Traitor

by Gudrun Pausewang, Rachel Ward (Translator)

An enemy is hiding in Anna's barn - a Russian prisoner of war on the run from the Nazis. Only Anna knows he's there. If she turns him in, he'll be shot. But if she hides him, she'll be a traitor to Germany. And for that, she could be shot herself.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, World War II, War, Fiction, German Literature, School

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Gudrun Pausewang (1928 - 2020) was a German writer of children's and teen fiction, also noted in science fiction for young-adult novels like The Last Children of Schewenborn.

Pausewang was born in Eastern Bohemia of German ancestry and after World War II her family settled in the former West Germany. She later became a teacher and taught in Germany's foreign school services in South America. She has written 86 novels with many of them involving the Third World and environmental concerns.

She has won several awards, including the German Federal Cross of Merit, the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and the Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for The Cloud in 1988.

She was the older sister of Freya Pausewang.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book up until the end. The ending is what made me give Traitor four stars instead of five. First of all, let me just say that Traitor is one of the first books I've read that's from the view point of the Germans during World War II. Usually when I think about WWII, I think of the suffering of the Jews in concentration camps. But what about the Germans? Did they ever oppose to Hitler's brainwashing? Did they ever stop and think how much the war caused the suffering of so many people? Traitor answered these questions.

I couldn't believe the ending when it came. In fact, I had to read through the last few pages several times before I understood what had happened. And I felt it was such a pointless, yet reasonable ending that illustrates what would really have happened if this story were true. But still, after finishing the book, I thought, "that's it?" But maybe I feel like that because I just didn't want such a good story like Traitor to end so suddenly, so depressing, and so quick.

Overall, this book is something worth reading. If you want to see how World War II was like from the view of common, everyday Germans, this is the book for you.

[Ülviyyə Tahir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Əla üslubu var. Əsərin sonu möhtəşəm: Dünyanın yetişməmiş insanların əlində necə bir yerə çevrilməsinin əla ifadəsi. Sanki Hitlerin böyüyəməməsi və ailənin sonunu gətirən 14 yaşlı beyin sahibinin paralel təhlili. Uşaq romanı adı ilə böyük işlər görən yazıçıdı Gudrun Pausewang.

[Mason May · Rating 4 out of 5]

It begins with a girl that finds a Russian solder and hides him and no one else knows. She hides him in a bunker and comes every weekend to give him supplies and food. One day the Russians were coming and.... I like this book because it tells you a lot about what is happening and what it is like in the book. The things I don't like about it is that they talk too much about there life. When you read this book it feels like you are in it and seeing everything. I would recommend if anyone would read it.

[Elly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein ergreifendes Buch, dessen Thematik gerade in der heutigen Zeit wieder wichtig ist.
Es geht um Mitgefühl, Vertrauen, Menschlichkeit und die Importanz die eigene und andere Ansichten zu hinterfragen.
Einfach zu lesen, aber keine leichte Lektüre.

[Katha Gefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

good sup!

[Raegan Arndt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not a bad book but what's the plot of the story?

[StarryReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and it is one of those stories that my mind keeps going back to years later.

I see people commenting that the ending is dark and "pointless", but I think that is the point. The story shows that war is messy and people die not just for grand nationalistic ideals, but tragic misunderstandings. Oftentimes deaths in war times are innocents being caught in the crossfire and the 'rules' of warfare people think should be followed aren't. There's no glory for the average person just suffering and chaos outside of most people's control.

This book really shows that loss of idealized innocence through two lenses: Anna and Felix. Both children have notions about how things "should be" but in the end it's neither.

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

It had a very, very horrible ending.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing but heavy. I am once again impressed with this author.

