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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"You can't walk around blind, just because you don't want to see.", January 11, 2008
In 1941 Rotterdam, Cyrla has spent the last five years with her cousin's family, to better get to know "her mother's people", sent away from a Poland threatened by the gathering storm of war and Hitler's determined decimation of the Jewish population. Cyrla suspects she is a painful reminder to her father after her mother's death; yet even in her cousin's home, the girl is uncomfortable, her half-Jewish background a shadow on the others. Cousins Anneke and Cyrla are close, but Anneke's father is increasingly impatient and hostile to the extra person at the table. As ominous news reaches the family of the closing of the Polish ghettoes, paranoia increases in Schiedam, the family increasingly anxious about Cyrla's vulnerability.
Although her soldier boyfriend is suddenly unavailable, Anneke's announcement of pregnancy is not greeted kindly by an intolerant father, who arranges for his daughter to be sent to a Lebensborn, one of the German maternity homes where acceptable young women bear the babies of the pure blooded German race. Suddenly Cyrla must choose between an uncertain future and a chance to take her cousin's place at the Lebensborn. With barely time to prepare for living as Anneke, Cyrla is thrust into a foreign environment where every word and false move breeds danger. Keeping her own counsel, the mother-to-be is desperately lonely, torn with guilt over her transformation into her cousin, dreading discovery as her own baby grows. Benefiting from a monstrous enterprise to repopulate the world with pure-blooded Aryans, Cyrla is an intruder with a terrible secret.
Describing Cyrla's predicament with chilling accuracy, from the paranoia of Schiedam to the insular world of the Lebensborn, Anneke's soldier's fate unknown, Cyrla's beloved Isaak at risk of death in the camps and a world at war, the author reveals the ugly details of those caught in Hitler's dream of a Master Race, whether by choice or circumstance and the infinite dangers of hiding in plain sight. The once-naïve protagonist is forced to confront the terrible realities of her position and limited choices at the Lebensborn. That she might find love in such a place is extraordinary, for there are monstrosities at the heart of this novel, evil born of an ideology that flourishes while Cyrla navigates a treacherous path. Shocking and painful, the author injects hope into the hopeless, love into the unlovable. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
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43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A HORRIFIC HISTORY REVEALED, February 4, 2008
Searing. Shocking. Unthinkable. Yes, all of these words apply to this story of the Nazi Lebensborn program. It is a wrenching true tale that has been seldom told. As related in a first-person narrative by Cyrla, a young half Jewish woman, it is heartbreaking. Her experience is unforgettable as author Young traces a story of innocents betrayed, neighbors who become enemies, and enemies who become friends.
The Lebensborn was a maternity home for girls carrying the babies of German soldiers. In actuality, it was a series of homes scattered through Germany and other countries. There the girls went after passing stringent tests to make sure their bloodlines were pure. They also had to authenticate the father's identity and he, too, had to exhibit similar acceptable criteria. This was Hitler's way of perpetuating the Aryan race, and it was overseen by Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS.
Once in a home the girls were well fed and cared for, brain washed if possible, and forced to swear loyalty to Hitler. An excellent way to prove such loyalty was to have another child as soon possible. What most of the girls did not realize was that their babies would be taken from them to be adopted by SS families. Of course, if the baby was born with even the slightest defect it simply disappeared.
Cyrla was born in Poland. The child of a Jewish father and a Dutch mother. She lived with her father, his second wife, and two half-brothers. As the world darkened in Poland prior to World War II, her father thought it best to send her to Holland to live with her late mother's aunt. She had her mother's blond hair, and would be safe.
Upon arriving in Holland she was not allowed to observe the Jewish holy days but kept track of them in her head. She and her cousin, Anneke, became as sisters, often mistaken for one another.
Then in September of 1941 the Germans began posting restrictions for Jews. At that point, Cyrla's uncle did not want her in their home, after all, as he said to his wife, `She's your family. Not our family, yours." Unbeknownst to anyone Anneke has fallen in love with a young German soldier, Karl, and soon becomes pregnant. But, when Karl leaves Holland without a goodbye and her father becomes enraged, threatening to send her away, she become distraught and dies in an attempt to abort her baby.
It soon becomes clear that Cyrla cannot remain in Holland, and she is urged by a friend to try to reach England. However, she has another idea, a very dangerous one.
Sara Young has crafted a harrowing story of one of the most tragic aspects of World War II. It is both haunting and unforgettable.
- Gail Cooke
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stunning read, February 9, 2008
Sara Young makes her debut with her first adult novel, My Enemy's Cradle. Penning the celebrated children's books, the Clementine series, Young proves that she can make the transformation from light and gay to heartfelt, tragic, and solid fiction.
Set in WW II Europe, a time of horror and strength, this is a story of the Nazi Lebensborn program. For Cyrla, a young half Jewish woman, it is a painful and heartbreaking journey. Cyrla lives with her cousin's family in Rotterdam. Her father sent her there for protection when the threat of war loomed on the horizon. After five years, Cyrla and her cousin Anneke are closer than ever. In fact, many people mistake them for one another, their resemblance to one another uncanny.
Anneke is in love with a German soldier, and soon discovers she is pregnant. When he refuses to acknowledge the child, Anneke grows desperate as her intolerant father threatens to send her to the nearby Lebensborn, a maternity home run by the Nazis. At Lebensborn, the children are tested to make sure they are of true blood. Those that pass the test are given to German families to raise as the next generation of soldiers. If they are not true blood, the child just disappears.
Cyrla is in a relationship with a prominent Jewish lawyer. Knowing the future to be uncertain, afraid she and her lover will be exposed, she and her aunt decide for Cyrla to use Anneke's identity and escape to the Lebensborn. There, Cyrla finds love in the most unexpected place, as well as the knowledge of the near impossibility of her own escape as she faces the true dangers and horrors of war.
Rich, realistic characters and a solid, historical plot make this adult debut a compelling and emotional read. Sara Young has done a masterful job bringing forth a story that lays forgotten beneath the horrors of Hitler.
Armchair Interviews says: Sara Young did herself proud with this wonderful storytelling of a hard subject.
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