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In the Warsaw Ghetto
Ala Silberman is training to be a dancer when the Germans invade Warsaw. Together with almost half a million other Jews, Ala and her family are forced into the ghetto, where she struggles with feelings of guilt at her comparative privileged circumstances. Then Ala’s enigmatic teacher forms a dance company with the intention of putting on a performance for the ghetto’s residents.
Max Silberman, Ala’s uncle, is a bachelor, who still carries the flame for the girl he knew at university. She married someone else and he hasn’t seen her for over a decade. When he meets her in the ghetto and discovers she and her two children have been abandoned by her Catholic husband all his dormant hopes are incongruously revived amidst the squalor and destitution surrounding him.
In the Warsaw Ghetto tells the deeply moving story of Ala and Max’s struggle to preserve their aspirations in the midst of the inhumane conditions of the Warsaw ghetto, until the deportations to the death camps begin and the Jews organise themselves into a fighting force determined to oppose the Nazis.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2019
11 people are currently reading
1059 people want to read
About the author
Glenn Haybittle
10 books76 followersLondon - Lerici - Florence.
Represented by Annabel Merullo at PFD.
The Way Back to Florence is my first novel.
Represented by Annabel Merullo at PFD.
The Way Back to Florence is my first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
June 29, 2019
4.5 stars
This is the third book by Glenn Haybittle that I have read about the Holocaust and each of them was powerful in its own way. I found this one to be more tense and more brutal and equally as important in spite of how hard it is to read at times. The novel depicts the Polish Jews who were forced to live hungry, under horrible conditions, taken from their homes, many of whom were herded to death camps and many who were randomly shot dead on the street. In alternating narratives, this horrific time in Warsaw from 1940-1943 is told by Ala a young woman, eighteen, an aspiring ballet dancer and her Uncle Max, an introspective, brooding man who has never married since the love of his life married another man. Even though forced from their comfortable homes, they aren’t immediately impacted . They have places to live, food and Ala still has her dance. But they witness dead bodies in the street, homeless children, round ups to the camps and the horrific shootings right in front of them. There’s an ominous feeling that it will be a matter of time before they are personally impacted. So they live their daily lives amid the horror, the bombs , Nazis in the streets randomly shooting people waiting for the worst.
I liked Max’s narrative more than Ala’s and was so moved when he meets his former lover in the ghetto and cares for her and her two daughters; the irony that it was because of the ghetto that they are reunited is not lost. Ala’s felt at times a little too YA for me. There are numerous things here that reflect the complexity of their lives. Jewish identity, resistance, Zionism, aspirations, desires, coming of age, the meaning of family , all of these things now impacted in a major way because of their life in the ghetto, because of the Nazis. It’s a Holocaust story so it was inevitable that it was sad beyond words, horrific, gut wrenching, but the Postscript is both moving and beautiful.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Cheyne Walk through NetGalley.
This is the third book by Glenn Haybittle that I have read about the Holocaust and each of them was powerful in its own way. I found this one to be more tense and more brutal and equally as important in spite of how hard it is to read at times. The novel depicts the Polish Jews who were forced to live hungry, under horrible conditions, taken from their homes, many of whom were herded to death camps and many who were randomly shot dead on the street. In alternating narratives, this horrific time in Warsaw from 1940-1943 is told by Ala a young woman, eighteen, an aspiring ballet dancer and her Uncle Max, an introspective, brooding man who has never married since the love of his life married another man. Even though forced from their comfortable homes, they aren’t immediately impacted . They have places to live, food and Ala still has her dance. But they witness dead bodies in the street, homeless children, round ups to the camps and the horrific shootings right in front of them. There’s an ominous feeling that it will be a matter of time before they are personally impacted. So they live their daily lives amid the horror, the bombs , Nazis in the streets randomly shooting people waiting for the worst.
I liked Max’s narrative more than Ala’s and was so moved when he meets his former lover in the ghetto and cares for her and her two daughters; the irony that it was because of the ghetto that they are reunited is not lost. Ala’s felt at times a little too YA for me. There are numerous things here that reflect the complexity of their lives. Jewish identity, resistance, Zionism, aspirations, desires, coming of age, the meaning of family , all of these things now impacted in a major way because of their life in the ghetto, because of the Nazis. It’s a Holocaust story so it was inevitable that it was sad beyond words, horrific, gut wrenching, but the Postscript is both moving and beautiful.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Cheyne Walk through NetGalley.
August 3, 2019
If I were going to choose two words to leave with other readers considering this book - which I highly recommend....
It’s:
FEAR AND GRIEF!!!
This is an unforgettable story... with unforgettable characters, hauntingly beautifully written, intimate, filled with bloodshed, hate, and tears....
This is the fifth book I’ve read by Glenn Haybittle. For anyone who has not read Haybittle - I honestly can’t recommend him enough!!! As far as I’m concerned he’s one of the best authors writing about WWII today.
His Historical novels are deeply moving of the turbulent years of the war, personal, vividly imagined, educational and page turning engaging - a crucial period of history.
In this story....
Ala and Henryk were brother and sister. They noticed that many of their Catholic friends weren’t keen to spend time with them. As Jews, they were being roundup by the Nazi occupation.
When Ala or Henryk wore their Jewish armbands, many of their Catholic friends look at them with discuss or amusement.
The older generation often tried to look on the bright side of the war.
They believed that the more countries that Hitler attacked, the more stretched his resources would be. And they kept repeating the mantra that England never enters war.
The younger generation wasn’t buying the optimism.
Max, the kids Uncle, wasn’t actually either - not like their parents. Max’s own past confirmed the reality of the horrors that were coming down the pipeline.
The rumors were true. All Jews were forced to move from their small section of the city. The gentiles had to swap homes with the Jews.
Henryk joked that he finally got to sleep in his girlfriends, Sophie’s bed....( as they changed homes with a family of German friends).
But.....as things kept getting worse, Henryk didn’t have a joke left in him.
Instead...Henryk began to resent his girlfriend.
Henryk’s girlfriend, Sophie, was German. His best friend, Stefan, was too.
It was so easy to understand Henryk’s resentful of both Sophie and his best friend, Stefan....who was also German. They weren’t the hated Jews.
THEY WERE GERMAN FRIENDS ....but they just DIDN’T GET IT!!! They actually thought things were improving...NOT IN THE LEAST!
ITS’s A PRETTY SAD WORLD WHEN A TEEN BOY FANTASIZES ABOUT KILLING GERMAN’S AT NIGHT, RATHER THAN FANTASIZE ABOUT SEX AND GIRLS.
Such sadness - injustice - horrific humiliation:
In 1940, Ala and her mother were picked up in the street by German soldiers, and where marched with other Jewish women to a municipal building and told to clean the lavatories.
When they asked for rags to clean the toilets, they were told to use their underwear.
After cleaning those filthy urinals, one of the Germans made Ala put back on her disgusting, filthy underwear. The humiliation was awful.
Faith in humanity was. crushing!!!!
“There should be less resignation and more outrage”.
I literally had just read the above sentence ‘seconds’ before Paul, who was resting next to me - read the news about the shooting in El Paso,Texas.
Last week was the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
It’s soooo maddening.
Here I was reading a historical devastating novel and at the same time — was getting reports on devastating news today. I felt numb...
It’s not easy to contain so much grief and fear. As the Jews were frightened to walk outside because they could be shot to death - just for breathing and being a Jew....
I’m beginning to be afraid to go to any public event. Being at a festival today - a large outdoor concert begins to feel too frightening. And HOW SAD THAT IS!!!
Towards the end of book....
I began to find it hard to hold it together —with the novels sadness - FEAR & GRIEF ... DEATH ALL AROUND THEM...
mixed with the news of today’s HORRIFIC shootings in Texas....
I just kept thinking about how true it is - that we need ‘more outrage’ and less resignation.
“Resignation is what allows poison to gain a foot-hold and flourish”.
Excellent EXCELLENT novel!!!
Heartbreaking as well!!!!
I need to rest my brain and read something light!!
It’s:
FEAR AND GRIEF!!!
This is an unforgettable story... with unforgettable characters, hauntingly beautifully written, intimate, filled with bloodshed, hate, and tears....
This is the fifth book I’ve read by Glenn Haybittle. For anyone who has not read Haybittle - I honestly can’t recommend him enough!!! As far as I’m concerned he’s one of the best authors writing about WWII today.
His Historical novels are deeply moving of the turbulent years of the war, personal, vividly imagined, educational and page turning engaging - a crucial period of history.
In this story....
Ala and Henryk were brother and sister. They noticed that many of their Catholic friends weren’t keen to spend time with them. As Jews, they were being roundup by the Nazi occupation.
When Ala or Henryk wore their Jewish armbands, many of their Catholic friends look at them with discuss or amusement.
The older generation often tried to look on the bright side of the war.
They believed that the more countries that Hitler attacked, the more stretched his resources would be. And they kept repeating the mantra that England never enters war.
The younger generation wasn’t buying the optimism.
Max, the kids Uncle, wasn’t actually either - not like their parents. Max’s own past confirmed the reality of the horrors that were coming down the pipeline.
The rumors were true. All Jews were forced to move from their small section of the city. The gentiles had to swap homes with the Jews.
Henryk joked that he finally got to sleep in his girlfriends, Sophie’s bed....( as they changed homes with a family of German friends).
But.....as things kept getting worse, Henryk didn’t have a joke left in him.
Instead...Henryk began to resent his girlfriend.
Henryk’s girlfriend, Sophie, was German. His best friend, Stefan, was too.
It was so easy to understand Henryk’s resentful of both Sophie and his best friend, Stefan....who was also German. They weren’t the hated Jews.
THEY WERE GERMAN FRIENDS ....but they just DIDN’T GET IT!!! They actually thought things were improving...NOT IN THE LEAST!
ITS’s A PRETTY SAD WORLD WHEN A TEEN BOY FANTASIZES ABOUT KILLING GERMAN’S AT NIGHT, RATHER THAN FANTASIZE ABOUT SEX AND GIRLS.
Such sadness - injustice - horrific humiliation:
In 1940, Ala and her mother were picked up in the street by German soldiers, and where marched with other Jewish women to a municipal building and told to clean the lavatories.
When they asked for rags to clean the toilets, they were told to use their underwear.
After cleaning those filthy urinals, one of the Germans made Ala put back on her disgusting, filthy underwear. The humiliation was awful.
Faith in humanity was. crushing!!!!
“There should be less resignation and more outrage”.
I literally had just read the above sentence ‘seconds’ before Paul, who was resting next to me - read the news about the shooting in El Paso,Texas.
Last week was the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
It’s soooo maddening.
Here I was reading a historical devastating novel and at the same time — was getting reports on devastating news today. I felt numb...