[Matej Mehmedhajic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bu, çeviri bir kitap okumamın ilk örneği değil. Hem iyi hem de kötü çevirileri okumuş biri olarak, genellikle eksik bir şeyler olduğunu hissederim. Bu, çevirinin doğasında olan bir durum. Yalnızca orijinal dil, hikayenin tasvir etmesi gereken güzelliği tam olarak barındırabilir. Ancak "Hain"de neredeyse hiçbir şey kaybolmamış. Evet, orijinal Almanca'dan çevirildiğine dair şüphe götürmez bazı noktalama işaretleri var. Ama güzellik? Duygu? Sayfaları çevirmemi sağlayan o iç burkucu his? Oh evet, hepsi var. Hiçbir şeyi kaçırmadım. Bu kitabı okurken, keşke Almanca bilseydim de orijinal dilinde okuyabilseydim, dedim. Sadece Almanca metni daha iyi olabilir.

Başlangıçta, Anna'nın küçük bir kız olduğu hissine kapıldım. Ve sanırım kafasında da öyleydi. Çok saf, olup biten her şeye karşı oldukça dar görüşlü. Kelimenin tam anlamıyla bir savaşın tam ortasındaydı ve tek umursadığı şey sosyalleşmek ve takılmak için en iyi yerlerin nerede olduğuydu.

Maxim her şeyi değiştirdi ve hikâye boyunca Anna'nın sertleştiğini görebilirsiniz. Korku devreye girdiğinde; bu Rus savaş esirini sakladığı için vurulma korkusu, kardeşinin gerçekten de Anavatan'ın iyiliği için onu ele verebileceği korkusu derisini kalınlaştırdı. Artık küçük bir kız gibi davranmıyor ya da konuşmuyor. Tavırları, hareketleri, hepsi bir yetişkine ait. Mümkün olduğunca çok şeyi saklamaya çalışan suçlu bir yetişkin. İlk başta ona yardım etmek için yaptıkları tamamen masumdu. Adamın Rus olduğunu bilmiyordu. Onun zihinsel engelli olduğunu düşünüyordu ve ona üzülüyordu. Ancak gerçeği öğrendiğinde, Hitlerjugend'de Ruslar hakkında öğrendiği her şeye, onların vahşi ve hayvanî doğalarına rağmen, Maxim'de bunu görmüyordu. O sadece normal bir adam görüyordu ve onun ölmesine izin veremiyordu.

Felix, beni kelimenin tam anlamıyla ağlattı. Anna'dan birkaç yaş küçüktü (14 belki) ve tamamen Üçüncü Reich'a yüreklendirilmişti; öyle ki kendi ailesini bile satabilirdi çünkü hiçbir şey Almanya'nın iyiliğinden önce gelmezdi. Hayatının bile. Sonunda onun ve onun yüzünden ailesinin geri kalanının kaderi için çığlık atmak istedim. Reich, onları genç ve etkilenebilir bir yaşta yakaladı. Daha kolay etkileniyorlardı. Ve Felix de bunun içine çekilmişti.

Hain'de tasvir edilen her kayıp, her korku titremesi, her keder ya da açlık acısı, her bomba sesi, Gudrun'un kaleminden duyulabilir ve hissedilebilir. Bu, İkinci Dünya Savaşı'na farklı bir bakış açısı sunan bir roman. Sonu mutlu bitmiyor. Aslında o kadar karartıcı ki, sonrasında ne olduğunu merak ediyorsunuz ama aynı zamanda tam olarak ne olduğunu da biliyorsunuz. Her şey doğru. Her şey gerçek. Son sayfayı ileri geri çevireceğiniz birkaç saniye içinde, hikayeye daha iyi bir final vermek için daha fazla kelimenin çıkmasını istediğinizde bir şeyler hissetmeniz normal; ama hiçbiri yok. Gerçekten, tüm hayal kırıklığına rağmen bittiği yerden hoşlandım. Bence mükemmeldi. Hüzünlü, yürek parçalayıcı ve rahatsız edici ama hikâyenin bitmesi gereken yer burasıydı. Başka bir yerde bittiğini hayal edemiyorum.

