Those Who Save Us

Blum, Jenna.  Those Who Save Us.  New York: Harcourt, 2004.

Trudy is a professor of German history who has partnered with another professor in studying World War II.  She is interviewing Germans who lived through the war, asking them about their role in the war and how much they knew about what was happening to the Jewish people.  This particular project hits close to home, as Trudy's mother Anna had to make some tough decisions to ensure their survival during the war. 

This story sounded so interesting.  I was really excited to start this book.  The chapters alternated between Trudy's story as she interviews the survivors of war and Anna's history in Germany as a baker's assistant and eventual mistress to a Nazi officer.  Unfortunately, the chapters about Anna become quite graphic and explicit, to the point that I have chosen to put this book down.  I do believe this story could have been told without all the graphic details and that nothing would have been lost by leaving those details out.  I cannot in good conscience recommend that anyone read this book.  Perhaps on my next visit to the library I shall find a reasonable alternative.