Germany

Materials from Germany

The Good Liar

The year is 1940 and France has fallen to the German army. In the village of Mont-Saint-Martin, brothers Pierre, René, and Fat Marcel enjoy an idyllic childhood-stealing berry tarts, playing soldiers, and holding contests to determine who of the three is the biggest and best liar. As the small community, especially its Jewish members, begins to feel the effects of the war, René and Marcel form a warm but secret friendship with one of the German soldiers occupying their village. The boys know no good can come of this friendship, but they don’t realize the extent to which they have put the lives of their family and friends in jeopardy . . . until they discover that they are not the only experts at lying. This poignant and thoughtful story is told in the form of letters to a group of schoolchildren by the now-adult Marcel.  First published in Ireland.

The Lady with the Hat

Yulek, a seventeen-year-old Holocaust survivor, finds himself tragically alone at war’s end. Hoping to begin again, he makes his way to Palestine, where he meets a sad and beautiful Jewish girl named Theresa. Saved from the Nazis by Catholic nuns, Theresa, like Yulek, is uncertain about her place in the postwar world. Together they struggle to rediscover the joy of living. Meanwhile, a mysterious English woman sets out on her own search for the long-lost nephew that she has spotted in a newspaper photo of Jewish refugees. Perhaps by finding him, she will also find some long-hidden part of herself.

On Rough Seas

At 14, Alec knows what he wants to be: a seaman. Instead of working at his family’s inn, he prefers roaming through the busy streets and docks of Dover. When the captain of the Britannia, one of the fishing vessels in the Channel, asks him to be a galley boy, he seizes the opportunity in spite of his father’s objections. On his first day at sea, he weathers a severe storm similar to the one that took the life of his cousin and best friend, Georgie, months earlier. Alec still feels guilty for having not been able to save Georgie. England is at war with Germany, and soon Alec is doing more than swabbing the deck and handling the ropes of the fishing vessel. He wonders why shadowy figures are disappearing into the tunnels under the old stone castle and who the special soldiers being billeted at the inn are. Then comes terrible news: hundreds of thousands of British forces are trapped on the beach at Dunkirk. All ships in the Channel, large and small, are ordered to undertake a massive evacuation. Alec’s transformation from galley boy to courageous seaman is a riveting journey in this dramatic debut novel.

I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree: A Memoir of a Schindler’s List Survivor

In the spring of 1942 Hannelore received a letter from Mama at her school in Berlin, Germany–Papa had been arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Six weeks later he was sent home; ashes in an urn. Soon another letter arrived. “The Gestapo has notified your brothers and me that we are to be deported to the East–whatever that means.” Hannelore knew: labor camps, starvation, beatings. How could Mama and her two younger brothers bear that? She made a decision: She would go home and be deported with her family. Despite the horrors she faced in eight labor and concentration camps, Hannelore met and fell in love with a Polish POW named Dick Hillman. Oskar Schindler was their one hope to survive. Schindler had a plan to take eleven hundred Jews to the safety of his new factory in Czechoslovakia. Incredibly both she and Dick were added to his list. But survival was not that simple. Weeks later Hannelore found herself, alone, outside the gates of Auschwitz, pushed toward the smoking crematoria.

Theo

When the Nazis announce that all orphans in Athens are to be rounded up and sent to Germany, Theo and his older brother Soc travel to a small village where they can hide and join the resistance movement. But Soc is executed for sabotage, leaving Theo to be taken in by the resistance fighters Patir Alex and his wife. Now Theo’s only companion from before the war is his shadow puppet, Karagiozis, a beloved and heroic character in Greek puppet theater. The young puppeteer puts on shows with Karagiozis, depicting scenes of Nazi defeat and re-enacting tales about the history of Greece, as he struggles to understand the meaning of heroism and to make sense of what is happening in the world around him. Against the bleak backdrop of the fiercely beautiful Greek landscape, this moving, dramatic story is about kindness, bravery, and the perseverance of humanity even in the most devastating of times.

Hansel and Gretel

When the siblings happen upon the gingerbread house of a wicked witch, they unwittingly stumble into one of the most enduring fairy tales of all time. As the witch tries to fatten poor Hansel, and Gretel cunningly outsmarts her.

Lisbeth Zerger, winner of the 1990 Hans Christian Andersen Medal, brings her distinctive talent to the timeless story of two innocent children who lose their way in the dark forest. Ms. Zwerger’s illustrations winningly portray the haunting witch, the daring escape, and the welcome return to their loving father.

Damned Strong Love

Based on a true story of forbidden wartime romance, Damned Strong Love is framed by a letter to the reader from the real Stefan, who cooperated with Lutz van Dijk in creating the book. Together they have crafted a book that shows how love can fight against hate; a book that reminds readers of the importance of tolerance and passion today.

Crazy Diamond

That’s Mira M. And this is the story of her unforgettable life — as a kid alone in a junkyard tire swing, to her escape from Croatia at age 9 in a Marshall amp road case in the rear of her uncle Lou’s van. A musician, he hands her the key to her future: a guitar. When she’s 14, Mira meets Melody, Rosa and Jackson, three teens who stow away from Ghana in a ship-ping container and end up — to their surprise — in Hamburg, Germany. What stories they have! And what a story the four of them, plus Kralle (a little older and wiser) and Zucka (the record producer’s son), share on the way to the fame that all of them covet — except Mira, even after the MTV Awards show in Barcelona. Her song lyrics tell her truth. But are they her lyrics? Her music? She swears so. But who listens, now that she’s 18 — and dead?