It’s not easy to contain so much grief and fear. As the Jews were frightened to walk outside because they could be shot to death - just for breathing and being a Jew....
I’m beginning to be afraid to go to any public event. Being at a festival today - a large outdoor concert begins to feel too frightening. And HOW SAD THAT IS!!!
Towards the end of book....
I began to find it hard to hold it together —with the novels sadness - FEAR & GRIEF ... DEATH ALL AROUND THEM...
mixed with the news of today’s HORRIFIC shootings in Texas....
I just kept thinking about how true it is - that we need ‘more outrage’ and less resignation.
“Resignation is what allows poison to gain a foot-hold and flourish”.
Excellent EXCELLENT novel!!!
Heartbreaking as well!!!!
I need to rest my brain and read something light!!
September 3, 2019
I've noticed recently that Holocaust novels have begun appearing in my local supermarket, testament to how popular they've become. The blurbs often speak of the power of love and the triumph of good over evil. But let's be honest for a time in the middle of the 20th century evil lorded it over good, even if that evil often took the form of turning a blind eye. It was a time when racist malevolence raged with barely any hindrance. I worry all these Holocaust novels with a fairy story at their heart are only telling a small cosy part of the truth; that they strain too hard to be mass market friendly. A novel about the Holocaust surely ought to get under your skin, make you uncomfortable at times.
Anyway, this is a novel about the Holocaust that does get under your skin. It's a very evocative, probing novel. GH gets very intimate with his two central characters. He shows us their failings and vanities as well as their aspirations, which includes dealing with their sexuality. This aspect seems to have upset some people. All the one star reviews are indignant about the sex. One reviewer even says it's disrespectful to Holocaust victims to portray them as sexual beings. I don't have a problem with anyone objecting to sexual content but I don't like it when they climb up on a crusading moral high horse and attack the taste of anyone who admires the book. (You could argue that rationalising and justifying personal discomfort is what an awful lot of Europeans did in the 1930 and 40s.) But when people are stripped of nearly everything they own, are more or less reduced to their biology, it made sense to me that we sometimes see them literally naked.
Ala wants to be a dancer. It's what she would have become had there been no Third Reich. The uglier the Germans make her world the more she craves for beauty. She has a problematical relationship with her mother. There's a lot of generational conflict in this novel, further evidence that there's depth to the characters instead of being one dimensional paragons of virtue. Instead of meeting her ideal man Ala meets Marcel who looks like Kafka and is a member of the Jewish police force inside the ghetto. But at times he's more unlikeable than the Nazis in his perverse unhinged determination to degrade Ala.
Max, her middle-aged uncle, strikes one as a man who would be able to keep up the appearance of a thoroughly decent and understanding man in normal life. But the author shows us his insecurities - and isn't it inevitable that the Nazis would bring out the worst in people as well as perhaps the best? In the ghetto Max meets the love of his life who rejected him in his youth but has now together with her two young girls been abandoned by her Polish husband.
When the deportation notices appear the tension mounts and the second half of the novel is heart in the mouth stuff. We see reality shrinking for the ghetto's surviving residents until the only aspiration left is to die fighting the Nazis. The last chapter when everything is brought up to date and made relevant to today's world is especially moving.
Highly recommended unless you're squeamish about a bit of sexual content.
Anyway, this is a novel about the Holocaust that does get under your skin. It's a very evocative, probing novel. GH gets very intimate with his two central characters. He shows us their failings and vanities as well as their aspirations, which includes dealing with their sexuality. This aspect seems to have upset some people. All the one star reviews are indignant about the sex. One reviewer even says it's disrespectful to Holocaust victims to portray them as sexual beings. I don't have a problem with anyone objecting to sexual content but I don't like it when they climb up on a crusading moral high horse and attack the taste of anyone who admires the book. (You could argue that rationalising and justifying personal discomfort is what an awful lot of Europeans did in the 1930 and 40s.) But when people are stripped of nearly everything they own, are more or less reduced to their biology, it made sense to me that we sometimes see them literally naked.
Ala wants to be a dancer. It's what she would have become had there been no Third Reich. The uglier the Germans make her world the more she craves for beauty. She has a problematical relationship with her mother. There's a lot of generational conflict in this novel, further evidence that there's depth to the characters instead of being one dimensional paragons of virtue. Instead of meeting her ideal man Ala meets Marcel who looks like Kafka and is a member of the Jewish police force inside the ghetto. But at times he's more unlikeable than the Nazis in his perverse unhinged determination to degrade Ala.
Max, her middle-aged uncle, strikes one as a man who would be able to keep up the appearance of a thoroughly decent and understanding man in normal life. But the author shows us his insecurities - and isn't it inevitable that the Nazis would bring out the worst in people as well as perhaps the best? In the ghetto Max meets the love of his life who rejected him in his youth but has now together with her two young girls been abandoned by her Polish husband.
When the deportation notices appear the tension mounts and the second half of the novel is heart in the mouth stuff. We see reality shrinking for the ghetto's surviving residents until the only aspiration left is to die fighting the Nazis. The last chapter when everything is brought up to date and made relevant to today's world is especially moving.
Highly recommended unless you're squeamish about a bit of sexual content.
May 4, 2020
4.5 (rounded to 5 stars)
Wow, this book really exceeded my expectations. I secured an ARC of In the Warsaw Ghetto several months ago and let it languish on my TBR list for a long time as I went through a book slump, especially in terms of World War II stories. I think the best compliment I can give it is that it has revived my interest in learning even more about the Holocaust.
I’d say the first half of the book was a bit slow for me, especially since it took me a while to warm up to the main characters. It wasn’t that they weren’t likeable (though a few side characters weren’t my faves); it was more of an early lack of me feeling bonded with them. But as I read on and got to know these people, I came to appreciate them and what they stood for. Also, the more I read, the more I appreciated the strong writing of Mr. Haybittle. I would classify it as at least a notch above most of my wartime historical fiction reads. He truly captures the essence of the ghetto, the Jews under persecution, and the flagrant cruelness of the Nazis. The best I can describe it is that his writing adds depth, fiber, and polish to the story. So well done. The book is also very well researched.
I was so pleased to read about an aspect of the war that I had not encountered before and that was the story of the Warsaw Ghetto itself. What a horrible atrocity. And I had no idea there was a police force of Jews working for the Nazis. I had essentially stopped learning much from my WWII reads, so this alone is worth lots of stars!
The storyline becomes really gripping as the tale hurtles towards the end. And what an end it is. But it was the postscript that really got to me. DO NOT FAIL to read the postscript!
I enjoyed this novel so much that I went to the author’s page and was excited to see several more novels. I was shocked, however, to find how little read his books are—a shame in my opinion. If you are looking for an especially well written WWII story with a lot of depth and reasons to remember it for a long time, look no further than In the Warsaw Ghetto. Highly recommended.
I struggled with my star rating. Do I round up or down? Though it took a while for me to become totally invested, I know this book will be one that rattles around in my head for quite a while. These type of books are definitely in the minority, so I do think this one deserves all the stars.
I want to thank Net Galley, Cheyne Walk, and Glenn Haybittle for an advanced copy. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
Wow, this book really exceeded my expectations. I secured an ARC of In the Warsaw Ghetto several months ago and let it languish on my TBR list for a long time as I went through a book slump, especially in terms of World War II stories. I think the best compliment I can give it is that it has revived my interest in learning even more about the Holocaust.
I’d say the first half of the book was a bit slow for me, especially since it took me a while to warm up to the main characters. It wasn’t that they weren’t likeable (though a few side characters weren’t my faves); it was more of an early lack of me feeling bonded with them. But as I read on and got to know these people, I came to appreciate them and what they stood for. Also, the more I read, the more I appreciated the strong writing of Mr. Haybittle. I would classify it as at least a notch above most of my wartime historical fiction reads. He truly captures the essence of the ghetto, the Jews under persecution, and the flagrant cruelness of the Nazis. The best I can describe it is that his writing adds depth, fiber, and polish to the story. So well done. The book is also very well researched.
I was so pleased to read about an aspect of the war that I had not encountered before and that was the story of the Warsaw Ghetto itself. What a horrible atrocity. And I had no idea there was a police force of Jews working for the Nazis. I had essentially stopped learning much from my WWII reads, so this alone is worth lots of stars!
The storyline becomes really gripping as the tale hurtles towards the end. And what an end it is. But it was the postscript that really got to me. DO NOT FAIL to read the postscript!
I enjoyed this novel so much that I went to the author’s page and was excited to see several more novels. I was shocked, however, to find how little read his books are—a shame in my opinion. If you are looking for an especially well written WWII story with a lot of depth and reasons to remember it for a long time, look no further than In the Warsaw Ghetto. Highly recommended.
I struggled with my star rating. Do I round up or down? Though it took a while for me to become totally invested, I know this book will be one that rattles around in my head for quite a while. These type of books are definitely in the minority, so I do think this one deserves all the stars.
I want to thank Net Galley, Cheyne Walk, and Glenn Haybittle for an advanced copy. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
September 12, 2019
Can I catch my breath? Can I stop crying? After finishing this book, not tonight!
Told through the eyes of aspiring dancer, Ala and her uncle Max, a Jewish man that converted to Catholicism, In the Warsaw Ghetto is an unflinching WWII story. Living conditions are horrendous as the Nazis cram more and more Jewish people into the ghetto resulting in overcrowding, malnutrition and disease.
I really enjoyed that Glenn Haybittle uses a teenager and an adult in the telling of the experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto. I can honestly say that I did really enjoy the two storylines. I think that sometimes we really do forget that the Jewish teenagers lived lives that were interrupted. Yet like Ala, they had crushes, aspirations, and were longing for that intimacy that comes with getting older. So I was okay with the blunt dialogue regarding sex.
Goodreads Review 11-12/09/19
Publication Date 30/07/19
Told through the eyes of aspiring dancer, Ala and her uncle Max, a Jewish man that converted to Catholicism, In the Warsaw Ghetto is an unflinching WWII story. Living conditions are horrendous as the Nazis cram more and more Jewish people into the ghetto resulting in overcrowding, malnutrition and disease.
I really enjoyed that Glenn Haybittle uses a teenager and an adult in the telling of the experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto. I can honestly say that I did really enjoy the two storylines. I think that sometimes we really do forget that the Jewish teenagers lived lives that were interrupted. Yet like Ala, they had crushes, aspirations, and were longing for that intimacy that comes with getting older. So I was okay with the blunt dialogue regarding sex.
Goodreads Review 11-12/09/19
Publication Date 30/07/19
March 10, 2021
3 "distanced by sepia" stars !!!
