The Mosaic

The haunting, epic tale, The Mosaic begins when Gilbert is eleven years old and the Nazis invade his country. After Holland capitulates, Gilbert returns to school to find the seat of a Jewish classmate empty.


As resistance to the occupation grows, Gilbert’s father, a minister, joins the rising voices of dissent. Gilbert’s cousin, a nurse, rescues a newborn Jewish baby.


Soon, conflict erupts between Nazi collaborators and the church. The Reverend Kwint, successor to Gilbert’s father, is taken in for interrogation by the Gestapo for suspected aid to Jewish citizens. A year later, the Nazis order the church to be torn down to make way for the Atlantic Wall. The colossal mosaic by Johan Thorn-Prikker, depicting the Last Supper, is salvaged.


This sweeping first-hand account narrates the struggle of life in Nazi-occupied Holland during the war, the hardship of the years that follow and raises questions that remain in a world where fascism and torture are still rife.


In Gilbert’s story, the rescued mosaic becomes a powerful symbol of our broken world, of the betrayal of our humanity and yet, in the end, also a symbol of the hope for redemption.