by Clara Kramer
First published 2009
In 1942, German forces march into Żółkiew, forever changing the life of fifteen-year-old Klara and her family. As the threat of extermination looms, Klara's father desperately searches for a way to save his loved ones. When friends abandon them, unexpected help arrives from Beck, a Volksdeutsch who agrees to shelter them. Eighteen people crowd into a hidden bunker beneath a house floor, trading their freedom for survival. The underground refuge becomes both salvation and torment. Klara and the others endure horrific conditions while living in constant fear of discovery. Above their heads, SS officers move into the very house that conceals them. Ukrainian police attack the building. Fire threatens to consume their hiding place. Through it all, Klara documents their ordeal in her diary. This story explores love, death, and goodness amid the private hell of war, touching on the complex history between Poland, Ukraine, and Jewish communities.
Genres: holocaust, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, survival
Setting: Żółkiew, Poland, Ukraine
Period: 1942
Hardcover · Znak
Content warnings: death, violence