Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

I started, and finished, Those Who Save Us in one day because I couldn’t put it down. The subject matter was so compelling and also touching. I am a huge fan of WW2 historical novels to begin with, which was the primary reason for requesting it from the library to begin with. This book alternates with between Trudy, in present day Minnesota, and Anna in 1940’s Weimar, Germany. Trudy, a history professor, is working to collect the oral histories of WW2 survivors, but with a twist. While her partner Ruth, is focused on Jewish survivors, Trudy wants to talk to the Germans who survived and find out how and why they did what they did. Surprisingly, many of these immigrants display blatant anti-Semitism, which shakes Trudy’s belief in what she’s doing; yet she is driven by her own history as a child born in Germany during the war. Her mother, Anna, is strangely drawn to Trudy’s project, but refuses to divulge her own history to her daughter. Anna is a young woman during the start of the war who must hide her love affair with an older Jewish doctor, Max Stern. When Max is arrested and interned in Buchenwald, a pregnant Anna flees her father and moves in what a baker who is aiding the resistance. Anna helps smuggle food to the prisoners until Mathilde, the baker, is found and executed. Anna manages to escape punishment for herself and Trudy by catching the eye of the Obersturmführer, a high ranking officer at Buchenwald. He coerces her into an affair that is often abusive, yet she maintains the relationship to ensure her survival. The past and present flash back and forth and the story is so compelling; you feel rage, sadness, compassion, the whole gamut of emotions as you live through this horrible point in history. Definitely a must read if you like historical fiction. Also, on a side note, I discovered after the fact that Blum actually worked for Shoah Foundation, which probably inspired Trudy’s project in the novel.