescuer, leader and role model, defending them even on their bitter death march to Dachau towards the end of the war.

A story of astonishing resilience and compassion, The Fighter of Auschwitz is a testament to the endurance of humanity in the face of extraordinary evil.

Review

This is the story of Leen Sanders – the husband, the father, the boxer, the survivor and the fighter. The story of pain, loss and then drawing incredible strength to endure hell and with small acts of bravery, kindness and selflessness to help himself and others survive.

One of the saddest moments is the end of Leen’s story. The fighter fought till the end for what was rightfully his – in fact the post-war ongoing damage and crimes committed upon the victims and survivors is devastating on another level. It wasn’t enough to try and extinguish, in the aftermath there was no real justice and the reception the survivors received was one of disdain. No guilt, no apologies, just more injustice.

That Leen won his battle went unnoticed by him in the end, but perhaps he found some release from his private madness and rightful rage living in his Alzheimer induced pre-war reality. One can only hope he was able to forget the horror and atrocities for some moments, whilst the world should remember him for his endurance, strength and determination to survive and above all help others to do so too.

The author writes in what I would call I more factual journalistic style, which might not appeal to readers who prefer a more entertaining style. I found that it created a more realistic experience of the story – it’s easy to forget we are talking about real people who experienced events we can’t even begin to comprehend – a direct parallel drawn between the writing voice, the facts and the experiences. The author has made sure Leen will be remembered, that his footprint in history will never fade.

Buy The Fighter of Auschwitz by Erik Brouwer at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Cassell; pub date August 17th 2023 | £8.99 | Paperback. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Forgotten Promise by Paula Greenlees

 It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Forgotten Promise by Paula Greenlees.

About the Author

Paula has lived in various places, including Singapore, where she was based for three years. It was while living in Singapore that the first seeds of her debut novel, Journey to Paradise, developed. The crumbling buildings and the modern high-rises popping up almost overnight seemed to be a metaphor for the social diversity and change in Singapore at that time. However, as a young mother living there, she wondered what it must have been like as a post-war colonial wife living miles away from the familiarity of home. Despite the gloss and glamour of colonial living, women were frequently stuck in unhappy marriages, often unable to follow careers or have the independence to divorce if things went wrong – which they inevitably did. 

Her writing, although set against exotic backgrounds, is set on the cusp of change – the shift from colonial dominance to independence. She likes to dig into a variety of issues and her main protagonist is, in many ways, a metaphor for the political and social events surrounding her at that time. It isn’t always an easy journey, but in the end, success comes her way. 

The Forgotten Promise tells the story of Ella, a young Eurasian woman, whose life is turned upside down by the Japanese occupation of Malaya, and it is through her lens and that of Noor, her cook, that the narrative is revealed.

As for Paula – she has always wanted to be a writer. As a little girl she used to spend hours writing stories and turning them into books, even using flour and water as paste to stick the pages together.  She spent hours writing poetry and plays as a teenager and has always written short stories in her spare time. It is this need to write and a love of reading that led her to take a degree in English and European Thought and Literature, and later a Masters Degree in Creative Writing.

Apart from her writing, Paula hosts a regular author interview on her website. You can find out more about new and existing historical fiction authors, such as Liz Trenow, Frances Quinn and Louise Fein, by hitting the ‘author interview tab.’ 

As a writer, she feels it is important to have a wide range of interests – not only does it adds flavour and layering to prose, but allows it allows time for ideas to mull and to percolate. People watching in cafés is one, long walks is another. And food! Good food is essential to her and she loves to cook using the best ingredients she can find.  As well as a love of travel, she is a keen amateur photographer and her next trip takes her to Cambodia where she is hoping to discover an exciting hook for a new book – you can find out more about her progress there by following her on Instagram.

Paula has a grown up daughter and lives in Warwickshire with her husband and an extremely friendly Labrador. Follow @PGreenlees on Twitter, Visit paulagreenlees.com

About the book

Malaya, 1920: Two girls make a promise in the shadows of the jungle. A promise that life won’t let them easily keep.

Malaya, 1941: Ella is running her late father’s tin mine in the Kledang hills, while Noor works as her cook. When the war that felt so far away suddenly arrives on their doorstep, Ella is torn apart from her family. Her daughter Grace is left in Noor’s care as Japanese soldiers seize the mine.

