Synopses & Reviews
All his life, Daniel has been hiding. He just doesn't know it.
Until the spring of 1933, he's enjoyed a comfortable German boyhood with his well-to-do family, in school, at soccer. Daniel's even enjoyed jail for one exciting night with his best friend, Armin, after they've been caught painting a swastika on a wall in the hated Communist section of Hamburg. In their cell, the boys cut their wrists, mingle blood, and swear lasting brotherhood. Then, a thunderclap: Daniel learns to his horror that his mother is Jewish, that he is therefore half-Jewish and, in Aryan eyes, half-human. Daniel keeps the truth a secret. He and Armin still talk of joining the Hitler Youth. But Armin's father, an out-of-work longshoreman and a Socialist, forbids it. Armin joins anyway, with fateful consequences for Daniel's family. Throughout World War II, and until the story's haunting final scene, each friend holds the life of the other in his hands.
Review
"An outstanding addition to the large body of World War II/Holocaust fiction."
-- School Library Journal
Review
"No book stages Kristallnacht more chillingly."
-- The Horn Book
Synopsis
In 1933 Germany, Daniel Kraushaar is horrified to discover that his mother is Jewish. Daniel realizes he is half-Jewish and half-human in Aryan eyes. Daniel keeps this secret to himself. But when his friends join the Hitler Youth, it carries fateful consequences for Daniel's family.
About the Author
David Chotjewitz is a teacher and playwright. He lives with his daughter in Hamburg, Germany, where, in 2000, this book was published to acclaim. Doris Orgel's own novel of the Nazi period, The Devil in Vienne, is considered a classic. She has translated many books from German, including a recent volume of the Grimm fairy tales. She lives in New York City.