We Are On Our Own

by Miriam Katin

A stunning memoir of a mother and her daughter's survival in WWII and their subsequent lifelong struggle with faith

In this captivating and elegantly illustrated graphic memoir, Miriam Katin retells the story of her and her mother's escape on foot from the Nazi invasion of Budapest. With her father off fighting for the Hungarian army and the German troops quickly approaching, Katin and her mother are forced to flee to the countryside after faking their deaths. Leaving behind all of their belongings and loved ones, and
unable to tell anyone of their whereabouts, they disguise themselves as a Russian servant and illegitimate child, while literally staying a few steps ahead of the German soldiers.

We Are on Our Own is a woman's attempt to rebuild her earliest childhood trauma in order to come to an understanding of her lifelong questioning of faith. Katin's faith is shaken as she wonders how God could create and tolerate such a wretched world, a world of fear and hiding, bargaining and theft, betrayal and abuse. The complex and horrific experiences on the run are difficult for a child to understand, and as a child, Katin saw them with the simple longing, sadness, and
curiosity she felt when her dog ran away or a stranger made her mother cry. Katin's ensuing lifelong struggle with faith is depicted throughout the book in beautiful full-color sequences.

We Are on Our Own is the first full-length graphic novel by Katin, at the age of sixty-three.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Comics, History, Holocaust, War

136 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2006

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hungary 1944, a young girl and her mother struggle to find freedom from the hands of both the Nazis and Soviets.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would be afraid to write a graphic novel set during the Holocaust since one of the most successful graphic novels of all time, the Maus series has done is so brilliantly.

I am thrilled that Miriam Katin did not share my fear. She has produced a beautiful, touching and important work in We Are On Our Own. The scope is much smaller than that of Maus which is perhaps why it can happily coexist with Spiegelman's work neither threatening nor competing with it.

The plot is of a young mother whose husband is away at war (fighting for the Hungarian army) when she must decide whether to flee her home and life in Budapest.

It is a carefully rendered and delicate depiction of why so many struggle with faith, both those who endure(d) atrocities and those who have family/friends who did. It does not beat you over the head with anything but perhaps the beautiful drawings soften the blow, and you certainly follow them through harrowing ordeals, but the most palpable, the most touching are the interactions between the mother and her daughter- both the memories of their flight and also their conversations years later in the United States, 30 years after the war.

We Are On Our Own is a testament to the fact that a story does not have to end in utter despair and loss to convey the horrors of war and subsequent questionings of faith. Perhaps we do not hear enough about all that was destroyed during World War II but that does not mean we do not have room for stories that end slightly better in which perseverance paid off, even if prayer did not.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mother and daughter must survive Nazi occupation and find that love is the only thing that can't be defeated. This story probably represents what many families had to endure while trying to get away from Nazi oppression. So often the worse circumstances bring out the best in people; this book is an example of the depth of love a mother has for her child.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic novel, Katin's memoir of being a child in Hungary when first the nazis, and then the Soviets, took control of the area, invites comparisons to Marjane Satrapi's _Persepolis_ books-- I mean, I think they were produced independent of one another, but both deal with a child's perspective of life under a foreign, repressive regime.... or so you'd think.

But perhaps because this book is mostly reconstructed from conversations with her mother, the book has little interest in young Miriam's experiences-- she is a minor character in this book, and most of our interest is focused on the artist's mother as she struggles to find a way to provide for her daughter. This lack of personal investment in the story doesn't necessarily lead to the result, but it does ultimately contribute to the fact that the struggles here are largely external, as the duo are shunted from place to place by troop movements and the need to eat, and the internal struggles are mostly flattened out.... I think this might be interesting as a history lesson, of the kinds of things people as a group were up against (Jews, and to a lesser degree ordinary Hungarians) but I found it kind of dull at telling the story of a particular person, or pair of people. It's history told with paper dolls, much more than it's a satisfying memoir.

The picture making is beautiful. I just wish that there were more to this story and its telling than I saw.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read by Katin. I read her follow-up to this book, Letting Go, a couple years ago. That one was a memoir that focused on her as an adult trying to recover the property that was stolen from her family as a Jews in Nazi Germany. This book recounts her family's story during the war when she was still a very young girl - 4 or 5 by the end of the book.

Its a tale of courage and hope during an awful time. It was one of the few Jew-in-Nazi-Germany stories I've read that actually has a happy ending. The blurb states the book "is a woman's attempt to rebuild her earliest childhood trauma in order to come to an understanding of her lifelong questioning of faith. Katin's faith is shaken as she wonders how God could create and tolerate such a wretched world, a world of fear and hiding, bargaining and theft, betrayal and abuse." However, I really don't think there was much focus on her challenge to faith - it was there for sure, but its not directly questioned beyond the obvious 'is God here?' question. This is a pretty straight-forward retelling of an interesting and moving family story.