The 2020 Most Average of Average Award
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Cheyne Walk books for a copy of an e-book in exchange for my honest review. This was released in July 2019.
This is a book about an upper middle class Jewish family living and trying to survive through the years of the Warsaw Ghetto from 1941 and 1943. The book is told through alternating perspectives of uncle and niece. They are very good friends and kindred spirits, both lovers of the arts and deeply sensitive souls. We, as readers, witness both their everyday struggles regarding love, family, sexuality, faith and place in the world. As conditions harshen and they witness the thievery, cruelty,sexual assaults and eventually murders of their fellow Jewish community their will to survive at all costs changes their values, actions and ways of being with the world, others and themselves.
The book is told in very short alternating chapters that are more vignettes with a series of tableaux. The dialogue never loses the authorial voice and often seems unnatural. This book was like looking at a series of photographs steeped in sepia so that you have the impression of what may have occurred. I wonder if this was intentional to protect the reader, somewhat, from the frequent atrocities and betrayal that increase in intensity over time.
I very much liked the premise, the spirit and the important education provided but to me this was too art-house and a tad contrived for the material that lies within these pages. This book is very highly rated so I may have just somewhat failed as a reader. In either case, this is a book well worth reading and a reminder of what a horrible species of creature we are to treat our brothers and sisters in this manner.
The 2020 Most Average of Average Award
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Cheyne Walk books for a copy of an e-book in exchange for my honest review. This was released in July 2019.
This is a book about an upper middle class Jewish family living and trying to survive through the years of the Warsaw Ghetto from 1941 and 1943. The book is told through alternating perspectives of uncle and niece. They are very good friends and kindred spirits, both lovers of the arts and deeply sensitive souls. We, as readers, witness both their everyday struggles regarding love, family, sexuality, faith and place in the world. As conditions harshen and they witness the thievery, cruelty,sexual assaults and eventually murders of their fellow Jewish community their will to survive at all costs changes their values, actions and ways of being with the world, others and themselves.
The book is told in very short alternating chapters that are more vignettes with a series of tableaux. The dialogue never loses the authorial voice and often seems unnatural. This book was like looking at a series of photographs steeped in sepia so that you have the impression of what may have occurred. I wonder if this was intentional to protect the reader, somewhat, from the frequent atrocities and betrayal that increase in intensity over time.
I very much liked the premise, the spirit and the important education provided but to me this was too art-house and a tad contrived for the material that lies within these pages. This book is very highly rated so I may have just somewhat failed as a reader. In either case, this is a book well worth reading and a reminder of what a horrible species of creature we are to treat our brothers and sisters in this manner.
February 26, 2024
One question that sometimes arises about the Holocaust is, why didn't the Jews put up a fight. The answer to this is simple: they did, whenever the opportunity arose. And the most famous fight they put up was in the Warsaw Ghetto when they repelled the German army for a month. This novel details life in the ghetto through the eyes of a middle aged man estranged from his family and faith and a young aspiring ballerina of a well-to-do family. For as long as possible both Max and Ala try to cling to their pre-war aspirations and dignity but then arrive the depravities of the deportations and the eventual, momentary euphoric, uprising. It's an exhilarating moment when the Jewish fighters mount a surprise attack on an arrogant and unsuspecting SS division and drive them back out of the ghetto. Hate, as we all know, breeds hate and this novel shows how decent peace-loving individuals can become vengeful killers when treated without even a slither of human regard. A thoroughly engrossing read.
July 28, 2019
This is one of the most dramatic historical fiction novels I have read this summer. It is a quick read because of the intensity and it does not hold back!
Through Ala and Max, the reader is thrown on a wild ride in the ghetto of Warsaw. The authenticity of the characters in this novel is unparalleled, and their thoughts throughout the entire novel are real and meaningful, yet heart-breaking. The graphic and gory scenes experienced and seen by Ala and Max punctuates the scale of the nightmare endured by those living within the ghetto’s walls.
Through the perspectives of Ala, still a teen, and Max, in his late thirties, the reader is quickly immersed into the relocation of Jews moving into the ghetto. As part of the high-class society, family members of Ala and Max swiftly cling to their prominence by joining the Judenrat where the reader sees corrupt behavior, nefarious lawlessness, and deceit among Jews. Ala and Max struggle to adapt and survive the inhumane conditions of the largest Jewish ghetto of WWII while seeking to maintain their sense of humanity. “The awful thing is I feel shame and compassion every day but it doesn’t fundamentally change my behavior.” Both Ala and Max continue to examine that the plight of survival has exposed the most unsavory things about themselves. Meanwhile, the Jewish political parties pull for Ala and Max to join their cause eventually leading to the bloodbath of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
There are notable sexual situations and thoughts embedded in this novel. But, why not? The sexual instances were outwardly used to reveal that not only were these characters very much human with human feelings, but that principles and integrity were still accounted for even when the world around them was crumbling. It lent credibility to the circumstances; teenagers were probably still thinking about it, and people were still having it. Examples of these scenes: “Firstly, he couldn’t believe the size of the man’s organ...Secondly, he had never heard of a woman putting a penis in her mouth.” “Ala pictures herself dancing naked for him.” “Most of Ala’s secrets are related to sex.”
Many thanks to Cheyne Walk, Glenn Haybittle, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my review.
4.5 stars
Through Ala and Max, the reader is thrown on a wild ride in the ghetto of Warsaw. The authenticity of the characters in this novel is unparalleled, and their thoughts throughout the entire novel are real and meaningful, yet heart-breaking. The graphic and gory scenes experienced and seen by Ala and Max punctuates the scale of the nightmare endured by those living within the ghetto’s walls.
Through the perspectives of Ala, still a teen, and Max, in his late thirties, the reader is quickly immersed into the relocation of Jews moving into the ghetto. As part of the high-class society, family members of Ala and Max swiftly cling to their prominence by joining the Judenrat where the reader sees corrupt behavior, nefarious lawlessness, and deceit among Jews. Ala and Max struggle to adapt and survive the inhumane conditions of the largest Jewish ghetto of WWII while seeking to maintain their sense of humanity. “The awful thing is I feel shame and compassion every day but it doesn’t fundamentally change my behavior.” Both Ala and Max continue to examine that the plight of survival has exposed the most unsavory things about themselves. Meanwhile, the Jewish political parties pull for Ala and Max to join their cause eventually leading to the bloodbath of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
There are notable sexual situations and thoughts embedded in this novel. But, why not? The sexual instances were outwardly used to reveal that not only were these characters very much human with human feelings, but that principles and integrity were still accounted for even when the world around them was crumbling. It lent credibility to the circumstances; teenagers were probably still thinking about it, and people were still having it. Examples of these scenes: “Firstly, he couldn’t believe the size of the man’s organ...Secondly, he had never heard of a woman putting a penis in her mouth.” “Ala pictures herself dancing naked for him.” “Most of Ala’s secrets are related to sex.”
Many thanks to Cheyne Walk, Glenn Haybittle, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my review.
4.5 stars
June 30, 2019
A very moving story of what the Jews in Warsaw went through under the yoke of the Nazis. Initially we see the two central characters largely in terms of their aspirations for the future. Ala, eighteen, wants to be a professional ballet dancer and is on the right path. Max, fifty and unmarried, feels himself to be something of a failure. Both however find a sense of purpose in the deplorable conditions of the ghetto, which are vividly evoked. Then the deportations to Treblinka begin and for the rest of the novel my heart was continually in my mouth. It's difficult to say more without spoiling the riveting and unexpected plot.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
June 2, 2019
Wow, this book was certainly some read. I have read lots of books set during World War II and this has been one of the most gripping and haunting stories I have ever encountered. In the Warsaw Ghetto focuses on two central characters of Ala and Max and their experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto. I was enthralled from start to finish, it's an epic story that I read in one day. I really enjoyed this book apart from one thing, the amount of sexual reference. I felt that they were really unnecessary and took focus away from the real story of survival ship. That's why I've lopped off a star.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC
August 13, 2019
Many thanks to Cheyne Walk, Glenn Haybittle, and #NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. What follows is my honest review.
Many years ago I read and was fascinated by the book Mila 18 by Leon Uris which through fiction gave me insight into what life was like in the Warsaw ghetto and how some chose to fight rather than give in to the demands of the Nazis. About two years ago I had the opportunity to visit Warsaw myself - to walk on Mila and see the stone markers in memory of those who fought. This book - In The Warsaw Ghetto by Glenn Haybittle is equally compelling.
The two main characters in the story are Ala, a teenager who loves to dance and Max, her thirty something uncle who has never married and who converted to Catholicism as an act of rebellion against his father. I struggled a little with the first chapter as the author chose to use the present tense to describe what was happening and I find that challenging, but that feeling wore off pretty quickly and it wasn't long before I felt as if I was right there watching what was happening to Ala and Max as their worlds became ever increasingly circumscribed by the rules and regulations of the German war machine. I finished the book in just under 24 hours.
It should be no secret to readers that during the war all the Jewish people from Warsaw and other surrounding areas were forced to relocate into a ghetto which was relatively small, and that conditions became incredibly harsh ultimately leading to the German decision to "relocate" the Jews by sending them to Treblinka which was a death camp. The author made that become real for me. The descriptions of the horrors and bullying that people faced brought me to tears. To quote from the book: “The newspapers are relentless in their attacks on the Jews. They blame Jews for the war, for stealing the jobs of native Poles, for every human disease. There’s no question people are beginning to get brainwashed. The policy of the Germans seems to be to bring every base emotion to the fore – spite, covetousness, ignorance, jealousy, mindless prejudice. It’s as if the Nazis are set on ripping the heart from human interaction.”
The story is told in three parts. Book One begins as war is looming on the horizon for Ala and Max. It finally arrives on their doorstep and the reader watches as the ghetto is established in 1940.Book Two is set in 1942 and Book Three is set in 1943 when the days of the ghetto and its inhabitants are clearly numbered. When I first saw how many chapters were in the book it looked rather overwhelming to me but the chapters are short and the pace of the story moves quickly.
Ala’s story is that of a young girl who is just discovering who she is. She struggles in her relationship with her mother as she yearns to move into adulthood and greater independence. She is learning about her body, both as a dancer and as a young woman who has yet to learn what love is and can be. She sees the young men around her and wonders (in the way that many teens do) if she will ever find a love and intimacy of her own. Max on the other hand fell in love in young adulthood but it failed to be returned and he has never been able to move on. He is torn between his Jewish roots and his need to move away from what his father seemed to want to pressure him into becoming. He and Ala find in their relationship the ability to emotionally support each other in a time when that is very much needed. Both of them come from what has been a prominent family. Ala’s father is a member of the Judenrat. Max’s home was already in the area which was to become the ghetto and he lives in what is relative luxury and isolation in the early days of the ghetto. The ghetto is a place where there is little beauty. The author describes it as being a place with no grass, no trees, no birds – very stark and depressing. Each and every day they are forced to witness atrocities taking place around them and in front of them. The Germans force Ala and her mother to clean toilets using their underwear and then to put them back on. I don’t think it is unrealistic to say that they faced hell on earth. Each character is faced with choices that they have to make in order to survive and those choices often make them think less of themselves. I can only imagine the horror of being constantly faced with decisions on how to act that can result in their death if they make the wrong choice and to be faced with this day after day after day.