Ella is forced to make an impossible choice that takes her to England, thousands of miles from home. She is desperate to be reunited with her loved ones. But will the life she returns to be anything like the life she left behind?

Review

We meet Ella as a child, when the first invisible boundaries between herself and her friend become visible to herself and others. Then later as she lives the life of a tin mine owner, her friend now the family cook. The two of them separated by social and class structures. As the story progresses we return to the two, who have had to make extremely difficult choices to ensure their survival as their home and country is invaded during WW2.

Although the title references the bond between two young girls and a promise they make in all innocence, it is also about the way we deal with curveballs in life. Adapt and survive. Making hard decisions, sometimes at the expense of others and often made in the moment.

Despite the fact Ella is Eurasian, she is very much a product of white colonisation and privilege. I think it is frequently evident in her reactions when she returns to Malaya – the lack of understanding of a place and people who have had to adjust to extreme conditions of an oppressed country.

The destruction, pain, torture and war crimes committed by the Japanese during WW2 often take a second place to the atrocities and warfare in Europe during the same period. This opens a small window to some of it, whilst maintaining the essence of the family saga and dynamics. It was a pleasure to read.

Buy The Forgotten Promise at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎ Penguin pub date 1 Sept. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour A Gypsy in Auschwitz by Otto Rosenberg

It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour A Gypsy in Auschwitz by Otto Rosenberg, as told to Ulrich Enzensberger and translated by Maisie Musgrave.

About the Author

Otto Rosenberg was born in East Prussia in 1927 and grew up in Berlin. He was 9 when he was sent to the Roma and Sinti camp in Marzahn, ahead of the 1936 Olympic Games, and 15 when he was sent to Auschwitz. He was then detained in Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps before being freed in 1945. 

In later years, Rosenberg was the chairman of the Regional Association of German Sinti and Romanies Berlin-Brandenburg and fathered seven children. He passed away in 2001.

Otto’s daughter, Petra Rosenberg, is the current Director of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma Berlin-Brandenburg.

About the book

Otto Rosenberg is 9 and living in Berlin, poor but happy, when his family are first detained. All around them, Sinti and Roma families are being torn from their homes by Nazis , leaving behind schools, jobs, friends, and businesses to live in forced encampments outside the city. One by one, families are broken up, adults and children disappear or are ‘sent East’.

Otto arrives in Auschwitz aged 15 and is later transferred to Buechenwald and Bergen-Belsen. He works, scrounges food whenever he can, witnesses and suffers horrific violence and is driven close to death by illness more than once. Unbelievably, he also joins an armed revolt of prisoners who, facing the SS and certain death, refuse to back down. Somehow, through luck, sheer human will to live, or both, he survives.

The stories of Sinti and Roma suffering in Nazi Germany are all too often lost or untold. In this haunting account, Otto shares his story with a remarkable simplicity. Deeply moving, A Gypsy in Auschwitz is the incredible story of how a young Sinti boy miraculously survived the unimaginable darkness of the Holocaust.

Review

Otto is a mere nine years of age when he and his family are ripped from the comfort of their community and forced to fight to survive in the Marzahn camp. A labour camp with no housing or facilities that was filled with Sinti and Roma. They were targeted with a similar frenzy as the Jews were, because of their alleged racial impurity.

This is the story of a young boy who managed to survive the most vicious and deadly of concentration camps. A child who lost his family and friends, and yet despite his age was brave enough to try and stand up for himself and others by joining a revolt against his captors.

It’s not unusual for someone who has suffered extreme trauma to disassociate themselves from the events, which is why autobiographies and first-hand accounts can sometimes appear a little to be told or written with a lack of emotion. It’s a coping mechanism, keeping the memories and distress at bay, whilst making sure loved ones and victims are never forgotten.

What’s equally important is the intergenerational trauma – epigenetic trauma is fascinating and tragic. Imagine being so traumatised that it seeps into the very fabric of your being, your chemistry even. Post-war Holocaust generations are aware of this and the impact, despite often never being privy to the real details and finer details of said trauma.

It remains vital that the stories of Holocaust survivors are told and heard, regardless of whether they are alive or not. Documentation, eyewitness accounts and first-hand stories are pivotal, as the years pass and the younger generations are introduced to either a whitewashed version, alternative facts such as ludicrous denials or simply no information at all. 

