First published 2015
Leonard Gross reconstructs the true experiences of twelve Jewish survivors who remained hidden in Berlin from 1943 to 1945. When Hitler seized power in 1933, about 160,000 Jews lived in Berlin. By 1943, fewer than 5,000 remained in the Nazi capital. By war's end, only 1,000 had survived. The rest had perished in bombing raids, starved, taken their own lives, or been transported to death camps. Gross documents how a dozen individuals endured the final twenty-seven months of World War II by hiding in plain sight. They faced constant danger from the Gestapo and from Jewish informants who betrayed others to save themselves from the gas chambers. Among the survivors were a teenage orphan, a black-market jewel trader, a young fashion designer, and a progressive intellectual. Through resourcefulness, courage, and sometimes pure chance, they avoided the fate that claimed so many others. Drawing from extensive interviews, Gross transforms these accounts of survival into a compelling narrative that reads like a thriller while honoring the remarkable determination of people who lived each day uncertain if they would see another.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, world-war-ii, jewish
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, survival
Setting: Berlin, Nazi Capital
Period: 1933, 1943, 1945
354 pages · Kindle Edition · Open Road Media
Content warnings: death, violence