The Savior

by Eugene Drucker

A magnetic debut novel from world-renowned violinist Eugene Drucker

Set during the final weeks of World War II, The Savior is the story of Gottfried Keller, a young German violinist. Exempted from military service, Keller is burdened with the demoralizing task of playing for wounded soldiers in hospitals and makeshift infirmaries.

As he leaves his apartment one morning to pick up a new assignment at headquarters, Keller finds an SS driver waiting for him and is escorted without explanation to a labor camp outside his town. There he is introduced to the camp's Kommandant, who tells Keller that he will spend the next four days performing for the inmates as part of an experiment in reviving hope in those who have lost it completely.

Overwhelmed by fear and compelled by the temptation of using his talent to affect others so powerfully, Keller finds himself playing a series of concerts for the prisoners -- and seeing with his own eyes the horrifying truths within the barbed-wire fence. As he plays the music of Ysaÿe, Hindemith and Bach, most notably the searing Chaconne, Keller's own questionable past unfolds, revealing the loss of his closest friend and the Jewish fiancée from whom he fled in fear of being caught as a Jew-lover. As he bears witness to the camp's atrocities, Keller's horror toward the perpetrators and their crime begins to fade, revealing his own culpability.

Beautifully conceived and gracefully written, The Savior is a complex and illuminating character study of a man severed from his past expectations and an artist struggling with his identity in the face of human catastrophe.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Music, American, Adult Fiction, Historical

209 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2007

About the author

Beautifully conceived and gracefully written, The Savior is a complex and illuminating character study of a man severed from his past expectations and an artist struggling with his identity in the face of human catastrophe. "

Reviews

[Muphyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise and setting (a musician is asked to perform in a concentration camp to "revive" prisoners) but unfortunately, the characters left me completely cold.

I felt no empathy towards Gottfried (the violinist) nor the inmates: Gottfried because he was an unlikable and predictable character, the inmates because they only remained shadows. Somehow Drucker couldn't convey the atrocity and horror that these inmates would have experienced, they were just empty shells there to prop up the point of the story.

The writing is nothing to shout about; Drucker may be a gifted musician but he's no writer. Coupled with weak characters, the outcome isn't too pretty. Dialogues in general felt very contrived; at no point did I feel like people actually talked the way Drucker had characters express themselves.

I did appreciate the music side of things, what pieces Gottfried would play and why but my enjoyment, unfortunately, stopped there.

[Lynn Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book that works on many levels. It is about the anguish one feels when confronted with a morally complex situation. On another level it is about the potential of music to heal both the musician and the listener. It's a very timely and important book in this time of fundamentalism, bullying and burning of mosques and overthrow of regimes. This is one of those treasures that I would love to share with everyone I know.

[Debi Crawford-Poyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very poignant novel about a young German concert violinist from 1933 to the ending days of the 3rd Reich.

[Heather Buelow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eugene Druckner’s The Savior delves into both the possibilities and the limitations of music as a vehicle for transcendence. Set in a concentration camp, Druckner’s naive violinist is directed to perform for a select group of prisoners in an experiment concocted by the camp’s general. Such an extreme setting allows Druckner to demonstrate the most extreme effect or ineffect of music’s capabilities.

Unfortunately the work feels muddled, making it difficult to piece together where Druckner would like the reader to focus attention. The work primarily follows the violinist’s present experiences in the camp, but also his past experiences with various characters including an ex-fiancee, an old friend, and his parents. Attention is also given to the personal experiences of one of the prisoners, elaborating on the tortures of the camp, while other prisoners are highlighted briefly but in the end left as mere cameos. Wounded German soldiers are given select attention in the beginning of the work and conjured up again periodically throughout. One SS guard begins analyzing a Bach piece, but never comes to terms with it. There are enough experiences and tangents to fill a book three times the size of The Savior, but because very few of those interactions are explored thoroughly, the novel feels more pieced together out of scattered bits than it does a solid work.

By moving in so many directions, Druckner lacks thoughtful analysis of each tangent. Metaphors are demonstrated obviously and followed by nearly direct announcements of his intentions. I would certainly have appreciated such transparency in high school lit class.

However, Druckner does give thorough contemplation of the music his violinist plays, elaborating on the composition of themes and movements within the pieces. Though at times his direct analyses feel tedious to a reader untrained in music, they are refreshing oases of meditation in an otherwise scrambled work.

Overall The Savior is dismissible. While Druckner’s intended themes are certainly intriguing, his work does not give them appropriate focus or study.

[Elyse Rudin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but terrific story about a Catholic violin virtuoso in WWII Berlin. He was 4F so his contribution to the war effort was to play for the injured soldiers. The SS call on him to play for concentration camp prisoners. How this affectes him and the prisoners he played for was gut wrenching. I was caught up in this book from the moment I started. It is grusome and thought provoking at the same time. A must read for any holocaust enthusiast.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

As Holocaust books go, this one isn't up there at the top. It's an interesting story, but nothing to rave about. If you are interested in this topic, there are much better books that deal with the history of the Nazi era, persecution, "ordinary" Germans, etc.

