Darkest Hour

By Caroline Tung Richmond

     A heartfelt tale of bravery and determination.  This is an interesting story of one young american and how she came to aid the resistance in war torn Europe.  Will Lucie be able to get retribution for the death of her beloved brother, Theo?  Or Will the Germans be able to create a weapon to bring about the end of the war?  

     Lucie is a young girl who runs to Paris at the age of 16, hoping to help the French Resistance.  She has lied about her age, and is allowed to train for covert operations.  A group of young women that move about France, thwarting the Germans whenever possible.  Lucie's small group is situated in Paris and they are deadly to Nazi sympathizers.  After some of her fellow agents are captured and the group is scrambling to remain safe.  Lucie and Sabine are drawn into the interrogation and retrieval of a a scientist.  While, the two young women are separated, Lucie is left with the task of questioning Dorner, should she trust him and his valuable intel?  Should she help him get to Great Britain?    When they are discovered and she has to move quickly, she decides to take him at his word and puts him on the path to safety.  As they part ways, Dorner claims he knows of a double agent within the resistance ranks and gives her the initials RJH?  Could it be her commander?  

     Lucie rushes back to headquarters and discovers Sabine.  They compare notes and Sabine shares a cryptic message from the radio.  The clues add up to Harken being a double agent and putting the girls at deadly risk.  As they question what to do, Harken returns from his errand to be confronted by the two women.  Sabine is adamant that he is a traitor and wants him to die.  As Lucie is thrown in the middle, the Germans approach.  Sabine goes on the offensive and kills the traitorous man.  The women have to destroy headquarters and go on the offensive.  

     Of course, the information from Dorner is still brewing in Lucie's head and the women decide to find the lab and eliminate the risk of Zerfalt.  But what can three young women do to the mighty German's, they are jumping from the pot into the kettle in their plans to aid the resistance.  When the reach the location of the lab, surprises, pain and capture occur.  The discovery that they had been played and lied to along the way does not sit well with Lucie.  The Doctor has concocted an evil plan, in which Lucie and her friend Tilly are to be weaponized against the United States.  As the brainwashing treatment commences, Lucie barely holds on to her identity.  How are they to reach safety?  Will they ever make it out of the lab?  

     This book is full of twist and turns and is an interesting read.  I appreciated the "What if's" of the tale, but it did seem fairly impossible.  The only other negative is that most of the book, was well thought out and developed.  It did fall flat a little at the end, with the escape and Lucie's quest for freedom.  What could have been the best part of the book seemed to lack details.  I am giving this book a 4 out of 5 stars and feel that it would be good for kids in 7th grade and up.  This is another great story of time that needs to be remembered, that of a war torn Europe and an egocentric, dictator that put his own agenda in front of that of his countrymen.  

Links 

Caroline Tung Richmond

History of the French Resistance

Nazi medical experiments

German use of tunnels etc.

The War Below

By Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch 

     I love that this book and this author go beyond what one thinks they know about the plight of Europeans during and after World War II.  In the story "Making Bombs for Hitler", you meet two children that are surviving their ordeal in a German Concentration Camp, Luka and Lida become fast friends and learn to depend on each other in order to live.  This is the tale of Luka after he escapes the camp and how he hides, survives and tries to make it home.  

     He is very fortunate in that he stumbles upon a farmer and his wife that nurse him back to health and points him in the right direction.  Than as he stumbles to where he thinks is safety a young girl, Martina, finds him and teaches him how to remain safe from capture.  As the two of them elude soldiers they develop a close friendship, so when they stumble upon a hidden hospital and resistance fighters they willingly join the cause.  

