Holocaust Events Set the Stage for 1970s Family Drama

by Leon H. Gildin

There are few events in history that have been so thoroughly written about and dissected as the Holocaust. So when one comes across a little piece of this historic tragedy, attention must be paid and credit must be given.

The Polski Affair, winner of the 2010 International Book Awards for historic fiction, is a story about just such a little-known piece of the Holocaust and is based upon The Case of the Hotel Polski, a research work written some thirty years ago by Abraham Shulman. Published by the Holocaust Press and distributed by Schocken Books, Shulman's work tells a story about a small group of people who survived an incomprehensible (and to this day, not understood) scheme conceived by the Nazis after the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto in 1943.

Surviving Jews living on the Aryan side of Warsaw, in hiding or with false papers, could come to the Hotel Polski and buy passage out of Poland. Hundreds of people came with whatever funds they had. Some hid in caskets, packing crates and pickle barrels—anything that wouldn’t result in their being arrested if discovered on the street.

Once at the Hotel Polski, they were matched with other survivors and given new names to correspond to the visas, exit permits and other identification documents that were found on the bodies of Jews who perished in the Warsaw ghetto. While Jews made it out of the Hotel Polski with their new identities and exit papers in hand, few made it out of Poland alive. Shulman’s work included interviews with those who survived.

The historic portion of The Polski Affair tells the story of not only what the Nazis planned in order to accomplish their goal, it speaks of existing sites such as the Hotel Polski; Pawiak, a prison built by the czar of Russia in the 19th Century which was located in the center of the Warsaw ghetto; the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of the ghetto; and the city of Vittel in France where foreigners were confined. The characters, their relationship to each other and their experiences in the Hotel Polski and elsewhere are fiction.

The book gave me ample opportunity to speak before book clubs and at book signings. At these events, many people asked me the same question, "What became of these characters, of their families, of their problems, of their guilt at having survived?"

The Family Affair was born. In writing it, my intent was to carry you away from the Holocaust and into a world of family drama set primarily in Israel in the 1970s. The story picks up years later with the heroine’s secretive past, a forbidden love, catching up with her in ways she never could have expected, affecting her family for years to come. It’s a story of survival and secrets—and the things in families that are sometimes better left unsaid.

The Family Affair

by: Leon H. Gildin

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:
After the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Anna Adler, who was then known as Rosa Feurmann, was asked by the partisans to infiltrate the Hotel Polski. Rumor had it that the Nazis were attempting to lure Jews out of hiding by the sale of exit visas from Poland.

Although some thirty years have passed, Anna’s memories of the Hotel Polski remain conflicted by sorrow, guilt and passion. It is some two years since Anna returned from a reunion of the survivors where she was applauded for her courage in testifying against the Commandant of the Polski at his War Crimes Trial. Nevertheless, despite the accolades, her obsession with what took place at the hotel during her period of imprisonment continues to haunt her.

The Family Affair a sequel to The Polski Affair tells of the fortuitous discovery of new members of Anna’s family, bringing her both joy and torment. For Anna, the ties that bind run deeper than she cares to admit and result in explosive revelations that both divide and unite her family for years to come.

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I really wasn't sure what to expect from this book. The cover is simple and appealing, so I was initially intrigued. The story is captivating. It's about a fairly small Jewish family living in Israel. The story is told from Sholom's point of view for most of it, but Anna, Josef and Liese join in as well. (You'll have to read the book to find out who those people are.)

Anna and her husband are both survivors of the Holocaust in Poland. They were housed in the Hotel Polski where they met and also lost their spouses and children. Just thinking about that makes me want to sob. Can you imagine your little ones ripped from you, knowing that they would likely be killed? But she survived, and her and Chaim married and had children of their own.

Sholom is their oldest and he was working on his doctorate thesis on the Hotel Polski. What he uncovers will change his family forever. (That's good, right? Makes you want to rush out and read it?)

The story itself is captivating. I really couldn't put it down. But that being said, there was too much emphasis on the dialogue. Lots of he said this, she said this, then she told him that. It made the flow fairly awkward. And they ate ALL THE time. I also felt the relationships were unrealistic. Lots of embracing and kissing that just didn't seem appropriate. I can't really share an example, I don't wish to reveal too much of the plot. I just want to warn you that even though it is a fascinating tale, and I would recommend giving it a go, sometimes it's unpolished and waffling.

This book is a sequel to The Polski Affair, but you can read this without reading the other one first. There is some adult language but for the most part the book stays clean. The story really rushes through any kind of activity going on. There was a war in this story and he breezed through it in a couple of pages. The main character was in the war, and it was still completely glossed over.

The Baby Trap

by: Sibel Hodge

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:
Based on her own experiences with infertility and two attempts at IVF, Sibel Hodge’s latest novel The Baby Trap will have you laughing and crying at the ups and downs of modern baby-making…

When Gina turns thirty-three her body clock unexpectedly begins clanging in her ear with annoying persistence. The only problem is, having a baby isn’t as easy as she thought. Whether she’s feng shui-ing the house to death with fertility symbols, throwing out her husband’s tight boxers in favour of baggies, swapping wine and chocolate for green tea and yams, popping fertility drugs like M&M’s, or having sex so precision-timed it makes international warfare manoeuvres look unorganized, her life is turned upside down. And when nothing seems to be working, her quest for the B-word turns into an obsession.

Can Gina stay sane, get pregnant, and keep her marriage together? Or will her baby trail become a baby trap?

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Very classy cover, definitely eye catching with the pink and all the baby items. I love that font too. :)

The story is funny and gripping. I really couldn't put it down once I started. You know it's bad when you are laying in bed thinking, "I could get up and finish that book right now."

I never had an issue with infertility, although we were expecting me to. Hodge does such a great job with her descriptive writing that you really felt what Gina felt all through the tracking of her temperature, the planning of sex, ovulation, doctors, hormone shots and finally the IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) treatment. I stopped reading last night before the treatment and I was dying to know what happened. I really didn't know what I would do if it didn't work. Well you'll have to read for yourself to find out.

The character Gina really does have a great husband and father...however she has a super-rude step-mother and step-sister. I love it when she goes off on people who mistreat their kids. Even just complaining about their existence is enough to set her off, and I'm fully in her corner. If you hate kids so much, then why have them at all? Is adoption not an option when you are a professional?

Get yourself a copy today. This is comedic chick-lit gold! :)