cover image The Other Victims: First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis

The Other Victims: First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis

Ina R. Friedman. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), $14.95 (214pp) ISBN 978-0-395-50212-9

The author of Escape or Die sought survivors of other groups deemed undesirable by Hitler, including blacks, clergy, Jehovah's Witnesses, Poles, political prisoners, Gypsies (the only other group Hitler wanted to eliminate entirely) and homosexuals (very few survive and none could be found to interview). Suspenseful vignettes are enlivened by historical background, dialogue, and a not-always happy yet satisfying afterword, telling what eventually happened to each individual. Valiant efforts in the face of total degradation are nothing short of inspiring, and many of these stories are not widely known, such as the underground medical schools where cadavers were corpses picked up from the street. Each moving chapter points up complexities readers may not have thought about: shortened lifespans resulting from harsh treatment; the shock of escaping to an American cousin only to find he is part of the Bund; the ingenious devices by which people strove to survive, from inventing coded language to hiding in graves. Ages 10-14. (Apr.)