Glenn Haybittle is an incredibly good writer. His ability to describe a scene is impeccable. I can’t finish this review without sharing a particularly vivid passage from early in the book. “The sirens have stopped wailing. The air has stopped screaming. There are no more earthquakes. When she and her mother venture out into the street Ala asks herself if she shouldn’t be more frightened, more shocked. Perhaps, she thinks, she is taking the lead from her mother who appears to be taking this momentous moment of history in her stride. It’s like everyone else she sees on the street has overnight stopped looking at themselves in mirrors. AS if appearance has ceased to matter. As if everyone has abandoned all thought of decorum. Her mother, on the other hand, is, as always, impeccably made up, groomed and dressed.
Now it is Ala’s eyes which have to withstand the unprecedented. Life has overnight ceased to be continuous. She keeps staring as if by force of will she might return all the devastation to its former reassuring order. This part of Warsaw has always been an extension of home for her, part of her shape, a responsive intimate part of her identity. So much that she was attached to, so much that lent her footholding weight is now obliterated. It’s as if one of the mirrors by which she recognizes herself has ceased to reflect her. The teetering balancing act of unsupported walls makes her feel unsteady on her own legs. Buildings taken for granted are no longer standing. There are voids where previously history stood. Feathers like snowflakes rise up into the smoke infested air as if she is inside a macabre snow globe.”
This is an important book. While it is a novel, real people lived as Ala and Max did and it is vital that we as a society never forget that they lived and experienced lives like these. We need to remember and learn how easy it is for life to change almost in the blink of an eye. Only if we learn these lessons can we keep it from happening again and again and again.
Many years ago I read and was fascinated by the book Mila 18 by Leon Uris which through fiction gave me insight into what life was like in the Warsaw ghetto and how some chose to fight rather than give in to the demands of the Nazis. About two years ago I had the opportunity to visit Warsaw myself - to walk on Mila and see the stone markers in memory of those who fought. This book - In The Warsaw Ghetto by Glenn Haybittle is equally compelling.
The two main characters in the story are Ala, a teenager who loves to dance and Max, her thirty something uncle who has never married and who converted to Catholicism as an act of rebellion against his father. I struggled a little with the first chapter as the author chose to use the present tense to describe what was happening and I find that challenging, but that feeling wore off pretty quickly and it wasn't long before I felt as if I was right there watching what was happening to Ala and Max as their worlds became ever increasingly circumscribed by the rules and regulations of the German war machine. I finished the book in just under 24 hours.
It should be no secret to readers that during the war all the Jewish people from Warsaw and other surrounding areas were forced to relocate into a ghetto which was relatively small, and that conditions became incredibly harsh ultimately leading to the German decision to "relocate" the Jews by sending them to Treblinka which was a death camp. The author made that become real for me. The descriptions of the horrors and bullying that people faced brought me to tears. To quote from the book: “The newspapers are relentless in their attacks on the Jews. They blame Jews for the war, for stealing the jobs of native Poles, for every human disease. There’s no question people are beginning to get brainwashed. The policy of the Germans seems to be to bring every base emotion to the fore – spite, covetousness, ignorance, jealousy, mindless prejudice. It’s as if the Nazis are set on ripping the heart from human interaction.”
The story is told in three parts. Book One begins as war is looming on the horizon for Ala and Max. It finally arrives on their doorstep and the reader watches as the ghetto is established in 1940.Book Two is set in 1942 and Book Three is set in 1943 when the days of the ghetto and its inhabitants are clearly numbered. When I first saw how many chapters were in the book it looked rather overwhelming to me but the chapters are short and the pace of the story moves quickly.
Ala’s story is that of a young girl who is just discovering who she is. She struggles in her relationship with her mother as she yearns to move into adulthood and greater independence. She is learning about her body, both as a dancer and as a young woman who has yet to learn what love is and can be. She sees the young men around her and wonders (in the way that many teens do) if she will ever find a love and intimacy of her own. Max on the other hand fell in love in young adulthood but it failed to be returned and he has never been able to move on. He is torn between his Jewish roots and his need to move away from what his father seemed to want to pressure him into becoming. He and Ala find in their relationship the ability to emotionally support each other in a time when that is very much needed. Both of them come from what has been a prominent family. Ala’s father is a member of the Judenrat. Max’s home was already in the area which was to become the ghetto and he lives in what is relative luxury and isolation in the early days of the ghetto. The ghetto is a place where there is little beauty. The author describes it as being a place with no grass, no trees, no birds – very stark and depressing. Each and every day they are forced to witness atrocities taking place around them and in front of them. The Germans force Ala and her mother to clean toilets using their underwear and then to put them back on. I don’t think it is unrealistic to say that they faced hell on earth. Each character is faced with choices that they have to make in order to survive and those choices often make them think less of themselves. I can only imagine the horror of being constantly faced with decisions on how to act that can result in their death if they make the wrong choice and to be faced with this day after day after day.
Glenn Haybittle is an incredibly good writer. His ability to describe a scene is impeccable. I can’t finish this review without sharing a particularly vivid passage from early in the book. “The sirens have stopped wailing. The air has stopped screaming. There are no more earthquakes. When she and her mother venture out into the street Ala asks herself if she shouldn’t be more frightened, more shocked. Perhaps, she thinks, she is taking the lead from her mother who appears to be taking this momentous moment of history in her stride. It’s like everyone else she sees on the street has overnight stopped looking at themselves in mirrors. AS if appearance has ceased to matter. As if everyone has abandoned all thought of decorum. Her mother, on the other hand, is, as always, impeccably made up, groomed and dressed.
Now it is Ala’s eyes which have to withstand the unprecedented. Life has overnight ceased to be continuous. She keeps staring as if by force of will she might return all the devastation to its former reassuring order. This part of Warsaw has always been an extension of home for her, part of her shape, a responsive intimate part of her identity. So much that she was attached to, so much that lent her footholding weight is now obliterated. It’s as if one of the mirrors by which she recognizes herself has ceased to reflect her. The teetering balancing act of unsupported walls makes her feel unsteady on her own legs. Buildings taken for granted are no longer standing. There are voids where previously history stood. Feathers like snowflakes rise up into the smoke infested air as if she is inside a macabre snow globe.”
This is an important book. While it is a novel, real people lived as Ala and Max did and it is vital that we as a society never forget that they lived and experienced lives like these. We need to remember and learn how easy it is for life to change almost in the blink of an eye. Only if we learn these lessons can we keep it from happening again and again and again.
August 30, 2019
“In the Warsaw Ghetto” is a heartbreaking, horrific, and truly unsettling story of Jewish people’s lives in the Warsaw ghetto during WW2. I have read several fiction and non-fiction books, describing the life and death situations in the Warsaw ghetto during the Nazis regime, and every time I am equally heartbroken and emotionally drained after finishing each of these books. This novel was no different when it comes to my feelings of sadness and disgust at the atrocities that the Jewish people experienced during WW2.
So why only 3 star rating? Well, the first thing that really bothered me is that I could not connect with the two main characters, Max and Ala. I found them very superficial, narcissistic, and clueless most of the time. It almost felt like they were living in a different world than the one that was surrounding them. The first 45% of the book was really dragging for me, and I had a hard time getting into the story. However at the half mark, something finally clicked for me, and the rest of the book captivated me and left me quite breathless at the end.
I also have to mention here that the author decided to include many sexual scenes in this story, which left me a little confused and distracted at times. I just cannot understand why these scenes were so important for the author. I found them distracting and unnecessary and quite frankly I think the book fell short from being an excellent piece of historical fiction literature due to these overwritten and redundant sexual scenes.
Thank you NetGalley, Cheyne Walk Publisher, and the author for giving me an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
So why only 3 star rating? Well, the first thing that really bothered me is that I could not connect with the two main characters, Max and Ala. I found them very superficial, narcissistic, and clueless most of the time. It almost felt like they were living in a different world than the one that was surrounding them. The first 45% of the book was really dragging for me, and I had a hard time getting into the story. However at the half mark, something finally clicked for me, and the rest of the book captivated me and left me quite breathless at the end.
I also have to mention here that the author decided to include many sexual scenes in this story, which left me a little confused and distracted at times. I just cannot understand why these scenes were so important for the author. I found them distracting and unnecessary and quite frankly I think the book fell short from being an excellent piece of historical fiction literature due to these overwritten and redundant sexual scenes.
Thank you NetGalley, Cheyne Walk Publisher, and the author for giving me an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
June 13, 2019
"In The Warsaw Ghetto" by Glenn Haybittle. A work of novel fiction basses on historical fact. All of mankind faces death..... Some without warning; and some by horrendous torture. I have read a good many books about WWII and the atrocities committed by the Germans . . . But none set by the bar of this book! Ala Silberman is a young woman...child training to be a dancer when the Nazis take over Poland. And, even in the depths of hell inside the ghetto, people make art, cook and dream....make love... and sing and become conditioned to survival amongst unspeakable tragedy. The author has written so very eloquently of life and death. I highly recommend. To be published in 2019.
June 5, 2019
Well written and well researched novel about The Warsaw Ghetto from its establishment in 1940 until its liquidation in 1943. The characters are alive on every page and the steadily growing tension becomes almost unbearable. There's none of the syrupy sentimentality or chick lit froth that is often deployed to sweeten Holocaust novels here. And the ending is movingly powerful.
January 15, 2020
If I had to sum up my entire review into two words, I believe I would have to go with "devastatingly beautiful". This story is absolutely haunting, but the writing is absolutely incredible. I found myself in tears often. Each time I thought there might be a light at the end of the tunnel or that things may turn better, it was completely extinguished. All hope dashed. Yet, you find yourself still with that tiny spark.
I cannot stress enough how great I thought the writing was. The author did an incredible job keeping me completely captive throughout the entire book. There is a lot of action, a lot of horror, and a lot of hope. In the Warsaw Ghetto really makes the reader take a step back. Each character, both the main characters and supporting characters, was wonderfully done. The traits were believable. Not to mention, the characters complimented the story and helped it move at the perfect pace. The author gave just enough detail for you to paint a clear picture on the settings and what was going on.