Eğer "Hain"i okursanız, ki okumanız gerek, sizi içine çekecek. Anna'nın hissettiği her şeyi hissedeceksiniz. Her şeyi duyacak, her şeyin tadını çıkaracak, onun her ürperişiyle ürperecek, ortaya çıktığını düşündüğünde yaşadığı her panikle yüzünüz kızaracak. Bitmesini istemeyecek ve bittiğinde çığlık atacaksınız çünkü buna hazır olmayacaksınız. Sadece bitti, tıpkı Anna gibi. Ve sonra, en başa dönmek ve onun yaşadığı her şeyi tekrar hissetmek için yeniden başlamak isteyeceksiniz.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

¨Traitor¨ is about a girl who lives near Germany. She has a prisoner from Russia in her barn that she is keeping there because if she doesn't he will be found and shot. Through the story, she has to make the decision to keep him there and risk being found and killed or him being found and killed. The book has a good storyline but the way it is shown is not good. The book is very lengthy at times and hard to keep reading. There is a lot of inner conflict with the main character Anne but it is not a first person book so it is often hard to try to figure out what she is actually thinking. The ending was also not the best, it is very confusing and requires a lot of deciphering. Although there is some downs the good parts of the book make up for it in some ways. Anyone that is interested in WWii should read this book. It is different than many others because it is through the eyes of a average German citizen not someone from a concentration camp. There is lots of suspense especially in the end but there is a lot of close calls through the book that also add suspense. Through the book there is also lots of turns that would be unexpected.

[Renzo Biancheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are the centerpiece of the novel and the book is told with two narrative perspectives: one an omniscient narrator and the other first person. The story covers the culture and the lifestyle of rural Germany during World War two and what people in such an environment had to go through at that time. Firstly Anna's heroism is remarkable as she decides to cover up for Maxim and shelter him for months even though there is a big risk of someone finding out which would lead to her being hanged in public and Maxim being tortured and killed. Therefore the underlying theme is human kindness, even when in extreme conditions during war, some people will put their lives at risk to help others, including enemies, no matter the risk. Secondly, in the novel, the characters show intelligence and survival skills throughout the story. A good example of this is when Anna and Maxim develop tactics to ensure their safety for themselves. They agree on different communication techniques such as the knocks on the bunker's wall so that Maxim knows it is Anna and avoids mistakenly coming out and getting shot by German soldiers.

[qwerty · Rating 3 out of 5]

My god, what was that ending? It was an amazing story, however, occasionally hard to keep track of, but amazing nonetheless. It's not often you find books about WWII from the perspective of the Germans, and I am really glad I found this book. It took some time to get into it, as the first few chapters had nothing going on. The actual interesting part began about 100 or so pages in. The writing was a bit hard to understand. It is a translation, though, so it can't be exactly as the original German was.
But the ending? I was nothing more than frustrated. I get the point. I get how it is a warning of how easily children can become brainwashed into believing such terrible ideas. Did Maxim have to die in such a terrible way right before he even got a chance to enjoy freedom? And why the dog? Again, I get it. Another thing to push Felix, the brother, into his anger and hatred. Couldn't there have been another way to show all of that? I wish Maxim could have had at least something. Just a bit of his motherland. Something that lasted for longer than a few minutes or hours.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a project at work & was pretty impressed. The book is set near the end of WWII and tells the story of Anna, a young German girl, who is from a small village, Stiegnitz, in the Sudetenland area, a German-speaking border region of Czechoslovakia. It opens with her arrival home from school in a neighboring town. When she reaches her farm, she discovers an escaped Russian prisoner hiding in their barn. Taking pity on him, she helps him, knowing that by doing so she's putting them both in danger.

