The Woman With the Blue Star

The Woman With the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff  336 pages

Even before I started reading, I was intrigued by the title. I’m familiar with, and have been lucky enough to see one, the yellow stars the Nazis forced the Jewish people over mot of Europe to wear. The blue star was new to me. A Google search didn’t yield a quick explantion, but after a little digging, I found a Jewish Heritage website (Sorry, I forgot to note its name and cannot find it again) that educated me:

  "In September 1939, following the German invasion of Poland, individual German military and civilian authorities imposed the Jewish badge in certain Polish towns and villages, the first being decreed in the town of Wloclawek on October 29, 1939. In the General Government, that part of Poland directly occupied by Germany, Governor General Hans Frank ordered on November 23, 1939, that all Jews over the age of ten wear a "Jewish Star": a white armband affixed with a blue six-sided star, worn over the right upper sleeve of one's outer garments. There were heavy penalties for those caught not wearing it."

With that knowledge, I set off to read Pam Jenoff’s latest historical fiction novel.  In this tale, Sadie and her parents had been forced into Poland’s Krakow Ghetto. Eighteen-year-old Sadie ws forced to hide in the attic of their apartment building. She has snuck out and is downstairs in the kitchen when the Nazis raid the building. Unable to get back upstairs, she hides in a trunk, one of the first places her mother showed her to hide when she was much younger. 

Escaping the Nazis this time meant that they were sure to not be missed next time. One afternoon, Sadie finds her papa has removed the toilet and is trying to make the hole bigger…this was their escape plan: into the sewers. Papa’s friend, Pawel, has agreed, for a price, to help them and an Orthodox Jewish family make their way to a modicum of safety. The Germans would never think of searching such a gross and disgusting place, but they must go if they are to live. It’s harder for Mama to fit through the pipes as she is pregnant. Pawel leads them deep under Krakow and finds them an alcove where they can live about the rise and fall of the water.

Three month later, in June 1942, while shopping for cherries for her stepmother, Ella sees eyes through one of the sewer grates. At first, Ella isn’t sure of what to think, but she and the girl, who is about her own age, become friends.

Ella has her own tale of woes but nothing like what Sadie and her family and the others are enduring. She is an aristocrat and is protected from the Nazis by her stepmother who is a collaborator. Ella comes every Sunday to bring Sadie what food she can steal with her stepmother discovering that she is aiding Jews.

As time goes by and the Nazis begin to realize that they are losign the war, things get more and mor desparate, both below and above Karkow’s streets. To give anything more away would be to spoil it for others, but I’ll tell you the adventure, the terror, the romance, the secrets and the friendship that Jenoff writes about will have you staying up past your bedtime to find out what happens next. I read this fast-paced novel in three nights.

Author Jodi Picoult was lying when she said this about The Woman With the Blue Star: “…and will leave you gasping at the end.”  I sure was!

The Woman With the Blue Star receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

Refuge Denied: The St. Louis Passengers and the Holocaust

Refuge Denied: The St. Louis Passengers and the Holocaust by Sarah A. Ogilvie and Scott Miller   224 pages

 On May 13, 1939, the German passenger ship, MS St. Louis sailed from Hamburg for Havana. Aboard were 937 German Jews trying to escape the rise of Hitler’s Third Reich. All had landing permits for Cuba and many had waiting numbers for the United States. Before this voyage, the St. Louis had been a luxury liner. Captain Gustav Schroeder insisted that the passengers was no different than any other passengers.

Fifteen days later, the St. Louis reached Havana. Much to their surprise, the Cuban government denied the passengers entry. Negotiations lasted several days. Cuba continued to refuse, and Schroeder set sail for America. Pleas were submitted to President Roosevelt. Without hearing from him, the ship anchored in the waters off the coast of Miami. They were so close that the passengers could see Miami’s lights. With no word from Roosevelt, Schroeder has no choice but to return to Germany. I can’t imagine the fear the passengers experienced.

When the ship returned, the passengers were dispersed to four countries: England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

The years passed. In the United States, the Holocaust Memorial Museum was constructed. Two employees, Sarah Ogilvie and Scott Miller began to wonder what happened to those 937 German Jews. Were they swept up in Hitler’s determination to rid the world of Jewish people? Did any survive the concentration camps? Did any make it to America?

So began the research project that became this book. In 1996, Ogilvie and Miller began the arduous task of tracking down 937 people. It was a daunting task considering WWII had been over for more than 50 years.

Ten years in the making (that’s how long it took to track down all 937), this book is filled with tales of death, survivorship, research, dogged determination and sometimes just plain ol’ luck. What affected me the most was the passenger list and the photographs from the boat. Pictures of people without names makes them less personal. When you sit down to read this book, be sure to have a box of tissues handy.

 

I give Refuge Denied: The St. Louis Passengers and the Holocaust 6 out of 5 stars