[Bethany · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not recommend this book. Only a professional violinist would understand the parts about music, and there are some very disturbing scenes that occur inside the fences of the concentration camp. I was very disappointed.

[Anna-Marie Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Savior, written by world-renowned violinist, Eugene Drucker. The story is based on the life of his own father, violinist Ernst Drucker who was a concertmaster of the Jewish Kulturband Orchestra in Frankfurt and Berlin.

An historical fiction about a violinist who is commissioned by an SS Kommandant to perform for inmates in a labor camp. Behind the barbed wire fences, the violinist spends four days performing in the midst of cruelty and human catastrophe. It’s the final weeks of World War II … can music bring hope?

To the reader, as you turn to page 170, set the ambience and begin listening to Bach’s Chaconne for Solo Violin, from Partita No. 2 In D Minor … you will feel the glory and intense emotion in this piece and yet understand the culmination of hate, sorrow, anger, and pain that Drucker weaves into the pages of this story as he witnesses the camp’s atrocities and the desperation of men and women trapped behind those walls …

“The test of a good novel is whether it stays with you afterward, and The Savior is a book you will not forget.”

[Roger Smitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel has engaged readers since 2007 and certainly has a message to us in this year of 2020. A young German musician is told to make the Jews whom the Nazi have taken as slaves to work longer and faster to make ammunition for WW2.

The core character, the musician, is the core of the story line. Drucker does a lot to show how good people can be drawn into something horrible. The major question for the young musicians is what he can and should do.

The other readers who have posted for this book will provide lots of examples and details.

The key of the book is that there is a thing called evil in this world.

[Valerie Drees · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story required some heavy slogging. I'm not sure even now whether the title had much to do with the story line. The knowledge and love of music (especially the solo violin) on the part of the author was admirable, but ... would horribly abused POWs really appreciate music even when played by a virtuoso? Would it rally them to action? I had a lot of problems with the whole premise of the story.

[Marilyn Crosbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well written and held my attention, despite the subject matter being unpleasant. One aspect that kept me reading was the fact that Keller was a musician, as am I. I kept reading, as I wanted to know what was going to happen to Marietta and the Grete, the two women that appealed to Keller. The ending took me by surprise, but I wasn't left hoping for more.

[Katie Marino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thankfully I only paid 50 cents for this at a library book sale. I guess it was well written, but I failed to see any type of Savior in the book at all. The main character was rather pathetic and weak. The ending was blah and disappointing. I kind of want my 50 cents back.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting! It provided a perspective about the German people during the war I have not encountered before. Soulful and even more powerful because the events retold are based on the experiences of the author’s father, a violinist in Germany. This is a must read!

[Kathy Augustine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now I know what it sounds like if a music theory book tries to tell a WW2 story.

[William Levelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

… to maybe a five star rating....

Why the dual rating? Well, if you read the book without familiarity with the music that the protagonist plays, or without being able to evoke, or at least be moved by the music he mentions by title, I personally think the book loses much of its impact. I also think the character's programming over the four days also has meaning, both in the difficulty, tonal qualities and general musical and technical emphasis in terms of the solo violin repertoire.

Drucker is an amazingly accomplished violinist, and given that, his writing is not bad, and at times, even lyrical. The themes and questions that he tackles in the intense frame of a Nazi camp are worthy and ultimately relevant not only to musicians but everyone—when does self-preservation/survival out way silence? How does one compare or even frame the power of music in horrendous circumstances, and what does one do with the potential of that transcendent power being abused? Relevant questions for people in the arts in terrible regimes… and in just dire circumstances… or when there are others just utterly suffering…

Ah, it should be a multimedia book for those who are not familiar… The four days of music:

1. Paganini Caprice No. 9 in E major; unspecified; Caprice No 5 in A minor; Ysaye Violin Sonata No. 5 (two movements: L'Aurore and Danse Rustique); Bach Partita in E major.
2. Hindemith, first Sonata for solo violin; Bach Sonata in G minor
3. Character's own composition (influenced by Ysaye, Hindemith); Bach Sonata in A minor.
4. Bach Partita in D minor.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this one is impressive. He's a violinist who has won eight Grammys, and he's the son of an award-winning violinist who fled Germany before the Holocaust.[return][return]This adult novel is the story of Gottfried Keller, a German violinist who isn't in the army because of a weak heart. Instead, he performs solos at soldier hospitals because he is told to. He constantly thinks about his former girlfriend who ran away to Palestine when Germany was becoming uncomfortable for Jewish musicians. In fact, Keller almost became a Jew by forging papers so that he could become a member of a prestigious Jewish orchestra. But he didn't. Another example of his weak heart. Instead he is spirited away to perform at a death for four days. He lives at the camp, breathes the soot in the air of dead Jews and Gypsies, and tries to perform well for the thirty prisoners in the experiment.[return][return]The novel read quickly. But it isn't heart-warming or inspiring. Typical Holocaust historical fiction. Horrible. Embarrassing. Makes you think. Sad.

