Another really interesting & powerful WWII book! Just finished Sarah's Key this week and have to say this was pretty eye opening to read about an event that happened in France that I had never heard about or learned about in school.The way this story was told was similar to Those Who Save Us; told by two people but the stories intertwined. I'm sure there is some literary word for this but I don't know it! The story is told by Julia, a woman living in France in the 1990's and by Sarah, a young girl living in France in the 40's.
Did you know that France participated in removing Jews and deporting them to concentration camps? I didn't. The Vel' d'Hiv Roundup took place in 1942 when there was a raid of Jews held by the FRENCH police. Why were the French suddenly following Nazi orders? Turns out the Germans began to occupy France in 1940 and gave the French police orders - which they didn't even question! The French Government also did not recognize this event publicly and only apologized for in in 1995!
The Vel' d'Hiv is short for the Vélodrome d'Hiver, a big stadium in Paris. Jews were pulled out of their homes (including children!!!) and brought to this stadium for days. They were barely fed and many people died. After surviving that ordeal, they were then shipped via train to concentration camps. Can you believe they separated the children from the parents? Its just so horrific to think about.
Sarah's Key is interesting because the joining piece of the past & present in the house that Sarah lived in and the one that Julia now lives in. Julia is a journalist given the task of writing about the Vel' d'Hiv anniversary and upon researching the event, she learns about Sarah, the house she lived in/is currently living in, and links together pieces of the past(& present) to find out what happened which in turn, changes Julia's life.
A very moving story...While reading, I couldn't help but think of Hurricane Katrina and how so many people went to the Superdome only to be without food/water. Many people died there, as well. While that was a result of the city not being prepared to deal with the pending devastation, did we have an unintentional Vel' d'Hiv right here in the US?
Definitely recommend this book!
1 comment:
I really liked Sarah's portion of the story, but was less enamored by Julia's. I guess that just lets me know that I prefer the historical fiction part over the present day piece. I still think it's a great book and shed some light on a piece of history that I had never heard of either.
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