THE GERMAN GIRL

The historical fiction genre is defined as a novel in which the story is made up but is based on a true event. And in The German Girl, Armando Lucas Correa has written a doozy. In 1939 Nazi Germany, Captain Gustav Schroder (the actual captain) of the S.S. St. Louis ocean liner departed Hamburg, Germany with 937 refugees (mostly Jewish) seeking asylum from Nazi persecution. Their destination was Havana, Cuba. These people gave up their wealth, houses, art work and cars in order to escape sure death if they stayed in Germany. Even though these people gave up everything and paid handsomely for their Cuban visas (where they were to wait in Cuba a few months to two years until the USA approved their visas)...Cuba changed it’s mind when the ship arrived in the port of Havana. America and Canada also denied the ship entrance. What were they to do? This plus the dangerous time spent in Germany are the beginnings of the story. The ensuing chapters switched back and forth to what happened in Cuba and in modern day NYC among the relatives of the Rosenthal family. While Mr. Correa’s prose and plot were outstanding, there was a flaw in his story that somewhat troubled me. The author failed to create tension in his story, mostly when the Rosenthals were still in Germany. It seemed like our protagonist, twelve year old Hannah Rosenthal, and her best friend, Leo Martin, were always romping around Berlin in a somewhat, “Ha ha, catch me if you can” attitude, even after Kristallnacht (the Night of the Broken Glass). I don’t know if any other reviewer noticed this shortcoming. Anyway, I still enjoyed this novel, although this foible almost cost it a five-star rating.

Inside 1939 Germany bad things were happening to the Jewish population. The Rosenthals owned the apartment building they lived in, yet they were basically hiding in their own apartment. Max was a premier college professor until he was fired for being a Jew. His spouse, Alma, was one of the most envied wives in all of Germany until Jews were declared impure. Their tenants wanted them to leave the building. Their daughter, Hannah, and her friend, Leo, scurried all over Berlin listening for news and avoiding the ogres (Hannah’s name for the Aryan populace). Max and Leo’s dad were conspiring to find a way out of Germany before the s**t hit the fan. Hannah had the looks of a pure Aryan and on one of her romps in Berlin with Leo is spotted by a photographer for Das Deutsche Madel (The German Girl) magazine. Her picture is taken before she can run away. Her parents (as Hannah is) are distraught when they see their daughter’s face on the cover of the Nazi propaganda magazine for German girls. Hannah and Leo overhear the latest news on an ogre’s radio, “We were going to have to list all our possessions. Many of us would have to change our names and sell our properties, our houses, and our businesses at prices they dictated. We were monsters. We stole other people’s money. We made slaves of those who had less than us. We were destroying the country’s heritage. We had bled Germany dry. We stank. We believed in different gods. We were crows. We were impure.” The Rosenthals and the Martins had to find a way out of Germany. Don’t get fidgety, I’m only on page 31.

Meanwhile, the novel switches to NYC 2014 where we meet twelve year old Anna and her mom. Her dad, Louis, went to work on 9/11/2001 and never returned. “The day Dad disappeared, Mom was pregnant with me. By just three months. She had the opportunity to get rid of the baby but didn’t take it. She never lost hope that Dad would return, even after receiving the death certificate.” All Anna has of her dad's is a picture of him that she keeps in her bedroom. One day a package arrives from Canada via Cuba. Mom tells Anna, “It’s from your father’s family.” Anna knew that her dad’s parents died in a plane crash but was unaware of any surviving relatives.The envelope is filled with negatives, a postcard of a ship and a magazine with a smiling German girl in profile on the cover. Anna says, “It’s time to find out who Dad is.” Mom says to Anna, “I think it’s time you knew something. On your father’s side, you’re German as well." Anna goes to her bedroom, “In front of the mirror, I try to discover the German traits I must have inherited from a father who up till now I thought was Cuban. What do I see in the mirror? A German girl. Aren’t I a Rosen?” Anna is excited to go to Cuba and meet the woman from Germany who provided for her dad. They develop the pictures but don’t know who the people in the pictures are. Anna and her mom fly to Cuba to meet Great Aunt Hannah.

From hereon in, the novel switches back and forth to 1939 Germany...NYC 2014...the escape from Germany on the ship... the early years for the Rosenthal family in Cuba...to present day Cuba. Normally I don’t like novels that keep switching from present to past, however the author did such a great job with it that I didn’t even notice my past distaste for that writing style. In order for people not to forget, Holocaust books must remain innovative as this novel was. Was this Holocaust novel written without the usual apprehension on purpose or was I right that the author failed to provide any angst? Either way, I highly recommend this historical novel.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: My all-time favorite historical fiction novel/movie involving the Holocaust is Thomas Keneally’s 1982 novel, Schindler’s List. It was heartwarming, if that could be said about the Holocaust.

Goodreads.com says, “During the Holocaust at the German concentration camp near Plaszow, thousands of Jews lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis. More than a thousand others would have been counted among the dead if not for a womanizing, heavy drinking, German-Catholic industrialist and Nazi Party member named Oskar Schindler."