The art style, mostly grey pencils, reminded me of Raymond Briggs who also does most of his work in pencil.

[Loraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. The drawings are full of emotion. She shares her unique story without holding back. Although she is a funny woman and sees humour easily where many don't, and although she says she likes to make people laugh, just because "things are funny", there is not much humour here. That's ok.
The black and white drawings are deliberate. Photos of the time were in black and white but so were emotions. This is a beautiful book, easy to read and reread, no hankie required but bring your heart.

[Mery_B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5

Oh, por favor. Cómo puedes dar las gracias a un cielo teñido de sangre.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pencil drawings by Katin, a tribute to her mother's resourcefulness in escaping Budapest during the Holocaust. A simple story in many ways, not the complex, multi-layered tale that Maus is, but the drawings are elegant and the story is inspiring.

[Hannah Garden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ay yai yai, I love a sad memoir but when it there's something about a dog, too much. Too much. I had to read this sort of squinting and with my breath held, like when someone's removing a horrible splinter for you. Really a sharp sadness, this story carves.

[Moka Aumilieudeslivres · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sais-tu mentir?"

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s get this out of the way: inevitably, the comparison is drawn to Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about his parents’ experience in the Holocaust and the ensuing familial dynamics. There is room in memoir, literature, and narrative for multiple works about the Holocaust; Katin’s We Are On Our Own occupies a unique niche. They are both distinct pieces of art, and overlap in only the most general manner.

Katin’s storytelling is spare: 115 pages of illustration contain fewer than five pages of text. Minimal verbal provisions are given to guide the reader through the experience. Where Maus is a post-modern novel, We Are On Our Own is minimalist poetry.

Illustrations portraying the present-day are in color, while recollections are in black and white. The artistry is vibrant and expressive, far more impressionist than I was expecting. It is a testament to Katin’s talent and vision that the nuance and power of her mother’s experience (and her own) can be conveyed so effectively.

Katin’s father is at war, Miriam – in her infancy – and her mother escape Budapest, Hungary during the Nazi occupation and rising anti-Semitism. Relying on the kindness of strangers, they make their way (on forged documents and new identities) to a remote farm, exchanging labor for accommodations.

Katin successfully portrays the complexity of the war’s effects on civilians, opting to avoid the demonizing and canonizing of different sides. Her neighbor in Budapest embraces a casual anti-Semitism, lamenting the failure of the Nazis’ to eliminate the Jews from Hungary. She alludes to her mothers’ relationship with a Nazi officer, a man who brought candy and finery, in exchange for safety. We, as readers, witness the shift between the Nazi occupiers and coming Russian forces, and the resultant change in attitudes among civilians.

Finally, and what is most interesting to me, is how Katin approaches religion during the war and the ‘silence of God.’ Miriam struggles with faith, identifying her father’s atheism as her inheritance. Like other Jews of her age and station, she inhabits the space between Jewish culture and Jewish theology; she acknowledges the capacity for Judaism to lend itself to quiet agnosticism while identifying with its tradition.

[Emilia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, yeah, as a comic book it was just fine/ok, in that scribbly style ala C. Tyler, which is interesting and boring/cheaty/shorthand at once.
Also, the language was stilted enough that I checked to see if it was a translation. No such luck. Written in English.

We Are On Our Own refers to an atheism borne of the struggles of WWII and it's aftermath, dealing with Nazis and Communists and etc. If all these terrible things happen, there is no god? I guess? But, dude, the book has a happy ending, and the family would not have gotten back together if a bunch of people had not helped them along the way. No, we are not on our own, even if it's only because of a faith in some segments of humanity. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, totally, but it was a little ironic that the book spent so much work on showing all the people who helped them and then concluded that everyone is born and dies and lives alone. I want to say it was an intentional irony, but I don't think it was intended as such, and for that I give this book a great big meh.

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستان در مورد یه خانواده یهودی در زمان جنگ جهانی دوم هستش. اتفاقات و تراژدی های این کتاب، همراه با تصویرگری مناسبش، تا میزان تلخی درد و اندوه و شرایط سختی رو که اون خانواده در اون قرار داشتن رو نشون میده. سیستم روایتش بیشتر بر مبنای دیالوگ های افراد هستش و تصاویر هم بیشتر سیاه و سفید هستن و فقط چند جا رنگیه که اونم مربوط به زمان جنگ میشه. مثل بقیه خاطرات هولوکاست، داستان قوی ای هستش و اراده برای بقا در مقابل تصمیم های غیر ممکن رو خوب نشون میده. لازمه که هیچ وقت این دوران کثیف تاریخ رو فراموش نکنیم.