The ending, oh the ending. I could not put this book down and wound up finishing it at work. Which may not have been my brightest idea because I spent a solid hour and a half fighting back tears. In fact, I told at least half a dozen coworkers about the book encouraging them to read it.
This book will be one that I do not forget.
*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I cannot stress enough how great I thought the writing was. The author did an incredible job keeping me completely captive throughout the entire book. There is a lot of action, a lot of horror, and a lot of hope. In the Warsaw Ghetto really makes the reader take a step back. Each character, both the main characters and supporting characters, was wonderfully done. The traits were believable. Not to mention, the characters complimented the story and helped it move at the perfect pace. The author gave just enough detail for you to paint a clear picture on the settings and what was going on.
The ending, oh the ending. I could not put this book down and wound up finishing it at work. Which may not have been my brightest idea because I spent a solid hour and a half fighting back tears. In fact, I told at least half a dozen coworkers about the book encouraging them to read it.
This book will be one that I do not forget.
*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
July 29, 2019
I really like the WWII historical fiction genre. This book was very well written, held your attention, had great characters and told the story as it was with little sugar coating.
I really liked that it shared the feelings of the characters, their fears, their doubts, their passions and their love for each other and others. To look into the soul of one that is suffering and to still see compassion for others is a wonderful test of faith.
It also showed how different each character was and how they reacted to the situation. Ala a young teen growing up in the Warsaw ghetto , her ballet, her friends. Max who plays a main part in the book and his self doubt and compassion for those less fortunate. Those that fought back in that fateful fight and the courage they had. I could smell the gunpowder during the fight and I had tears when Matt lost Sabina and had to leave Ora to save her sister and when Marcel couldn't save Ala's ballet instructor. I even felt Marcel's frustration with his job.
The ending was so sad!
If you want to know what happened to the Jewish people in the Warsaw ghetto than you should read this book. It is a test of the faith of the Jewish people and the horrible hatred the Nazi's had for them. What a horrific time in history, it must never happen again. This book will inspire you, scare you, bring you to tears..it is a must read.
I really liked that it shared the feelings of the characters, their fears, their doubts, their passions and their love for each other and others. To look into the soul of one that is suffering and to still see compassion for others is a wonderful test of faith.
It also showed how different each character was and how they reacted to the situation. Ala a young teen growing up in the Warsaw ghetto , her ballet, her friends. Max who plays a main part in the book and his self doubt and compassion for those less fortunate. Those that fought back in that fateful fight and the courage they had. I could smell the gunpowder during the fight and I had tears when Matt lost Sabina and had to leave Ora to save her sister and when Marcel couldn't save Ala's ballet instructor. I even felt Marcel's frustration with his job.
The ending was so sad!
If you want to know what happened to the Jewish people in the Warsaw ghetto than you should read this book. It is a test of the faith of the Jewish people and the horrible hatred the Nazi's had for them. What a horrific time in history, it must never happen again. This book will inspire you, scare you, bring you to tears..it is a must read.
June 17, 2019
Almost too brutally real. Definitely too hard to read, but too wrong to stop. Thank you NetGalley and Glenn Haybittle for the Arc and the opportunity to read and review In The Warsaw Ghetto. I thoroughly appreciated the writing style of this book. The author did not hold anything back. The characters tell it exactly like it is, exactly what they are thinking without leaving anything out. When you are done reading you will totally, fully understand what went on in the Warsaw ghetto, you will feel as if you lived through it. . You will not be able to understand how anyone would want to live after enduring what they witnessed and lived through. How in G-ds name can human beings be so evil? That is something I will never be able to wrap my brain around. Thank you to all the authors who continue to write about World War II and the Nazis, this helps to ensure that the world will never forget.
July 10, 2019
First up, thanks to NetGalley and Cheyne Walk for letting me have a review copy. (The following contains spoilers).
In The Warsaw Ghetto weaves the twinned narrative of dance student, Ala Silberman, and her uncle, Max, following them from the opening days of the Second World War, through to the destruction of the Jewish ghetto in 1943.
We first meet them in conversation, before their narratives split, sharing memories and ambitions, and the tranquility and ease of that sunlit scene will soon seem like something precious and distant. The vibration of approaching planes cuts across the final lines of the first chapter, and then the reverberations start to impact through Ala and Max’s comfortable lives. By the third chapter, Ala is crouching in a cellar as bombs bring down the city streets above.
The writing is beautifully precise and evocative, taking us from the serenity of pre-war nights on rivers to the sudden sensory overload of living in a bombarded, broken and occupied city.
While there is still leisure to return to such places, Max remembers:
‘He finds himself remembering the night boat trips with his father. The boat easing through the black current. The moonlight silvering the whispering reeds and the leaves overhead. The air pungent with resin and algae and wet earth. The whisper of the willow leaves trailing in the water. His father standing with the oar, as if he owned and orchestrated the entire night.’
But soon so much of the city that they know is reshaping around them, and with that we feel their balance and security start to shift. After all, this is a Jewish family, and we’re in Poland in 1939.
‘This part of Warsaw has always been an extension of home for her, part of her shape, a responsive intimate part of her identity. So much she was attached to, so much that lent her footholding weight is now obliterated. It’s as if one of the mirrors by which she recognises herself has ceased to reflect her. The teetering balancing act of unsupported walls makes her feel unsteady on her own legs. Buildings taken for granted are no longer standing. There are voids where previously history stood. Feathers like snowflakes rise up into the smoke infested air as if she is inside a macabre snow globe.’
This is a portrait of the city of Warsaw as much as it is the story of this family. As war begins to impact every aspect of its population’s lives, so we see adults infantilized and children carrying the weapons of soldiers. Everyone is acting parts, dressing up, telling lies. And it all intensifies – is yet more discordant - as Ala and her family must move into the Jewish ghetto:
‘There are no parks in the ghetto; barely any trees. She misses the smell of the refreshed earth, the flickering green light beneath overhanging foliage, the flight of birds over water. She misses the distinctive individual timbre of each of Warsaw’s church bells. She misses walking home at night through the fragrance of tree pollen and the laughter of lovers. Only books now enable her to experience many of the blessings of the natural world she loves but has never until now fully appreciated. She lives wholeheartedly inside every novel she reads.’
What I found most unsettling about this novel wasn’t so much the (very high) death toll, as the petty cruelties that it describes. These are the images that will stay with me – the men made to strip in the streets and exchange clothes, the women ordered to clean public toilets with their underwear, those who are made to dance and leapfrog, all for fleeting, macabre amusement. It’s the vindictiveness and the humiliations which are so disturbing.
‘Then she has to watch her father kneel down on the pavement to untie the laces of his built-up shoe and feels a murderous surge of hatred for the German with the pink cloddish face which frightens her. When both men have stripped down to their underwear the German orders them to take off their undergarments too. Ala averts her eyes at the sight of her hollow-chested, knobbly-kneed father naked in the street. It feels like a fisted hand has hold of her heart. No daughter should ever have to stand by helpless witnessing the public humiliation and distress of her father.’
But both Ala and Max have inner lives and inner strength, something to take them out of the ugliness and corruption and duplicity going on all around them. Ala lives through dance, and even in the darkest days there is a wellspring of vitality that she can access in the rhythms and shapes of her muscles. For Max strength comes from the hope of rekindling a relationship with Sabina, the woman who was just always slightly out of reach in his youth, but who he is now suddenly able to shelter. As he takes on the responsibility of Sabina and her children, so Max finds new purpose and pride.
‘Every morning he wakes up to a renewed sense of wonder and excitement. Beginning with the ritual of breakfast when the sleepy sulky faces of Ora and Eugenia, smelling of peppermint, rouse an ache of protective tenderness in him. How available to harm are their young bodies and ripening personalities has already prompted in him a consuming resolve to put all his resources of love and care at their disposal.’
We see war bring out the worst in people (the selfish, the venal, the cruel), but it also, just occasionally, shows them at their best – heroic, thoughtful and generous. Max, in particular, grows as fear and protectiveness make him into a kinder and braver man. He even surprises himself. But, as he finds reason to hope and to care, so the walls seem to be closing in and the odds are shortening.
As the all-around violence rises to a crescendo, like the characters, I found myself becoming slightly desensitized to it. When Ala’s grandmother is murdered, within paragraphs I’d forgotten it, just as Ala does too. Had that happened in the opening chapters of the novel, it would be a pivotal and shocking moment, which, I guess, shows the impact of the build-up of terror that the novel delineates. But then, having watched Max invest so much will in his relationship with Sabina, the moment when she is killed is shocking.
As the months pass, life is the ghetto becomes so precarious. Everything is fragile, on a hair trigger and no one can be trusted. It’s summed up in the image of Max acrobatically mapping his way across the rooftops and Ala walking the plank. But then, as Max leaves the ghetto, ventures out into the bright, clean, technicolor world beyond, where there is still green grass and fountains and children eat buns in parks, he feels so terribly vulnerable.
‘He feels like giving up. All proprietary space around him has collapsed. Anyone is free to abuse him in any manner they choose. He has the social rights of a spider or an ant. And the world seems a place overrun with vile people. His knotted stomach never stops reminding him that this homeless walk through the streets of Warsaw is a death-defying undertaking. He is overly conscious of his every step, as if walking on a frozen lake.’
The violence which builds through the book is unrelenting, wave upon wave, until the kindnesses are just rare splashes of intense colour. It’s not a book for the squeamish reader, I’d say – don’t come here for a cheery or a gently romantic story of war - but there’s something grown-up and unflinchingly candid in its portrayal of the experience of the Warsaw Jews. Nothing is softened, prettied-up or made more palatable for a sensitive audience, and I admired it for that.
5 stars for fabulously evocative writing, for genuinely disturbing me, and making me realise that I ought to learn more about this subject. Impactful. Enthralling. So very sad.
In The Warsaw Ghetto weaves the twinned narrative of dance student, Ala Silberman, and her uncle, Max, following them from the opening days of the Second World War, through to the destruction of the Jewish ghetto in 1943.
We first meet them in conversation, before their narratives split, sharing memories and ambitions, and the tranquility and ease of that sunlit scene will soon seem like something precious and distant. The vibration of approaching planes cuts across the final lines of the first chapter, and then the reverberations start to impact through Ala and Max’s comfortable lives. By the third chapter, Ala is crouching in a cellar as bombs bring down the city streets above.
The writing is beautifully precise and evocative, taking us from the serenity of pre-war nights on rivers to the sudden sensory overload of living in a bombarded, broken and occupied city.
While there is still leisure to return to such places, Max remembers:
‘He finds himself remembering the night boat trips with his father. The boat easing through the black current. The moonlight silvering the whispering reeds and the leaves overhead. The air pungent with resin and algae and wet earth. The whisper of the willow leaves trailing in the water. His father standing with the oar, as if he owned and orchestrated the entire night.’