     During Luka's time with the resistance, he learns a lot, and he is able to hone his medical capabilities, he becomes integral to his group and saves many lives.  As the war turns, however, and he looses Martina to a gunshot, he thinks he has to move on and continue on his quest to return home.  One of the adults in the resistance convinces him he should go out and share their story of what they have been able to accomplish.  Luka relents and heads away from home.  As he travels he notices an increasing number of people that have been dislocated and are homeless and have no place to go.  He follows along and finally reaches a camp run by Americans.  The Americans are trying to reconnect family members and communities, they provide food, clothing and other necessities.  For a long time Luka wanders the camps looking for family members or his friend Lida.  So when the day arrives that someone says they know her, he makes a point of hunting her down.  As he reconnects with Lida he is filled with love.  This love is put to the test when a Russian Soldier approaches Luka during school and says that his father is looking for him in Kyiv.  Luka is heartbroken when he hears the truth.  He rushes back to Lida and the reader is left with a deep hope that they remain together.
     What is amazing about this book is that it evokes images, sensations and feelings in a simple and concise manner.  All too often when hearing, learning or discussing World War II and German Concentration camps and the plight of many Europeans the emphasis is on the Jewish Holocaust.  I am in no way trying to minimize the horrors that were inflicted by the Germans, but this opens ones eyes to the atrocities on the entire continent and points out both perpetrators and victims.  I give this book a 4.5 out of 5, it was outstanding and would encourage anybody over 5th grade to enjoy this book!

Links 

Author

Battle of Kyiv (Kiev)

Russian Prison Camps

Resistance during WWII

A Lucky Child

                                                                    By Thomas Buergenthal

     I was prepared for this to be another heartwrenching story of the Jewish Holocaust, instead, I was inspired and surprised.  This is a memoir of a young boy that survived and he is still not sure how.  Through some sort of divine intervention he was able to stay in a ghetto with his family much longer than many others, when he was forced to Auschwitz there was no selection.  Normally, when most children reached Auschwitz, they were selected out and immediately sent to the gas chambers, instead, he was able to stay with his father where he was protected.  

     Through happenstance and incidences of bravery, he was able to fall under the influence of those in power and was fed more than most and was not forced into hard labor.  He worked as an errand boy or in a children's ward as a trash collector. Somehow, he avoided illnesses that caused his bunkmates to pass away.  

      Even when the Nazis decided to liquidate Auschwitz and march the inmates to Germany, Thomas was able to avoid the death that most of the other children endured.  During the dreaded death march, Thomas did contract a serious case of frostbite, which caused him to have some of his toes amputated when he reached the next camp.  In this hospital, he was cared for and met his friend and author Odd Nanson.  Odd was able to give Thomas treats and bribe the hospital staff to keep Thomas safe.  

     Thomas' luck did not run out when he was liberated from the German's.  He met up with the Polish army and became their mascot.  He was made a miniature uniform, fed well, and given gifts by the servicemen.  He was even given a pony and horse.  Eventually, however, one soldier decided that the army was no place for an 11-year-old boy and helped Thomas relocate into a Jewish orphanage.  Through the orphanage and its connections within the Jewish community around the world, Thomas was eventually reunited with his mother.  With her loving care, Thomas was finally educated and eventually made it to the United States to pursue an education in law.  Before he left Europe he did reacquaintance himself with his savior Odd Nanson, who wrote a memoir of his time in a German concentration camp and mentioned Thomas.  

     The incredible aspect of Thomas Buergenthal is the fact that yes he survived the Jewish Holocaust, but what he did with his experience and how he used it to drive him into international law is the impressive part.  He became in incredible voice for human rights and served on several courts that brought human rights cases forward.  I was very inspired by how he took something that could have been very negative into a definite positive.  

     I am giving this book a 5 out of 5 stars and believe it is appropriate for anybody 7th grade and up.  It is very well written and I love the addition of the pictures.  I think everyone has struggles and how we react to them is important, to know that something horrifying could be turned around into something pretty great is inspiring.  Definitely well worth the read!  

Links 

Biographical information on Thomas Buergenthal

Odd Nansen

International Court of Justice

Death March Information

Jewish Holocaust - Background Builder

The Holocaust and Holocaust denial from Henry Hollis

In preparation of our next book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", I have uploaded these two multimedia files to help build background!