[Corinne Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Are On Our Own is not a completely chronological story. We see Miriam as an adult occasionally, with seemingly unimportant tasks and events reminding her about experiences in her past. The bulk of the story, however, takes place in Budapest during the last two years of World War II. She is Jewish, the single child of a deployed soldier father and a mother (Ester) at home. As the situation worsens for the Jews, Miriam flees with her mother and lives a frightful existence as her mother tries to keep her safe and keep them fed. Some people help willingly, others grudgingly - and their lives depend on their generosity.

The pencil drawings are so classy, truly artistic. The "evil" characters seem to be a bit non-distinct - just scary personages, the way a child would remember them. Certain frames are disturbing, as Miriam's mother lives through the unthinkable to protect them - and it's particularly frightening because you know Miriam is nearby, not understanding at all what is happening. My heart aches for Miriam, of course - a child whose faith slowly fades as God seems to have disappeared from the scene. But, also, as a mother - I ached for Ester. To run, terrified, from unimaginable horror and to have to put on a brave face for your small one. To let yourself be taken by the enemy, in order to buy time, and to have to pretend like everything is going to be just fine. I can't imagine the emotional burden, but Katin's drawings certainly help.

An excellent edition to the canon of Holocaust survivor stories, told with care and emotion. Highly recommended.

[Kelsey Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is so devastatingly beautiful. In a remarkably short book, the author tells the poignant story of how she was able to escape Nazism in Europe with her mother. The artwork itself is done in a sketchbook sort of style and the color is used brilliantly. The story shows how courageous and determined her mother was as well as what she had to go through in order to survive with her child. The hardships she had to go through is contrasted by the childlike innocence of the author who obviously doesn't understand the full importance of the events surrounding her instead focusing on the moments that directly affect her, like the dogs being taken away (on a related note: I have read MANY books on the holocaust and somehow I never knew that their pets were taken away. Immediately after this part, the beginning of the book, I had to go get a box of tissues). And yet, amidst all of this sadness and fear, there are beautiful moments of kindness and humanity, like when the author's servant stays with them without pay and even spreads a rumor after they leave for their own protection, when a soldier shows a picture of his own family to the author's mother to calm her down, and when the housekeeper of her family friend attempts to teach the author French. The book also shows the impact that the war had on the author, her family and the lasting affects across generations. It is a very good book and I highly recommend it.

[Noëlibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This lovely book, with its colored-pencil-and-graphite artwork, tells the memories of the young Katin as she lived through the 1944 German invasion of Budapest. 5-year-old Miriam’s father is at the front when the order comes for all Hungarian Jews to be rounded up, so her upper-class mother takes drastic and life-altering steps: She purchases false papers, saying that she is a country cleaning woman, and that Miriam is her illegitimate child. She then fakes her own death and vanishes into the countryside, Miriam in tow.
The next year is a grim and dangerous odyssey – always one step ahead of the Nazis, Miriam’s mother tries to make a life for the two of them on the run, making awful bargains along the way (she is forced to become an SS officer’s lover for a time, in exchange for his silence). Mother and daughter seek help from strangers, work on farms in exchange for meager lodgings, and barter their last few belongings to stay alive. And along the way, Miriam suspects that her strong childhood faith in God has been misplaced.
At last, the war ends, Miriam’s father reunites with the pair, and the family eventually ends up in New York. But although her parents make their peace with the world, Miriam is left with a lifelong bitterness and a lack of faith. One hopes that the creation of this book is perhaps her way of laying her demons once and for all.

[Steven Mccarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about a young girl who’s name is Lisa Levy and her mother Esther Levy. In 1944 World War 2 was happening, and the Jewish had to flee towns to stay save. Lisa and her mother were both Jewish. Her father was in the war and she doesn’t remember him. Through the book they find out that all the Jewish must be reported but instead they leave town. They move town to town avoiding being captured.
This book was a very short and quick read, maybe for someone just to read if they have a book for that day. I think it was well written and that the pictures were great. After reading this book it tells the reader and myself how hard life was for the Jewish. I think that others should read this if they don’t understand how hard life would have been during the war for them. One thing I didn’t really like or understand was that I think the book ended to quickly.
I give this book a 4 out of 5 even though it was very short. I give this a 4 out of 5 because it was a good short read and tells the story of a young girl that lived through Would War 2. I liked how it was written in a comic way, and with a passage at the end on how she was after the war and what happened to her and her family.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a strange one. It's the account of a Jewish mother and daughter on the run from the Nazis and experiencing some terrible traumas before finally being reunited with the missing husband/father. The title refers to the family's loss of belief in God as a result of the Holocaust. Grim stuff. The art is expertly conceived, mostly in black and white pencils, with colour reserved only for a few post-war interludes and for the Nazi flag (an odd juxtaposition). And given that the author was the very young child, filtering the narrative through an art style that often seems designed for a children's book (the style reminded me a lot of Edward Ardizonne)--even though the narrative perspective is omniscient, rather than itself filtered through the child--is an interesting and risky choice. I think Katin was going for a tension between the almost cartoony, light style and the brutal reality of the narrative, but for me--and despite the fact that she is clearly a talented artist--the contrast between form and content didn'g quite gel. Nevertheless, this is a more than worthwhile addition to the Holocaust memoir genre.

