Ninette's War: A Jewish Story of Survival in 1940s France

by John Jay

Constructed through diary entries and conversations writer John Jay had with the protagonist before she died, Ninette's War charts her high society family's fall from grace as they grapple with the hostility of their country - a France that had welcomed previous generations with open arms as the first European country to emancipate its Jewish people.

Ninette's testimony is compelling, heart wrenching and sincere as she chronicles her family's slow realisation of antisemitism and Nazi-collaboration from the Vichy government - led by former first world war hero Philippe Pétain, as he works to brutalise and legislate Jews out to the margins of society and towards death through Nazi rhetoric. Tracing the frailty of national pride through the eyes of a young girl, this is Ninette's War told in heart-breaking detail.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2025

Reviews

[J.L. Steinmetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrifying recounting of a prominent family's escape from death at the hands of French collaborators during WWII through the eyes of Ninette Dreyfus. While they survived, others in their family didn't. And although they lived, they were forced to endure every horrible kind of antisemitism - up close and personal, state-mandated, the others around them too afraid to come to their aid (though thankfully not all of them by any means), by the French, by the Germans (not so much the Italians!), collaborators, thieves to their art and property, and those driven by an unquenchable and irrational hate. It's clear that Ninette's parents largely shielded her from the horror around them as best they could, leading her to sometimes treat their predicament like a grand adventure. Knowing history, I couldn't rest until Paris was liberated.

[Mme Forte · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a parent, I can't imagine what mothers and fathers and other caregivers must have gone through when their Jewish families were threatened by the arrival of Nazis in their countries. The fear of harm coming to their children and the unbearable weight of responsibility would be crushing.

Ninette Dreyfus and her family were wealthy Parisians when France fell in 1940, and fortunately had the resources to flee, first to Nice, then to Cannes, then, as the Nazi trap drew tighter around them, over the Pyrenees to Spain. Along the way, they lost their home, the family business, and many family members and friends who disappeared to "unknown destinations" and never returned.

If anyone needs a reminder of what happens when a people is set up as an enemy, dehumanized, and scapegoated, here it is.

I hope nobody ever forgets about it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read ever so many books about the Holocaust, it's effect on families, the terror and fear. This book is somewhat different as it's compiled in part of interviews that the author did with an 80 year woman from an extremely wealthy and priviliged Jewish banking family. Although they were forced to flee Paris, and eventually France, they had the resources and contacts to make their lives easier than most families in the same situation. Still, many of their family did not survive. The description of their dangerous trip over the mountains to Spain is more detailed than any I've read. Worth reading.