Barth-Grozinger, Inge. Something remains, a novel.

BARTH-GROZINGER, Inge. Something remains, a novel. Tr. from the German by Anthea Bell. Hyperion. 390p. c2006.0-7868-3880-9. $16.99. JS

Set in Germany as Hitler comes to power, this story records how one Jewish family is pressured to immigrate to the United States. Families who fled to Poland or Hungary only put off the inevitable. The protagonist is Erich Levi, just entering adolescence as Hitler is elected chancellor and unable to believe that his family's status in the community could ever change. His father is a respected businessman, his mother the center of a wide social circle. Indeed, the entire family consider themselves as much German as they are Jews. Yet, little by little, they lose everything. Erich's teachers single him out for persecution even though he is an excellent student. His friends turn on him when it becomes dangerous to associate publicly with Jews. His father's business drops off. His mother is no longer invited to social functions. Even their German maid, with the family for years, must quit their employ and disappear from their lives. Hitler's genius lay in depriving Jews of their rights little by little so that each loss seemed bearable until the Final Solution. Based on true events surrounding one family, the author recreates German daily life of the 1930s. Because of the wealth of detail and the nature of Hitler's strategy, the novel is slow-moving, yet it provides an interesting record of how life can change, not so much in the blink of an eye, but so gradually that people are slow to recognize what they have given up--which is, of course, always an interesting parallel for modern times. Myrna Marler, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Provo, UT

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.