It is hard to get through this book without tears in your eyes. Once I started reading it I could not put it down.The book is inspired by the story of Franciszka Halamajowa who saved fifteen Jews by hiding them in her house for 20 months. She also hid one young German soldier defector. Before World War II Polish town of Sokol had six thousand Jews, only 30 of them survived the war. Half of them were hidden in Franciszka house. One family was hidden in the pigsty, the second family in a hole dug in under the floor boards, and the young soldier was hiding in the tiny cubby hole in the attic. None of them knew of the others until the German soldiers left Sokol in 1944.
The story is intricately weaved together from different points of view. We hear about the same events from the point of view of Franciszka's daughter, then from the point of view of the people she saved.
Why did Franciszka do it? She had no special affinity with the Jewish people. She just did what felt right. She knew that if she did not do it they would be facing certain death. She had no special affinity to German soldiers, yet she knew the young German soldier who did not want to follow orders to kill Jews was also facing death. She was just doing the decent thing. How wonderful would the world be if every person just did the decent thing?
This is a wonderful book, well told and inspirational. I am grateful to the author for sending me a review copy of the book. It moved me!
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.
Ali Julia review ★★★★★
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