Jew Face
A Story of Love and Heroism In Nazi-Occupied Holland
-
-
5.0 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $7.99
-
- $7.99
Publisher Description
During the Nazi occupation of Holland, 1940-1945, the Jewish community there suffered devastation on a scale as great as in any other nation in Europe. Only a small percentage of Dutch Jews survived the systematic annihilation. The land was flat and easy to patrol, peoples backgrounds and religions were well documented, and the physical appearance of a Jew was often obvious and very distinctive. In this environment, love was difficultbut not impossible.
This memoir tells a love story that grew during the occupationthat of Nardus and Sipora Groen, as written by their son, author David Groen. It is the story of two Jews who were drawn together by the basic goal of survival. One was an Orthodox Jewish man who evaded the grasp and arrest by the Nazis numerous times, although each time as a member of the resistance and never as a Jew. The other was a woman whose innocent beauty and Jewish-looking face compelled her to move from place to place and exhibit an almost unimaginable courage in order to avoid detection and almost certain death at the hands of the Nazis.
Together, and with the help of many special people, including a couple whose righteousness reached the highest level one can imagine, they have lived to tell their story.
David Groen, the youngest child of Nardus and Sipora Groen, has had the benefit of a listening to their firsthand accounts throughout his life. David has an extensive knowledge of Jewish history and has interviewed many of the individuals featured in the story, both in the United State and the Netherlands. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he has lived all over the world, including Jerusalem, London, and Philadelphia. He currently lives in Queens, New York.
Customer Reviews
Jew Face
I have over the last 4 or so years read over 100 holocaust books, starting with Schindler's List. I have also read the book about the chance meetings that resulted in the book and subsequent movie. This started me on my journey on the reading of this subject. I find them all fascinating. To a reader, the stories of the round ups and train rides to death camps are an essential part of the various authors experiences. However, here I was ready to experience a bit of a toned down story line. The author here brought in the horror of the German occupation however I did not have to experience the death camp tragedy over again.
The author did a marvelous job telling of the uncertainty of life of those times for a jew; you could trust nobody. Likewise, the almost romantically somber relationship between the two main characters were almost an essential part of a war time love story. Drama and emotion was a luxury that a young couple could not afford.
The author went into great detail as to the occupation of the Dutch lands. Here, the German occupation forces were at their most humain, if one could put it that way. However, we learn that all is sudden death for a jew no matter what country Germany occupied.
Most of these books are written by first time authors or family members, this was written by the main characters son. However, he either has a gift for literature, or a publisher that went through a manuscript rewrite.The book reads very well. It was a pleasing book to read. I could not put it down once started.
I also like the fact that the author took us to the modern day, the story had a happy ending; this is not always the case in this type of book. For anyone interested in this subject matter, this is a book I would call a "must read". A book club recommended this book to my mother, knowing that I read this subject, she referred it to me. I gobbled it up on a chilly weekend.