This book was originally written in German, and, as an American, it was fascinating to read a WWII story from a different viewpoint. The book grapples with pretty complex issues - loyalty, friendship, tolerance, nationalism, war, brainwashing, family, loss, etc. - in the form of a pretty simple story that's a fast, easy read. And while the translation isn't always the greatest, it still manages to be pretty thought-provoking.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traitor by Gudrun Pausewang is a really good book because, it immerses you into the book and has a lot of detail and the description of everything is just so detailed. My favorite character in the book is the main character Anna because she is very helpful and kind. In the book she always references her uncle on what he would do "I know he would want me to do this". All in all I really like this book because the book is so story driven and detailed and you kind of get anxious in some parts of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a very detail book and a great story.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traitor is the story of a young girl with doubts about the Nazi regime and its promises, who faces challenges when she acts humanely, including her regime-devoted brother. This is really quite a good story, surprisingly written for a young adult audience. A well-written book, but I have to ask...was the ending really necessary?

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good tense, history book. This story of a girl helping an enemy soldier really is full of risky turns, as she risks getting caught and accused of treason. She and the soldier risk being betrayed by the other, putting their life in the other's hands.

Pausewang brought life to this book, placing the suspenseful and dangerous feel of the text into the reader's mind. Pausewang is able to create explicit imagery for the reader and makes it almost feel like you're there in Stiegnitz 1994. The book follows the time of living in Germany pretty well, although I'm not sure how accurate any history is. Through this book, you get to learn more about Anna and her secret Soviet soldier. Pausewang did an excellent job at making the chapters end on edge or during an exciting part, making me want to read even more.

There were however some parts that struck me as a bit slow, and not very fast-moving. One was Anna was in the library, talking to a woman and her husband. This part just seemed very slow and not so important to the story. Some other parts moved slowly as well, but Pausewang could have also added a few more times where Anna and the soldier almost get caught. This would add to the suspense, and propel the reader to become more hooked.

[Atlantis · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star due to the terrible ending. I think I understand the author’s need to convey the brutality of war but they also need to remember their readership. A very abrupt ending after all that build-up. No glimmers of hope.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end is rather abrupt and I wish there had been more attention to Felix, the younger brother/true-believer in Hitler. Great concept for a story about Germany in WWII.

[Jacob Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story. It wasn't my favorite.

[Züleyha]

Neden?

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, but the ending-

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago, in high school, but I still remember it. One of the (if not the) best books I read in my teen years. The ending made it.

[Judit · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5🌟.
Me ha gustado, aunque al principio se hace lento, conforme va avanzando te va enganchando más.

[WendyJoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was super engaging and suspenseful. The end was awful. I guess realistic, but Jesus H Roosevelt Christ, did it have to be so depressing?!

[Reuben · Rating 3 out of 5]

the writing and characterisation leave me wanting, but the tone and content is absurdly dark and gritty for a children’s book

[wefbrg · Rating 5 out of 5]

a lovely read that I would recommend! the ending left a uniquely empty feeling with the sudden abrupt end that few books have.

[Lexi Patrusevich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book but I didn’t like the ending. This book is about a girl named Anna Bruner who lives in a village that hitler takes over. Her father had committed suicide so then she was left alone. One day, Anna finds a guy that needs much help so she gives it to him. Anna struggles to find food for the man after many things happen, and I will not spoil the ending.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traitor begins in the winter of 1944. Anna Brünner, 16, lives in Stiegnitz, a small village, with her mother and grandmother, not exactly Nazi supporters, and her younger brother Felix, member of the Hitler Youth and completely indoctrinated in National Socialist dogma. Older brother Seff is fighting at the Eastern front. Anna's father, Felix Brünner, had been a conjuror with a traveling circus before marrying her mother, and had committed suicide when Anna was still a baby.

During the week, Anna goes to school in Schonberg, living in an attic room rented from a widow, and coming home every Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.