I have read a lot of Holocaust accounts, and am simultaneously disappointed and disturbed that there are still so many facts and stories hidden in the folds of history. The Roma and Sinti persecution tends to stand in the shadow of the other persecuted groups. I think what really rattled my cage about Otto’s account was recognising the bureaucracy of the German nation, which is still a foundation of their structure today. The bureaucracy that stops the nomad community from receiving their financial dues, ergo still oppressing them with the efficiency of the Nazi party. 

The way they meticulously transcribed everything, and as we can see in this book those records and the use of that data, become relevant and remaining so for many years afterwards. Also that the way these war criminals, and they are criminals, just slid into important roles in every industry in the post-war era. No punishment or accountability, instead the victims were victimised further by having to watch the guilty live without the burden of trauma, and what’s worse they have to live with the murderers among them.

It’s an important read – one that should be taught in school and one we should be telling and retelling, so Otto and his experience never fall foul of the system that forgets and history that swallows up the voices of so many innocents. I won’t forget Otto, his family or his community.

Buy A Gypsy in Auschwitz at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour #IWM Mr Bunting at War by Robert Greenwood

It’s my turn on the BlogTour Mr Bunting at War by Robert Greenwood, it’s another novel in the Wartime Classics series by the Imperial War Museum. Mr Bunting at War will cost £8.99. It is published by IWM and can be pre-ordered at their online shop here: Mr-Bunting-at-War-(IWM-Wartime-Classic)

Written in 1941, the novel itself is very much of its time and thus extremely patriotic in its depiction of the reaction to the Blitz, as well as showing Mr Bunting’s own fears.

Both the book and the film were propagandist, depicting an ordinary family living on the outskirts of London and ‘sticking it out’ during the Blitz. However they also importantly demonstrate the significance of the home front in the wider narrative of the Second World War; a microcosm of suffering and sacrifice, and an illustration of the resilience it takes to make it through. – Alan Jeffreys, 2022

About the Author

Robert Greenwood ((1897 – 1981) was a novelist and writer. His first novel depicted the family and working life of the eponymous Mr Bunting (1940). His next novel, Mr Bunting at War (1941), continued this story in the first two years of the Second World War.

Mr Bunting at War was subsequently made into a film the following year entitled Salute John Citizen (1942), which proved tremendously popular at the box office. Greenwood’s other novel about the war was The Squad Goes Out (1943), which depicted the work of a voluntary ambulance squad during the London Blitz. 

Greenwood wrote eleven novels in total as well as a number of short stories, including Mr Bunting in the Promised Land (1949) which tells the story of the Bunting family in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. He died in 1981.

About the book

George Bunting, businessman, husband and father, lives a quiet life at home in Labournam Villa in Essex, reading about the progress of the war in his trusty newspaper and heading to work every day at the same time to the warehouse where he has been employed for his entire adult life.

Viewed with an air of amusement by his children, Mr Bunting’s war efforts subsist mainly of ‘digging for victory’ and erecting a dugout in the garden. But as the Second World War continues into the summer of 1940, the Battle of Britain rages in the skies and the bombs begin to rain down on London, this bumbling ‘everyman’ is forced to confront the true realities if the conflict. He does so with remarkable stoicism, imbuing him with a quiet dignity.

Review

I kinda think this is an interesting one, especially when you read the introduction. Given the timeline of Britain first being in the so-called Phoney War, ergo becoming perhaps a little complacent and thinking that everything would be an easy ride, then entering the Second World War in earnest with the subsequent losses and difficulties – it puts this story into perspective.

Essentially a propaganda piece to keep moral high and present the kind of enduring, strong and fearless family, who live duty to country before all other things – what could be more convincing to the readers. In the first year of engagement the in country fatalities were higher than out of country. The importance of people left at home keeping everything running and support systems in place was paramount to the defense strategy.

Even taking all of the above into consideration, the story of the Bunting family and very much Mr Bunting, is also one about coping mechanisms. Often Mr Bunting reacts with denial to the events happening around him. Living in a bubble of self-deception is a way of keeping the trauma, the fear and the reality of their situation at bay. 

Keeping a stiff upper-lip and a ‘everything for my country’ stance is perhaps also the only way to keep the pain of personal tragedy from breaking an individual.

Buy Mr Bunting at War at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  Imperial War Museum pub date 21 April 2022. Buy at Imperial War Museum.