Reading Again

By Simeon | June 16, 2004 12:10 PM | Comments (1)

I like to read. There have been times in my life when I hated to read. Mainly, High School, Middle School, anytime that had to do with school. I think the fun is taken out of reading when you are told what to read. Well, that isn't entirely true. Some of those summer reading assignments were good books!

Even though I like to read, I really don't read that often. The habit seems to go in spurts. I'll read a bunch of books in three months time. Then I won't pick up a single book for one year. There really isn't a method to the madness, but I hope to get back into reading more. Once I move, a public library will be a five minute walk from my house. The last time I had a public library within walking distance of my house, I lived in Sea Isle City, NJ. That summer, all I did was read.

Sunday, I was looking at Gina's book, and one caught my eye. The book is called, "The True Story of Hansel and Gretel." A novel of war and survival written by Louise Murphy. I read it in three days. It's just one of those books you can't put down. Well, for me at least it was. The story follows a family through the winter of 1943-1944 in war torn Poland. Obviously, it is a holocaust story - an unusual one.

A family finds themselves escaping a mid-size town ghetto into the coutryside of Poland. The father and stepmother abandon the children, a boy and a girl, on the side of the road. They hope the Nazi's giving chase do not find the children in the woods. Before they seperate, the stepmother tells the children to take on the new names of Hansel and Gretel. These solid german names will help disguise the jews while they wander the forest asking for help.

The story unfolds from there into two plots. The parents join a partisan movenment that survives in the forest, and they fight the Nazis with whatever means they can find. The children scour the woods looking for a provider. They find on in a old women living outside a village. This women calls herself a witch and decides to help the children.

It is an intriguing story. I have never really learned or heard about these two parts of the holocaust. For one the Jews, Russians, and Poles that fought in the countryside to defeat what small part of the Nazi army they could. They lived in holes in the ground, and hunted for food. As well as, the small Polish communities that survived through occupation and oppression. They lived in constant fear from a few Nazis banned from the front lines due to aliments.

I would highly reccomend picking up a copy of this fascinating book. I have to say thanks to Gina for letting me borrow it! Granted, I do enjoy stories related to this dark time in history. I am really not sure why. Maybe because; it is such an important part of history? Maybe because; I am mostly German? Maybe because; I have seen some of the historical places first hand? Maybe the need to learn from the mistakes made by those involved? Maybe a curiosity in the upmost evil of man? Maybe to hear amazing survival stories of people from all walks of life? I think all these reasons can be true.