[Juli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was heart-breaking. The story is incredibly sad and depressing. The drawings beautifully match the mood and Miriam Katin manages to capture two different experiences in one novel: the one of the mom who is so desperate to keep herself and her daughter alive and the one of the little girl who is so naive and finds beauty in the little things. I was near tears within the first ten or so pages when the little girl loses her dog. And it just went downhill from there. This is for sure a book I will come back to in the future when I need a reminder of what really matters.


See my blog (spoilers possible!) here: https://ichleseblog.wordpress.com/201....

[Mike Aragona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Miriam brings us into the past and we see her as a child escaping WWII with her mother while trying to keep a hold onto their faith amidst death and destruction. Very poignant and powerful story told in a simple manner as seen through the eyes of a child. Considering the untold numbers who perished in the war, the fact that there are those who managed to escape and start a new life is beyond miraculous. One hopes that seeing what they went through could perhaps curb humanity's bloodlust... maybe someday it will... and books like this will serve as a reminder of the pain of innocence lost.

[Tony Cafiso · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Memoir by Miriam Katin about her experiences with her Mom during world war 2. She was only a few years old then and didn't fully understand what was going on. They ran away and made everyone believe they had died so they could completely disappear. After the war ended her father came back and went on his own journey to find them.
I think the best part about this book was the style of artwork. It is mostly black and white and sketched in a way that makes it look rushed. It is also gives it a dark and shady tone. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a graphic novel with a good story and interested in the world war 2 era.

[Rachel Drrmrmrr · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many things I love in one book. Beautiful illustrations, almost dreamlike. Soft and flowy, which is a stark contrast to the story. Her use of color and black and white to show the difference of time is really nice, too. I have a real fascination with the time period, WWII. Mother and daughter fleeing from their Nazi occupied city. Relying on the kindness of strangers to keep them safe. The kindness of some with the awfulness of others, I love it, I can't help it. I like seeing the extremes of human nature. And, let's not forget that horrible, heavy, sadness. I love a book that punches me in the guts with despair.

[Romain Blandre · Rating 4 out of 5]

On connait tous bien la tragédie des pays d'Europe de l'est sous la domination nazie. On s'intéresse moins au sort qu'ils ont subi suite à leur occupation par l'Armée rouge. Cette bande dessinée au format carré original est là pour nous le rappeler en mettant en scène une mère et sa fille, en perpétuelle fuite depuis 1944, date à laquelle les nazis se lancent dans l'assassinat de masse des juifs de Hongrie. La suite ici: https://pagesdhistoires.blogspot.com/...

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent and emotional graphic novel of a mother and daughter fleeing the Nazis and then more or less fleeing the Russians after them.

The story has been pieced together from her own recollection of when she was a child on the run, but also from conversations and letters.

I think she comes to the wrong conclusion about God, but then, I understand her rationale.

[Gabriela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book. The artwork is amazing. Budapest is very well portrayed and through sketches and drawings history comes to life, comes to mean something more. A life. I am amazed each time by survivors' accounts about war.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerfully written and beautifully illustrated story of a woman and her young daughter fleeing and surviving Nazi Germany, with all the cruelties and kindnesses they found along the way.

[Sabena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant graphic memoir by an artist/author who survived the Holocaust as a young child in hiding with her mother. The artistry is moving and cinematic. So well done.

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Are On Our Own by Miriam Katin tells the story of her and her mother's escape from Nazi occupied Hungary. Little Miriam is mostly oblivious to the dire circumstances her mother has to shield her from, but an early trauma sows the seeds of her lifelong rejection of God and faith (also fueled by her father's atheism, as she explains in the Afterword.) The monochrome pencil drawings of 1944-1945 are in stark contrast to the color pencil drawings of life in the USA in the 70s and 80s. Katin has a gift for action that spills over the panels. Recommended fro those who like dogs, wine, St. Anthony, and pirouettes.

[Wendelle]

This memoir is very powerful. It's about a Jewish mother and daughter's desperate scramble to evade and hide from the Nazis and to clamber on to the flimsiest of strings to hang on to survival. The title is a reference to their bitterness at a God who seems deaf to all their suffering. There were people who would be generous enough with room and board and rationed bread, yet the family pair always ended up having to push out and make their way on the road again.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Maman a brûlé Dieu et puis il s'est réfugié dans une barrique." Mémoire d'une enfance ordinaire d'une fille de famille juive ordinaire de l'époque de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le tragique et le comique ne sont jamais vraiment loin l'un de l'autre, tout comme l’épouvantable et le réconfortant.