But soon so much of the city that they know is reshaping around them, and with that we feel their balance and security start to shift. After all, this is a Jewish family, and we’re in Poland in 1939.
‘This part of Warsaw has always been an extension of home for her, part of her shape, a responsive intimate part of her identity. So much she was attached to, so much that lent her footholding weight is now obliterated. It’s as if one of the mirrors by which she recognises herself has ceased to reflect her. The teetering balancing act of unsupported walls makes her feel unsteady on her own legs. Buildings taken for granted are no longer standing. There are voids where previously history stood. Feathers like snowflakes rise up into the smoke infested air as if she is inside a macabre snow globe.’
This is a portrait of the city of Warsaw as much as it is the story of this family. As war begins to impact every aspect of its population’s lives, so we see adults infantilized and children carrying the weapons of soldiers. Everyone is acting parts, dressing up, telling lies. And it all intensifies – is yet more discordant - as Ala and her family must move into the Jewish ghetto:
‘There are no parks in the ghetto; barely any trees. She misses the smell of the refreshed earth, the flickering green light beneath overhanging foliage, the flight of birds over water. She misses the distinctive individual timbre of each of Warsaw’s church bells. She misses walking home at night through the fragrance of tree pollen and the laughter of lovers. Only books now enable her to experience many of the blessings of the natural world she loves but has never until now fully appreciated. She lives wholeheartedly inside every novel she reads.’
What I found most unsettling about this novel wasn’t so much the (very high) death toll, as the petty cruelties that it describes. These are the images that will stay with me – the men made to strip in the streets and exchange clothes, the women ordered to clean public toilets with their underwear, those who are made to dance and leapfrog, all for fleeting, macabre amusement. It’s the vindictiveness and the humiliations which are so disturbing.
‘Then she has to watch her father kneel down on the pavement to untie the laces of his built-up shoe and feels a murderous surge of hatred for the German with the pink cloddish face which frightens her. When both men have stripped down to their underwear the German orders them to take off their undergarments too. Ala averts her eyes at the sight of her hollow-chested, knobbly-kneed father naked in the street. It feels like a fisted hand has hold of her heart. No daughter should ever have to stand by helpless witnessing the public humiliation and distress of her father.’
But both Ala and Max have inner lives and inner strength, something to take them out of the ugliness and corruption and duplicity going on all around them. Ala lives through dance, and even in the darkest days there is a wellspring of vitality that she can access in the rhythms and shapes of her muscles. For Max strength comes from the hope of rekindling a relationship with Sabina, the woman who was just always slightly out of reach in his youth, but who he is now suddenly able to shelter. As he takes on the responsibility of Sabina and her children, so Max finds new purpose and pride.
‘Every morning he wakes up to a renewed sense of wonder and excitement. Beginning with the ritual of breakfast when the sleepy sulky faces of Ora and Eugenia, smelling of peppermint, rouse an ache of protective tenderness in him. How available to harm are their young bodies and ripening personalities has already prompted in him a consuming resolve to put all his resources of love and care at their disposal.’
We see war bring out the worst in people (the selfish, the venal, the cruel), but it also, just occasionally, shows them at their best – heroic, thoughtful and generous. Max, in particular, grows as fear and protectiveness make him into a kinder and braver man. He even surprises himself. But, as he finds reason to hope and to care, so the walls seem to be closing in and the odds are shortening.
As the all-around violence rises to a crescendo, like the characters, I found myself becoming slightly desensitized to it. When Ala’s grandmother is murdered, within paragraphs I’d forgotten it, just as Ala does too. Had that happened in the opening chapters of the novel, it would be a pivotal and shocking moment, which, I guess, shows the impact of the build-up of terror that the novel delineates. But then, having watched Max invest so much will in his relationship with Sabina, the moment when she is killed is shocking.
As the months pass, life is the ghetto becomes so precarious. Everything is fragile, on a hair trigger and no one can be trusted. It’s summed up in the image of Max acrobatically mapping his way across the rooftops and Ala walking the plank. But then, as Max leaves the ghetto, ventures out into the bright, clean, technicolor world beyond, where there is still green grass and fountains and children eat buns in parks, he feels so terribly vulnerable.
‘He feels like giving up. All proprietary space around him has collapsed. Anyone is free to abuse him in any manner they choose. He has the social rights of a spider or an ant. And the world seems a place overrun with vile people. His knotted stomach never stops reminding him that this homeless walk through the streets of Warsaw is a death-defying undertaking. He is overly conscious of his every step, as if walking on a frozen lake.’
The violence which builds through the book is unrelenting, wave upon wave, until the kindnesses are just rare splashes of intense colour. It’s not a book for the squeamish reader, I’d say – don’t come here for a cheery or a gently romantic story of war - but there’s something grown-up and unflinchingly candid in its portrayal of the experience of the Warsaw Jews. Nothing is softened, prettied-up or made more palatable for a sensitive audience, and I admired it for that.
5 stars for fabulously evocative writing, for genuinely disturbing me, and making me realise that I ought to learn more about this subject. Impactful. Enthralling. So very sad.
July 11, 2019
In the Warsaw ghetto is a wonderful book based on life inside one of the degrading settlements established to debase and ultimately wipeout the Jews during Hitler’s regime in World War 2. This was written from an entirely different perspective however. We followed the lives of Ala and her uncle Max, two somewhat wealthier Jews who initially did not suffer from the poverty and malnourishment inflicted on those living in the ghetto like so many who perished around them. They were good people who thrived on helping others. I particularly loved the references to Dr Korsack and his young orphans which were introduced occasionally through the novel as I really enjoyed that novel. Ala’s life continued as normal as much as possible while simultaneously witnessing those she knew so well fall around her. Her interest in sex and the growing desires of a young woman was a new angle not previously explored to such an extent in holocaust literature in my experience, and the author did so showing a great depth of understanding. The descriptive language used was well composed and assisted the reader form detailed images of every scene. The novel drew me in more and more as it progressed and in the second half of the novel I couldn’t read quickly enough, so was the eagerness I felt to discover what became of Sabina, Ora, Engenia, Marcel, Zanek, Max and Ala. The ending fitted the novel well however it was not at all the ending that I anticipated. I would recommend this novel to all. I don’t often give 5 starts but I feel in this instance 5 stars are highly deserved!
May 20, 2020
Love and hatred co-exist in Warsaw’s ghetto. Fear and courage go hand-in-hand. Where there is loyalty, there also lurks betrayal. Death seems to be a given. Is survival even possible?
Glenn Haybittle has penned a detailed saga of a family’s struggle for survival in The Warsaw Ghetto. Ala is a lithe young dancer who lives to please her mentor, whom she refers to as Madame. She is also experiencing her sexual awakening, which makes her curious, shy, brazen, and often self-centered. I found her one of the most difficult characters in the novel to connect with, although she has some moments of deep caring for others that I found quite touching.
Ala’s uncle Max Silberman has had a falling out with his father and converted to Catholicism, thus changing his name to a less Jewish sounding one. It does him no good. He is still labeled a “filthy Jew.” Poor Max. He has only truly loved one woman, and we are privy to much of that tale throughout the book.
In alternating chapters, the third person narrative follows Ala and Max. The plot unfolds slowly, and through much of the first half of the book, at least, I felt like I was outside looking in. The actions and feelings of the characters seemed as though they were described to me rather than placing me inside the story. I felt that detracted from my connection to the characters.
However, once the Nazis begin rounding up residents of the ghetto and separating them into able-bodied and “disposable” – those too infirm, too young, and too old – my gut began to twist into knots. That was only the beginning. The depiction of heinous acts of cruelty by Nazi soldiers made me screw up my face in horror. Men, women, and children learned to survive any way they could. Sometimes it was heartbreaking to read. Despite the many hardships, the ghetto residents tried to keep their sanity and find comfort in normal things like Ala’s dance, reading books, being a family, being a couple.
Resistance groups rise from the oppression and uncertainty. That resistance gave me hope, knowing that there were people who did not give up their dignity, no matter what. This is where my interest stirred and I began to feel more invested. As the descriptions of day-to-day, moment-to-moment life of Ala and her companions intensify versus Max’s solo adventures, I felt more emotional responses to their trials and tribulations. I began to care what happened to them. I had gut-wrenching reactions, followed by total shock.
In the end, the book got to me. I wish it had spoken to me sooner, but it did get me.
The Warsaw Ghetto is not just a story about the past. I believe it should teach us about our present and our future. How can neighbors turn on neighbors who have been their friends for decades? How can we look the other way when our neighbors are being singled out as “other”? Why should one person’s skin color, place of birth, gender, sexual identity, age, or religion be any better or any worse than anyone else’s, as if nationality, age, or race is a choice? What happens when you build walls to keep people in – or out? What effect does extreme stress have on an individual? On a community? Can we learn from the past? Can we make our present better? Can we leave the world a better place?
4 stars
Glenn Haybittle has penned a detailed saga of a family’s struggle for survival in The Warsaw Ghetto. Ala is a lithe young dancer who lives to please her mentor, whom she refers to as Madame. She is also experiencing her sexual awakening, which makes her curious, shy, brazen, and often self-centered. I found her one of the most difficult characters in the novel to connect with, although she has some moments of deep caring for others that I found quite touching.
Ala’s uncle Max Silberman has had a falling out with his father and converted to Catholicism, thus changing his name to a less Jewish sounding one. It does him no good. He is still labeled a “filthy Jew.” Poor Max. He has only truly loved one woman, and we are privy to much of that tale throughout the book.
In alternating chapters, the third person narrative follows Ala and Max. The plot unfolds slowly, and through much of the first half of the book, at least, I felt like I was outside looking in. The actions and feelings of the characters seemed as though they were described to me rather than placing me inside the story. I felt that detracted from my connection to the characters.
However, once the Nazis begin rounding up residents of the ghetto and separating them into able-bodied and “disposable” – those too infirm, too young, and too old – my gut began to twist into knots. That was only the beginning. The depiction of heinous acts of cruelty by Nazi soldiers made me screw up my face in horror. Men, women, and children learned to survive any way they could. Sometimes it was heartbreaking to read. Despite the many hardships, the ghetto residents tried to keep their sanity and find comfort in normal things like Ala’s dance, reading books, being a family, being a couple.
Resistance groups rise from the oppression and uncertainty. That resistance gave me hope, knowing that there were people who did not give up their dignity, no matter what. This is where my interest stirred and I began to feel more invested. As the descriptions of day-to-day, moment-to-moment life of Ala and her companions intensify versus Max’s solo adventures, I felt more emotional responses to their trials and tribulations. I began to care what happened to them. I had gut-wrenching reactions, followed by total shock.
