For some reason I keep stumbling on movies and books about Nazis or the World War. All of them are serious and of course distressing – Those Who Save Us tells a different viewpoint. The point of view for those in the towns who weren’t Jewish, who were Germans who had to do what they could to survive the times.The story is told between two time periods – between modern times in Minnesota and the years of WWII in Weimar, Germany. Half of the book is told through the POV of the mother, Anna, where the book flashes back often to her as a young woman enduring all sorts of horrors. The modern day story is told only through the POV of her daughter, Trudy, who is in America and makes her living as a professor of history.The daughter is frustrated with her mother and never had a close relationship with the woman. She’s convinced her father was a WWII soldier who worked in the camps and feels a sense of guilt about this. Her mother will never discuss with her the picture where she, as a small child, is with the man in his uniform and her mother. The mother is silent about all and refuses to speak the truth.The book is through the daughter asking questions for a study she’s doing – from people who lived during these times. The stories are dreadfully disturbing and all different. How terrible of a time! Most of these stories I won’t be forgetting. Really, this is a book that’s hard to forget, even if part of me would like to with details.The mother fascinated me. I find it interesting I didn’t like Trudy OR Anna much when they came on stage. Anna before the war was bitter toward her father, for a good reason (the horrible man), but kept trying to kill off her father’s dog because she disliked him. To me she seems cold at first but later I warmed up her as she went through her trials. What she had to do to survive for her and her daughter was unique because of her looks, those who rescued her, and her own personal upbringing/status before the war began.Trudy also wasn’t likeable at first – I thought she was far too eager and accepting of putting her mother in a home and not wanting to deal with her. She seems lifeless to me. Slowly, through stories of others and finally seeing all her flaws, I started liking her and seeing what she was made of. By the end of the story I did like Anna and Trudy both. Strange how that works.It’s a slow, seeping story that’s filled with horror and despair – obviously this never lets up considering the content. The ending is on a peaceful enough note. Some called it a little unrealistic and perhaps it was, but I dug it because of it tying with her finally being acknowledged for her risk and sacrifice. Also finding out who killed a certain person was a slap in the face as the reader knows the mother will never find it out.It was the author’s debut novel; overall I think she did an admirable job, but I do think she struggled a bit with some awkward phrasing and especially strange similes. Dialogue was strange because no quotations were ever used, which took a long while to get used to.The book takes a while to get into because of the strange dialogue and the slow pace – also the unwilling move between one time period and the next. Thankfully the story starts picking up and by the second half I was completely hooked. I become misty-eyed on several occasions. There’s some unique sexual issues in this book as well with flashbacks during a particularly disturbing relationship that actually stands as the more interesting relationship in the book. Some argue if she really loved him or not – I don’t think she was “in love” with him, that’s not possible with the power difference, control and fear. I think she loathed him. But she said we love those who save us, so perhaps a small part of her… I don’t know. The book isn’t black and white with characters or their actions.Overall it’s an excellent, moving book that is different for wanting to show viewpoints that aren’t always considered for this war.
While visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, one encounters many horrifying exhibits. There is an huge atrium, with a ceiling which seems endlessly tall. Around this room, covering all of the wall surfaces, there are photographs. There are happy families posing for group photos, babies with their toothless grins, little girls with pigtails, boys flying kites, sober individual shots for graduations, little men at their Bar Mitzvahs,loving couples gazing into eachother's eyes - all people doing normal things, living their lives. These were all Jewish Holocaust victims. It is impossible to view these mementos without tears. Further along and in many spots, there are videos of a variety of related incedents. One vivid scene was that of American soldiers escorting the townspeople to Buchenwald to observe the horrifying remnants of the Nazi atrocities. How could these people have not known of their activities? What could they have done?Jenna Blum has approached this topic in an innovative, heart-rending novel. Because of the Holocaust, many of us have lost family, or our friends have, or they are survivors. Rarely does one think of the cost to the German citizens during the war. Certainly, there were many sympathizers of the Reich, but many brave individuals did what they could to help their Jewish neighbors and friends. "Those Who Save Us" is a powerful, emotional view of one woman's struggles to maintain her dignity, sanity and her integrity. Confronted with starvation, cold and fears of death for herself and her child, she must engage in actions which she would have heretofore considered unthinkable and intolerable. Toward the end of the book she tells her daughter,"Anything I ever did, it was all for you". The effects of her shame, horror and sadness are vividly spelled out in her daughter's constricted behaviors. Blum has clearly conveyed the frustrations and pain of her characters.**********************************************************ADDENDUMFor another view of the hopelessness of life for German citizens read:The Plum Tree.
What do You think about Those Who Save Us (2005)?
“…we come to love those who save us. For although Anna does believe it is true, the word that stuck in her throat was not save but shame.”When I read the jacket for this book I could never have guessed the outcome that awaited me at the end of this book. From the very first page I was intrigued and spellbound. I was drawn into the historic reality of that some people must have endured these exact traumatic experiences in Germany during WWII. I praise the author for her ability to bring such detail and complexity into these characters. Those who save us/shame us really could be a header for each of the complex relationships we live vicariously through the characters in this book. As a fiction addict, I love the art of a good, perfectly delivered character study. I commend Ms Blum, this book was filled to bursting. I would recommend this book to everyone! I loved it!
—Debbie
I'm only about 50 pages into this book, and already I have mixed feelings about it--not because of the subject matter, but because of the writing. We'll see......So far the writing includes forced metaphors, awkward dialogue, and a preoccupation with bodily functions and related substances. Ahem.12/18: Hate to say it, but I'm looking forward to finishing this book so that I can move on to something better. As I believe other reviewers have noted, this seems to be a great idea for a book in the hands of a writer who's just not up to it. Sorry, Ms. Blum. It has improved, I'll give it that.Final review: Good topic, but this book is just awful. The character development is poor, the dialogue is weak. There's enough gratuitous sex--even without the scenes between Anna and the Nazi officer, which perhaps you could argue are necessary to the story--for a cheap romance novel. This is a sadly inelegant book that, given the subject matter, could have been a whole lot better.
—Terri
This was a very well written book about Nazi Germany told from the perspective of non-Jews who survived the war. I had never really considered what was happening to the non-Jews in Germany during that time, so in this regard I found it to be very educational. The book is told from the points of view of Anna, a mother, and Trudy, her very young daughter who both endured more than is imaginable a the hands of the Nazis. Anna's story is revealed in flashbacks while Trudy's is told in the present day from America. I was very immersed in Anna's tale but couldn't connect as well with Trudy. As a whole, I found the story to be highly readable, thought-provoking and moving. But it was an emotionally draining book as it recounts many horrific events and atrocities against Jews and non-Jews alike. This is no feel-good, curl-up-with-a-good-book-at-night kind of book. I felt tense throughout most of the story and it made me incredibly sad. I'd say Those Who Save Us is well worth reading, but only when you feel like you can manage the emotions and horror it elicits. I can't help but feel that reading this book was akin to watching Schindler's List. It took me years to finally decide that I was ready to watch that movie - I was glad I did, but it left an ache in my heart.
—Kelly
