Emilia
Forced out of their home in Danzig, Poland, Emilia’s family was to take nothing of value with them to the Krakov ghetto where sickness and desperation greeted them. Medicine is now needed as her brother has the flu but they have no money. Emilia secretly takes one of the families prized possessions to a SS officers and he provides to them the medicine that they need. More exchanges are made, the essentials for survival are exchanged for their family’s possessions but soon their possessions are exhausted. The family does not know what they do now. Emilia approaches the officer and informs him that they are out of jewels but they still need his help. Emilia can’t get out of her mind the individuals who don’t make it in the ghetto as the officer tells her to open her coat. Reluctantly, she slowly begins to undo her coat, as his eyes are elsewhere. He then instructs her to lift up her shirt. Emilia pauses as she thinks about her family’s future. Slowly, she lifts the bottom of her shirt and lets her bare skin show.
Emilia has seen firsthand the destruction and ultimate death which occurs at the hands of the SS. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. She feels that what she doing is the only way to save her family and herself. The way she separated herself from the situation mentally was marvelous. I was angry and sicken by what was starting to develop but became more aggravated when the family was forced to move again and things became dreadful. The rape, the mind games, the harassment was an everyday occurrence. She learned that she had to walk or someone would walk over her, she had to have an ally or a group because she’d never make it alone, and she had to care or they’d take everything she had. Emilia was shaped by her experiences and they made her the adult she became later in life. I liked how the novel showed us her life after the war. 4.5 stars
I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Ellie Midwood in exchange for an honest review.