In the end, the book got to me. I wish it had spoken to me sooner, but it did get me.
The Warsaw Ghetto is not just a story about the past. I believe it should teach us about our present and our future. How can neighbors turn on neighbors who have been their friends for decades? How can we look the other way when our neighbors are being singled out as “other”? Why should one person’s skin color, place of birth, gender, sexual identity, age, or religion be any better or any worse than anyone else’s, as if nationality, age, or race is a choice? What happens when you build walls to keep people in – or out? What effect does extreme stress have on an individual? On a community? Can we learn from the past? Can we make our present better? Can we leave the world a better place?
4 stars
February 7, 2020
Thanks To NetGalley, Cheyne Walk and Glenn Haybittle for my digital copy of In The Warsaw Ghetto.
Ala Silberman is busy training as a ballet dancer when the Germans invade Warsaw and nothing can prepare her for how much her life will change. Ala is very close to her Uncle Max he's a bachelor he has never gotten over the loss of his first love Sabina who he met at university and she decided to marry someone else.
Before they know it both Ala, her mother, father, brother and uncle Max are all living in the ghetto.
It's a huge shock but for Ala's family, at first life isn't too bad as they have money, everything can be smuggled in and can be bought for a price. But as time goes on life gets harder, housing is crowded due to new people arriving daily, disease is rampant, people are starving, freezing, their money can only last so long and it only gets worse. The German soldiers take what they want, anyone who tries to stop them has no chance and they enjoy humiliating the Jewish people
Max discovers Sabina is living in the ghetto as her catholic husband divorced her, she has two little girls Ora and Eugenia. They're living in terrible conditions with her auntie and they move in with Max as he has a spare room. For awhile they live as a family, eventually they decide to marry as a way of keeping them all safe.
But as time goes on no one is safe in the ghetto, people go missing never to be seen again, the transports to concentration camps begin and the Nazi's plan to empty the ghetto. Nothing can prepare the Silberman's for the horror they witness during two years they spend in the Warsaw ghetto, eventually Max and Ala do anything they can to survive, living on rooftops, they move under ground, living in drains and they both decide to fight back.
In The Warsaw Ghetto is a heart breaking book to read, nothing is held back, it's violent, brutal and contains a lot of sexual references. I finished the book, it was a struggle for me due to the subject and I gave it three stars. I shared my review on Goodreads, NetGalley, Australian Amazon and my blog. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
Ala Silberman is busy training as a ballet dancer when the Germans invade Warsaw and nothing can prepare her for how much her life will change. Ala is very close to her Uncle Max he's a bachelor he has never gotten over the loss of his first love Sabina who he met at university and she decided to marry someone else.
Before they know it both Ala, her mother, father, brother and uncle Max are all living in the ghetto.
It's a huge shock but for Ala's family, at first life isn't too bad as they have money, everything can be smuggled in and can be bought for a price. But as time goes on life gets harder, housing is crowded due to new people arriving daily, disease is rampant, people are starving, freezing, their money can only last so long and it only gets worse. The German soldiers take what they want, anyone who tries to stop them has no chance and they enjoy humiliating the Jewish people
Max discovers Sabina is living in the ghetto as her catholic husband divorced her, she has two little girls Ora and Eugenia. They're living in terrible conditions with her auntie and they move in with Max as he has a spare room. For awhile they live as a family, eventually they decide to marry as a way of keeping them all safe.
But as time goes on no one is safe in the ghetto, people go missing never to be seen again, the transports to concentration camps begin and the Nazi's plan to empty the ghetto. Nothing can prepare the Silberman's for the horror they witness during two years they spend in the Warsaw ghetto, eventually Max and Ala do anything they can to survive, living on rooftops, they move under ground, living in drains and they both decide to fight back.
In The Warsaw Ghetto is a heart breaking book to read, nothing is held back, it's violent, brutal and contains a lot of sexual references. I finished the book, it was a struggle for me due to the subject and I gave it three stars. I shared my review on Goodreads, NetGalley, Australian Amazon and my blog. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
July 27, 2019
Via my book blog at https://cavebookreviews.blogspot.com/
Glenn Haybittle's new novel is a brilliantly told story of a family in Warsaw during the Holocaust. Ala is a talented young dancer whose dream lies in the arts. The story centers on Ala and her uncle, Max, who is still dreaming of the love he lost to another man, Sabrina. GH plots out the grim details of families having to move and move again. The degradation of the human body, mind, and spirit floods over from the very beginning.
We know history by heart. We know that Polish sympathizers helped to betray their neighbors, to work as policemen. What GH gives us is the authentic life of a family and minute details of their history, how they get along, and who does not help in survival. The story is, of course, about love and loss in the worst of times in human history.
If there is one book you must read now, it is this one. Fascism is on the rise in this world, and we must be well versed in its implications and drawn-out results.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this immense novel (July 30).
Glenn Haybittle's new novel is a brilliantly told story of a family in Warsaw during the Holocaust. Ala is a talented young dancer whose dream lies in the arts. The story centers on Ala and her uncle, Max, who is still dreaming of the love he lost to another man, Sabrina. GH plots out the grim details of families having to move and move again. The degradation of the human body, mind, and spirit floods over from the very beginning.
We know history by heart. We know that Polish sympathizers helped to betray their neighbors, to work as policemen. What GH gives us is the authentic life of a family and minute details of their history, how they get along, and who does not help in survival. The story is, of course, about love and loss in the worst of times in human history.
If there is one book you must read now, it is this one. Fascism is on the rise in this world, and we must be well versed in its implications and drawn-out results.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this immense novel (July 30).
June 6, 2019
Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I truly enjoyed this book, Haybittle did a wonderful job bringing his characters, Ala and Max Silberman to life in an honest and heartbreaking fashion. As a lover of all things World War II with the focus on the Holocaust, this was one of the most (seemingly) realistic portrayal of the hardships that the Jewish people faced in the ghettos. Starting from the beginning of the Ghetto to it's destruction in 1943, this was a hard-hitting portrayal that has stuck with me. In fact, it took several days to process prior to being able to try to get my thoughts down in order to write this review.
I found the characters to be full of depth and development throughout the story. There are certain points that I found to be unnecessary with Ala's relationships, but that is a really minor point. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of realistic historical fiction.
If you enjoyed my review, thanks! You can find me on instagram @my_bookishthoughts
I truly enjoyed this book, Haybittle did a wonderful job bringing his characters, Ala and Max Silberman to life in an honest and heartbreaking fashion. As a lover of all things World War II with the focus on the Holocaust, this was one of the most (seemingly) realistic portrayal of the hardships that the Jewish people faced in the ghettos. Starting from the beginning of the Ghetto to it's destruction in 1943, this was a hard-hitting portrayal that has stuck with me. In fact, it took several days to process prior to being able to try to get my thoughts down in order to write this review.
I found the characters to be full of depth and development throughout the story. There are certain points that I found to be unnecessary with Ala's relationships, but that is a really minor point. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of realistic historical fiction.
If you enjoyed my review, thanks! You can find me on instagram @my_bookishthoughts
July 24, 2019
This book is moving and disturbing, but exceptionally well written. There are other books which have presented life in nazi occupied areas and the continued impact upon the world, but this one makes it all seem more current and condemns the human race for its cruelty and enjoyment of the humiliation of others.
The entwined stories of uncle and teenage niece are heart wrenching but realistic, as are the observations of death, starvation, disease, and murder up close and personal. The Nazis are insane, that's a given. But the common people who ignored what they did are little better.
I hope that this book will make people more aware of the current threat in the world today.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Cheyne Walk via NetGalley.
The entwined stories of uncle and teenage niece are heart wrenching but realistic, as are the observations of death, starvation, disease, and murder up close and personal. The Nazis are insane, that's a given. But the common people who ignored what they did are little better.
I hope that this book will make people more aware of the current threat in the world today.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Cheyne Walk via NetGalley.
July 30, 2019
I have read a lot of WW II books and I am amazed at the writing of Glenn Haybittle’s In the Warsaw Getto. I felt like I was in the book as I felt, smelled, suffered, loved, Max and Ala’s stories. At times, it was torture to read what was endured in the Ghetto. Man’s inhumanity to man! I am emotionally wrecked after reading this book and I am in awe of the courage of so many. Thank you NetGalley and Chayne Welk for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 17, 2019
A haunting and beautifully tragic look at the Warsaw Ghetto, and the courage of the confined Jews to rise up in the face of their oppression.
In the Warsaw Ghetto begins in Poland pre-German invasion, with Ala and her uncle, Max. Ala is a dancer, hails from the wealthier class, and is Jewish. She is also extremely naive to the workings of the world. In the Warsaw Ghetto is told in three books, over the course of several years of Ala’s time in the Warsaw ghetto. She details the abuse and fear of the ghetto inhabitants at the hands of the Germans, the Polish, and even their own people who have been given jobs as police. Ala’s boyfriend (this term is used loosely), Marcel, is one of the Jews appointed to be a policeman. He takes pride in his status, using it to rob other ghetto inhabitants of their jewelry and personal belongings.
As tensions increase around her, and Ala becomes more aware of the cruelty of humanity that she had previously been shielded from, the rage grows within her. Her rage at the Germans, who torment those waiting to cross the street from the little ghetto into the bigger ghetto; who show up tearing down the streets of what is now their home mowing down the elderly, women and children with both their vehicles and bullets; who stole her uncle from her for several months to be interned at a work camp. She begins to abhor Marcel for his cruelty to his own people, challenging his attitude that the Jews are deserving of this treatment because of their own shortcomings as people, and submissiveness as a whole.
In a world that has quickly turned dark, Ala turns to her dance. She strives only for the approval of her dance instructor, Madame, carrying a heavy weight when she disappoints her. Ala and her best friend Lily dance together, with a small group, in a theater that her grandfather, a member of the Judenrat, was able to procure for them. Madame has written and choreographed Cassandra, a composition highlighting the way their people are now forced to live, and Ala has been cast as the lead dancer.
The only way she’s known to express herself, and be free, dance is quickly ripped away from Ala when Madame is rounded up to be taken to Treblinka. As her world is further shattered, Ala must decide whether to lay down and allow herself to become a victim, or to fight back and join the underground fighters in an attempt to stop the Germans.
In the Warsaw Ghetto is beautifully told, alternating between the perspectives of Ala and Max. As the Jews are increasingly pushed into tight quarters, and roundups begin, the reader is faced with the harsh reality that families were separated at the drop of a hat; that the Germans, the Poles, the Lithuanians, and the Ukrainians truly felt that Jews were beneath them; took pleasure in their humiliation. It is a stark reminder that millions of Jews were exterminated, murdered at the hands of people who believed themselves superior. Shot in cold blood as they tried to flee for their lives, or turned in by traitors trying to save themselves.