While walking home from the train station, Anna notices some odd footprints in the snow. Becoming curious, she follows them all the way to her family’s barn. Climbing up into the hay loft, Anna finds a sleeping man lying there, wet and emaciated. Anna assumes that he is an escaped patient from the nearby mental asylum, but at home, her grandmother tells her about eight Russian POWs who had escaped in the area. Seven of them were found and shot on the spot. Anna naturally assumes that the man in the barn is the last missing Russian, but still feels sorry for him. She tells her grandmother that she thinks she is getting a cold and is given a jug of steaming milk and told to go to bed. Naturally, Anna sneaks it out to the hay loft and gives the milk to the man.

Anna continues to think about this man and before returning to school on Sunday, she givess him clean, dry clothes, some food and takes him to the Moserwald Bunker, a large complex that had been used for defense at one time, but has long since been abandoned. Using hand motions, she explains that he must stay there or he will be caught. With the help of a calendar, Anna indicates that she will return the following weekend.

Although Anna knows it is treasonous to help the enemy, she continues to bring the Russian, whose name is Maxim, more clothing and food. After giving him her older brother’s clothes, Anna becomes afraid that they can be traced back to her if Maxim if found. As Anna becomes increasingly stressed by this, her landlady, Mrs. Beraneck, notices and, knowing she is not a supporter of the NS regime, Anna finally confides in her that she is hiding Maxim. Just before Christmas vacation, Anna find clothing, toiletries and some kitchen utensils in her room for Maxim, left there by Mrs. Beranek.

The police have by now basically given up their search for Maxim. By now, the war is not going well for the Germans and the Russian Army has been pushing westward, getting closer and closer to Stieglitz. Anna’s brother Felix, however, has been watching her closely and following her when she goes to visit the bunker. He finally confronts Anna, telling her that he thinks she is hiding the prisoner and reminding her that that is treason, punishable by death. She explains that she goes to the bunker to be alone and write poetry. He accepts this explanation with skepticism.

Traitor is a taut, psychological novel, full of the kind of suspense that grips the reader, making it impossible to put the book down. It relies, for the most part, on Anna’s thoughts to move the narrative forward, so the reader can see the interesting play of what she thinks and what she does. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading. There seemed no possibility that this story of Anna and Maxim could have any kind of good resolution. But as the Red Army gets closer, a good outcome seems to become a possibility. Still, the ending was not what I was expecting at all. Not one of the possibilities for a positive or negative ending that occurred to me prepared me for what does happen. But I leave it at that.

Traitor is so well worth reading and I highly recommend it. I think Anna dilemma and her actions, coupled with the way the author builds up the tension, would be very appealing to teen readers. Often translations are not as good as the original because, as they say, something gets lost. But Rachel Ward has done a great job capturing the deveolping warm relationship between Anna and Maxim in an otherwise cold and impersonal landscape that reflects the militaristic society the Nazis were so good at creating. They say you should write what you know and the Sudetenland under Nazi domination is something that Gudrun Pausewand would know about firsthand. Pausewang was born there in 1928 and spent her youth living under Nazi rule until fleeing with her family from the advancing Russian army in 1945.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Russian prisoner is found in Anna’s barn, on the run from the Nazis. But only Anna knows he’s in there. He could be shot if she turned him into the Nazi authorities, or if even she told her Hitler-loving brother, Felix. If she hides the Russian, she could be shot for being a traitor to Germany. Anna believes that the escaped prisoner is innocent and gives him food and clothes to help him in the freezing temperatures in the bunker where the Russian hides. Felix is always getting in the way, and always supports Hitler, even when the Russians invade Germany.

I was surprised when Anna hid the escaped prisoner because this showed how although there was many stories about Russians killing children and innocent people, Anna still believed that the Russian should be able to escape through the forest to safety. This book was in the viewpoint of the brainwashed Germans, and showed the readers how not everyone supported Hitler and his beliefs. Anna protected the Russian prisoner, even when her brother could have reported her for treason. I think that the world today should have the same view, protecting others, even in the middle of a war.