by Clara Kramer
First published 2009
Fifteen-year-old Clara Kramer lives in a Polish town when German forces arrive during World War II. Her family faces deportation to the woods where Jewish families are being executed. The Becks, a German family whose matriarch worked as the Kramers' housekeeper, offer shelter despite Mr. Beck's reputation as an alcoholic and anti-Semite. Clara descends into a bunker carved from the Becks' basement, joining seventeen other Jewish refugees in the cramped space. She records their daily survival in her diary over twenty months of hiding. Above them, SS officers drink nightly while the house catches fire and Mr. Beck conducts an affair with Clara's neighbor. Clara documents small moments of humanity like sharing Christmas carp alongside constant terror. Her words capture the psychological strain of depending on unpredictable protectors while death lurks overhead. This true account reveals how ordinary people navigate impossible choices during genocide.
Genres: holocaust, historical-fiction, 20th-century, world-war-ii
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, survival
Setting: Poland
Period: World War II
354 pages · Kindle Edition · HarperCollins e-books
Content warnings: death, violence