Haybittle has written an incredibly overwhelming, while truly beautiful story of survival in the worst of conditions. His characters are real in a way that you can’t fathom how humans could be so awful to each other. The pain of not knowing whether your own flesh and blood is still alive, of whether you will survive. But these characters give us hope, as they spit in the face of authority. Their ingenuity and bravery are sparks of courage. While some may deny that the Holocaust happened, authors like Haybittle remind us that this did happen. In the Warsaw Ghetto may be a piece of fiction, but it hits firmly on the fact that these people were just normal people. They did not ask for anything but to survive. And to pretend that this world altering event didn’t happen is a slap in the face to those who fought, those who survived, and those who vow to never allow it to happen again.
Pick it up, read it, remember it.
In the Warsaw Ghetto begins in Poland pre-German invasion, with Ala and her uncle, Max. Ala is a dancer, hails from the wealthier class, and is Jewish. She is also extremely naive to the workings of the world. In the Warsaw Ghetto is told in three books, over the course of several years of Ala’s time in the Warsaw ghetto. She details the abuse and fear of the ghetto inhabitants at the hands of the Germans, the Polish, and even their own people who have been given jobs as police. Ala’s boyfriend (this term is used loosely), Marcel, is one of the Jews appointed to be a policeman. He takes pride in his status, using it to rob other ghetto inhabitants of their jewelry and personal belongings.
As tensions increase around her, and Ala becomes more aware of the cruelty of humanity that she had previously been shielded from, the rage grows within her. Her rage at the Germans, who torment those waiting to cross the street from the little ghetto into the bigger ghetto; who show up tearing down the streets of what is now their home mowing down the elderly, women and children with both their vehicles and bullets; who stole her uncle from her for several months to be interned at a work camp. She begins to abhor Marcel for his cruelty to his own people, challenging his attitude that the Jews are deserving of this treatment because of their own shortcomings as people, and submissiveness as a whole.
In a world that has quickly turned dark, Ala turns to her dance. She strives only for the approval of her dance instructor, Madame, carrying a heavy weight when she disappoints her. Ala and her best friend Lily dance together, with a small group, in a theater that her grandfather, a member of the Judenrat, was able to procure for them. Madame has written and choreographed Cassandra, a composition highlighting the way their people are now forced to live, and Ala has been cast as the lead dancer.
The only way she’s known to express herself, and be free, dance is quickly ripped away from Ala when Madame is rounded up to be taken to Treblinka. As her world is further shattered, Ala must decide whether to lay down and allow herself to become a victim, or to fight back and join the underground fighters in an attempt to stop the Germans.
In the Warsaw Ghetto is beautifully told, alternating between the perspectives of Ala and Max. As the Jews are increasingly pushed into tight quarters, and roundups begin, the reader is faced with the harsh reality that families were separated at the drop of a hat; that the Germans, the Poles, the Lithuanians, and the Ukrainians truly felt that Jews were beneath them; took pleasure in their humiliation. It is a stark reminder that millions of Jews were exterminated, murdered at the hands of people who believed themselves superior. Shot in cold blood as they tried to flee for their lives, or turned in by traitors trying to save themselves.
Haybittle has written an incredibly overwhelming, while truly beautiful story of survival in the worst of conditions. His characters are real in a way that you can’t fathom how humans could be so awful to each other. The pain of not knowing whether your own flesh and blood is still alive, of whether you will survive. But these characters give us hope, as they spit in the face of authority. Their ingenuity and bravery are sparks of courage. While some may deny that the Holocaust happened, authors like Haybittle remind us that this did happen. In the Warsaw Ghetto may be a piece of fiction, but it hits firmly on the fact that these people were just normal people. They did not ask for anything but to survive. And to pretend that this world altering event didn’t happen is a slap in the face to those who fought, those who survived, and those who vow to never allow it to happen again.
Pick it up, read it, remember it.
August 11, 2019
There are certain books that are harder to read than others. In the Warsaw Ghetto by Glenn Haybittle was one of those books. Books, like In the Warsaw Ghetto, must be read though to ensure that we remember and never forget the horrific acts of the Holocaust. They must be recognized and shared with others so that there can never be another Holocaust again. Glenn Haybittle, brilliantly led the reader through the occupation of Poland and the formation of the Warsaw Ghetto. In his grandmother's words, "the Nazis didn't conjure up antisemitism out of thin air. It was a poison in the collective mind of almost every nation and had been for centuries." The Nazis just took antisemitism to another level, delivering death, terror and cruelty in their harsh and inhuman ways. There has not been a book written about the Warsaw Ghetto in a long time and this one deserves unbiased praise. I could not put this book down.
The hardships of living in Warsaw, Poland at the onset of the German occupation and then during the formation of the Warsaw Ghetto were told through the voices of Ala, a young teenage, Jewish girl aspiring to be a brilliant ballerina and her uncle Max a Jewish man in his late thirties. Up until the Nazi invasion, Ala had lived a life of privilege, being from a wealthy Jewish family. Max had converted to Catholicism prior to the Nazi infiltration of Warsaw. He had never married but still often thought of his girlfriend, Sabina, from University days, who he was still in love with. Through Ala and Max, their friends and important people to them were introduced. As rations were reduced and more restrictions were instated, their frustrations, anger, terror and hardships were felt. The ultimate goal was survival as their conditions got worse and cattle cars began taking droves of Jewish men, women and children to Treblinka. Survival meant that the survivors could report and witness punishment for the heinous crimes the Nazis were committing. Ala witnessed the inhuman treatment of her father as he was forced onto one of the cattle cars, only to be sent to his death. She witnessed brutality and purposeful embarrassment the Nazis made the Jews of Warsaw feel. Ala and her mother were forced to clean toilets with their underwear and then made to put the filthy underwear back on. Perhaps the hardest aspect to accept was the way the Jewish police treated their own people. Ala also had to witness the death of own mother as the Nazis shot her in the back. Both Ala and Max joined different political parties and fought the Nazis. This led to Ala and Max's involvement in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and to their ultimate deaths.
In the Warsaw Ghetto by Glenn Haybittle was an intense, sad and tragic story spanning the years of 1940-1943. The scenes, circumstances and occurrences were vivid and painstakingly easy to visualize. The postscript answered most of the unanswered questions. The novel was well researched and really portrayed the hardships and brutalities the Jewish people experienced in the Warsaw Ghetto. Each character was portrayed in a believable way. I was brought to tears several times throughout the book. I would recommend In the Warsaw Ghetto very highly.
Many thanks to the publisher, Glenn Haybittle and Netgalley for this advanced copy of In the Warsaw Ghetto in exchange for my honest review.
The hardships of living in Warsaw, Poland at the onset of the German occupation and then during the formation of the Warsaw Ghetto were told through the voices of Ala, a young teenage, Jewish girl aspiring to be a brilliant ballerina and her uncle Max a Jewish man in his late thirties. Up until the Nazi invasion, Ala had lived a life of privilege, being from a wealthy Jewish family. Max had converted to Catholicism prior to the Nazi infiltration of Warsaw. He had never married but still often thought of his girlfriend, Sabina, from University days, who he was still in love with. Through Ala and Max, their friends and important people to them were introduced. As rations were reduced and more restrictions were instated, their frustrations, anger, terror and hardships were felt. The ultimate goal was survival as their conditions got worse and cattle cars began taking droves of Jewish men, women and children to Treblinka. Survival meant that the survivors could report and witness punishment for the heinous crimes the Nazis were committing. Ala witnessed the inhuman treatment of her father as he was forced onto one of the cattle cars, only to be sent to his death. She witnessed brutality and purposeful embarrassment the Nazis made the Jews of Warsaw feel. Ala and her mother were forced to clean toilets with their underwear and then made to put the filthy underwear back on. Perhaps the hardest aspect to accept was the way the Jewish police treated their own people. Ala also had to witness the death of own mother as the Nazis shot her in the back. Both Ala and Max joined different political parties and fought the Nazis. This led to Ala and Max's involvement in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and to their ultimate deaths.
In the Warsaw Ghetto by Glenn Haybittle was an intense, sad and tragic story spanning the years of 1940-1943. The scenes, circumstances and occurrences were vivid and painstakingly easy to visualize. The postscript answered most of the unanswered questions. The novel was well researched and really portrayed the hardships and brutalities the Jewish people experienced in the Warsaw Ghetto. Each character was portrayed in a believable way. I was brought to tears several times throughout the book. I would recommend In the Warsaw Ghetto very highly.
Many thanks to the publisher, Glenn Haybittle and Netgalley for this advanced copy of In the Warsaw Ghetto in exchange for my honest review.
January 15, 2020
This book is both beautifully written and heartbreaking in equal measure. This is the first Glenn Haybittle novel I have read, but not the first Holocaust novel I have read. This novel competes with the best of what I have previously read. Told through the eyes of Ala Silberman and her uncle Max Silberman. Ala is an aspiring ballet dancer from a Jewish family who would definitely be considered well off. As a young woman she finds herself going from living a cultured life inside Warsaw, Poland to having to adjust to the increasing pressures placed on Jewish people as Hitler’s power rises. Ultimately it culminates in Ala and most everyone she knows becoming interred inside the Warsaw Ghetto. The characters are richly described and complex. Each event is heart wrenching, and even though these stories may be familiar to many, they are no less horrifying each time they are told. I spent a lot of time hoping that there would be a happy ending for at least some of the characters involved and as events unfold it becomes clear that is not something that will be realized. Definitely an emotional story that is hard to read at times, but well worth reading. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
May 30, 2019
"To hold an object that belonged to someone you have loved and lost changes the weight of your hand and then the weight of your entire body."
Heart wrenching WW2 story written in the present tense with immensely likeable and credible characters. My stomach was in knots from beginning to end reading this book. The ending was incredibly powerful. My only reservation was the sexual content. Would definitely recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.
Heart wrenching WW2 story written in the present tense with immensely likeable and credible characters. My stomach was in knots from beginning to end reading this book. The ending was incredibly powerful. My only reservation was the sexual content. Would definitely recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.
May 26, 2019
In the Warsaw Ghetto by Glenn Haybittle is a historical fiction novel that weaves between two main characters (Ala and Max) that are relatives and also both Jewish persons forced into ghetto housing during WWII Warsaw, Poland.
Their trials and tribulations, and ultimately their fate (along with many others) makes for a haunting and heartbreaking read.
4/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review.
Their trials and tribulations, and ultimately their fate (along with many others) makes for a haunting and heartbreaking read.
4/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review.
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