I know we've been hearing a lot about The Crucible and what not so I decided to talk about something that is tangentially related to the book. Actually, it's directly related to the book but not in the way you might think.
So, I bombed that timed write the other day. Considering that my grade will now drop precipitously because of it, I thought I'd better redeem myself by writing something that reflects that I at least appear to know what the heck I'm talking about when it comes to that wonderful theme of redemption. Because if you read my timed write, you'd think that...well, actually I don't know what you'd think but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be handing me a Nobel Peace Prize for literature for it.
Anyways, I've been reading this book called Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. And guess what? One of the themes is redemption. Convienient right? I sure thought so. It's about the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup in Paris, France, one of France's most notorious colaborations with Nazi Germany during World War II. On July 16, 1942, thousands of Jewish men, women, and children were arrested by the French police at the break of dawn and escorted to the Velodrome d'Hiver, a famous stadium that was host to countless bike races. There they waited in atrocious conditions until they were herded onto trains headed for camps in the French countryside. For many, that was to be their last glimpse of their country before men were separated from their families and women from their children, and once again forced onto trains this time headed for the dreaded concentration camp, Auschwitch-Birkenau.
At the center of all this is ten-year-old Sirka "Sarah" Starzynski, the daughter of Jewish immigrants living a simple life in Paris. Through her eyes, we see the events of Vel' d'Hiv unfold as she is striped of the life she knew. She is separated from her father and mother and everything she holds dear. But the most devastating fact of all, her four-year-old brother, Michel, who she locked in their secret hidding spot when the French police came to arrest the family on that unforgettable day with every intention of coming back to get him, is now alone in their Parisian apartment and time is running out.
Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living with her French husband and eleven-year-old daughter in Paris, is assigned to write an article commemorating Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary. As she investigates one of the darkest moments in French history, she soon discovers a family secret that connects her with Sarah. As we go back and forth between Sarah's point-of-view and Julia's, the pieces slowly come together and their interconnected lives gradually begin to take shape.
Now, I haven't finished it yet but I've gotten far enough that I know what that family secret is. If you want to know what it is, highlight the following area. But in the instance that you feel like reading the book and don't want to be spoiled, just skip ahead.
After the roundup, land lords and conceirges of the apartments formerly occupied by Jews scramble in a mad dash to find new occupants for the deserted flats, not at all concerned about the fates of the Jewish families that had been taken. As it turns out, Julia's father-in-law Edouard, with whom she's always had somewhat of a strained relationship, had moved into Sarah's old apartment with his family as a 12-year-old, with not even the slightest knowledge of the family that used to live there before him. That is, until young Sarah shows up at his door one day. She had escaped the French camp near Orleans and had now returned to get her brother. Unfortunately for Sarah, Edouard, and Andre, Edouard's father, a horrific discovery awaits them when she opens the secret compartment: the tiny body of a blond, four-year-old boy.
Sarah is devasted. Edouard is speechless. And Andre is guilt-ridden. Sarah leaves the apartment, vowing never to come back, leaving Andre to blame himself for the terrible fate of little Michel. He then makes Edouard swear to never tell anyone, especially his mother, of what had happened, knowing that the truth would be the family's shame. In the years that followed, Edouard kept his promise but grew to resent his father for not even attempting to reach out to Sarah. Now, with Julia delving deep into the past, the truth about what happened to Sarah is brought into the light. Contrary to what Edouard believed about his father's apathy, Andre had actually sent a large sum of money every year for ten years to the family that had taken Sarah in. He had sent letters, asking after her health, her life, her happiness, wanting to know if she was safe, if she was alright. Despite not really knowing her, he cared for her as best could given the circumstances. It was the least he could do for a girl who had lost everything to the horrors of war. He wasn't looking for her forgiveness, knowing that no amount of money could ever earn it. But he wanted to know that if there was one decent thing he did in his life, it was that he had helped that traumatized little girl that had shown up at his doorstep to live a somewhat decent life.
It really is a great story. I highly recommend it if you just so happen to have some spare time on your hands. As Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife and The Covenant said of it, “This is a remarkable historical novel, a book which brings to light a disturbing and deliberately hidden aspect of French behavior towards Jews during World War II. Like Sophie's Choice, it's a book that impresses itself upon one's heart and soul forever."
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