The Kommandant's Girl
A Novel
by Pam Jenoff
Overview
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Nineteen-year-old Emma Bau has been married only three weeks when Nazi tanks thunder into her native Poland. Within days Emma's husband, Jacob, is forced to disappear underground, leaving her imprisoned within the city's decrepit, moldering Jewish ghetto. But then, in the dead of night, the resistance smuggles her out. Taken to Krakow to live with Jacob's Catholic cousin, Krysia, Emma takes on a new identity as Anna Lipowski, a gentile.
Emma's already precarious situation is complicated by her introduction to Kommandant Richwalder, a high-ranking Nazi official who hires her to work as his assistant. Urged by the resistance to use her position to access details of the Nazi occupation, Emma must compromise her safety—and her marriage vows—in order to help Jacob's cause. As the atrocities of war intensify, so does Emma's relationship with the Kommandant, building to a climax that will risk not only her double life, but also the lives of those she loves.
My thoughts
I don't ordinarily read fiction so I'm always surprised by a fictional book! I really enjoy them!
This book is fantastic! It's got just the right amount of history, drama, suspense, and of course, romance! I kept thinking that I should be able to predict the end, but not having read much fiction, I had no idea which direction it would take. I was completely surprised by the ending, though really, how else could it have ended?!? (No, I'm not going to give it away!)
I wonder how much of this story could be true but the author is an attorney who served as vice consul for the US State Dept. in Krakow, Poland, and she is an expert on Poland and the Holocaust. That makes me think that as far as historical fiction goes, it could happen this way...though part of me can't believe it.
Anyway, I enjoyed this book so very much. I highly recommend it!
Favorite Passage
I looked up in surprise. "Yes, Herr Kommandant?"
"Anna, is something wrong?" he asked, his brow furrowed.
Yes, I want to say. You ran a prison camp for Jews. You keep my parents locked in the ghetto. You let your wife's father be killed and would kill Jacob, too, if given the chance. Your wretched Gestapo came to our house, and now Lukasz might have to leave us. Let me count the ways. Of course I did not dare to say any of this. "No, Herr Kommandant," I replied, managing to keep my voice even. "Everything is fine."