[Kathrin Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

A moving story, towards the end increasingly difficult to read because of the brutality it describes. However, despite the background of real atrocities, I found the story of Gottfried Keller contrived and most characters seemed to me shallow in their description. It is a quick read if you can deal with the difficult end but there are more profound approaches to engaging with the Holocaust than this one, in particular by Wiesel and Levi who lived through it themselves. In fact, I almost query whether a "novel" written by somebody with only relayed experience is the right way. Daniel Mendelsohn's "The Lost" in my view is a more powerful way of dealing with the horror. The real interest I gained from this book are the musical compositions it weaves into the story, in particular Bach's Partitas and the special importance given to the Chaconne. It made me listen to these pieces again and it confirmed to me the profoundness of this music.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A powerful story, dealing with life (or lack of it) in an impossibly horrible situation.

Set in the holocaust, the book follows a musician who is chosen to play for prisoners in a Nazi internment camp. Fair warning, parts of it are extremely difficult, with a graphic, unstinting look at the horrors of the camps.

The author shows a deep understanding of and a true passion for music, often describing pieces in loving detail. Clearly the work of a musician. (The author is a violinist.)

My problem with the book was that the writing is serviceable, even prosaic where it needs to be powerful, where it needs to sing. And the story feels a little clunky, the relationships, the plotting all too obviously put together for a purpose, not growing organically from the story.

The book is powerful, but could have been much deeper.

[Richard Brand · Rating 2 out of 5]

This may be a well written book and it may make all kinds of psychological truth, but I did not find it very satisfying. It is a hard story to read and to believe. I do believe that it could reflect a reality in Germany and a camp during the killing of the Jews. The thought that one camp commander wanted to revive the prisoners to human feelings so that they would suffer more when they were killed might describe the attitude of one of the camp commanders. The role of the violin player was harder to understand for me and the commandant's comments about the violin player were way deeper than I saw. We were left with a feverish violin player in his apartment. A less than satisfying for me ending.

[Robbie Forkish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eugene Drucker is not an author; he's a violinist for the Emerson Quartet. His father was also a violinist in Germany in the 1930s. This short book, while not literature, powerfully conveys disturbing events from the Nazi regime in the 30s and from concentration camps during the war. Although the theme of playing for concentration camp prisoners has been done before, I found this to be more of a punch in the gut than others. The musical descriptions are effective without being florid. All in all, a worthwhile book--but not light or uplifting.

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is, in my opinion, a rather atypical World War II novel. It has some of the standards schticks- sadistic Nazi guards are the first to spring to mind- but as the novel progresses, it becomes clear this isn't your run of the mill, good-guy-defeats-bad-guy work. Because Keller is a bad guy. The may not know it, but he is.

I also loved the description of the violin and the music (though I must say, playing on the strings on the cover wouldn't make a nice sound).

[Julie Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably quick read, this book is another in a long line of concentration camp narratives, but from the perspective of an ordinary German outsider, brought in to play violin to a select group of prisoners. The scenes where he is playing are well written, but possibly a little dry to a non-musician. Not the best book I've read, but having recently read a satirical novel about Hitler, this one certainly kicked me in the guts with a reminder of the horror actually inflicted.

[Tim Zimmer]

The whole book was hard to take. Toward the end I thought that maybe it was all a nightmare from which Gottfried would awaken in the end. But no, it was a reality downer from beginning to end. There probably were actual sadists like the Kommandant of the camp in the Nazi war machine, but I had trouble accepting him as a real human being. I'm more inclined toward the idea of the banality of evil even among the worst of the worst of their kind.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Savior by Eugene Drucker is a powerful story about a depressed, demoralized violinist in Nazi Germany who is dragged into an "experiment" concocted by the Commandant of a concentration camp. His charge is to bring what I would call the walking dead back to life with music. Gorgeous writing. Recommended.

[Sandi Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young German violinist is forced to play concerts for a group of Jews at a concentration camp who have been selected for an experiment in restoring hope. Written by a musician, The Savior is very lyrical in its prose, but the flashbacks to pre-WWII slowed down the story and did not help create sympathy for the main character. A sad read.

[selena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Savior is a jewel of a book.
It's beautiful, lyrical, and most certainly painful.

It explorers the horrors of the Jewish concentration camps during the period of WWII, the inhumane tortures, and the almost healing power of music.


This story is right on par with "The Black Violin" by Maxence Fermine. Give it a try.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Druker writes passionately about music and intertwines it with twisted emotions of the Germans under Hitler who disagreed with him, and yet did what they had to survive. This book has gotten me thinking quite a bit. As a musician myself, I connect with what the protagonist has to say about music.
Just as a warning, it gets pretty graphic -- I can't say I did a close reading all the way.

[Lauren Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Catholic violinist must play for wounded German soldiers in WWII Berlin. However, the SS called on him to play for Jewish concentration camp prisoners as part of an "experiment." This book was good, but I would not call it a must read. I think it was too short, which prevented the author, Eugene Drucker, from really developing the main character fully.

[Philip Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised with Drucker's ability to maintain a riveting narrative that flowed in and out of, what for many, could be pedantic meditations on the playing of strings. However, I personally loved the mixture, a perfect balance, much like Drucker's playing I and believe he has found a niche that I look forward to him expanding on.