by Louis Begley
it is a holocaust survivor story. But it is not just another one. As the title suggests it is a about lies and the personal drama connected with it. Lies about identity, about one’s past, quick lies to survive, or lies due to custom. The novel is pretty much autobiographic, and it seems that it took Begley a great deal to write his story down. From the last sentences I conclude that for him the “lies” went on for all those years, e.g. one expression of it is the name change again: Louis Begley instead of Ludwig Beglejter. One could speculate and discuss about all the possible interpretations, which come with Jewish identity and the relation between cause and reaction. Whilst this is an interesting topic, it is not the central point of the book itself. It only makes you think about it.
A little Jewish boy with his beautiful aunt survives the German occupation in Poland with lots of “lies”, false documents, iron discipline, and good luck. This journey through Poland during the war is actually unbelievable and the reader learns a lot about survival, human abysms and heroism. Interestingly, the German do not even play a major role in their daily life, they are more background noise as war news. The couple is more concerned with the Polish (or even Jewish) collaborators, anti-Semites, afraid people or just amoral abusers. The whole spectrum. They do not trust anybody as a measure of survival. There are also Poles, which just want to help them despite of risking their own lives. Not even in retrospect it is clear who were these people. The big theme of the book: lies and do not trust in order to survive. And that contrasts with our common perception, that truth and trust are actually basic ingredients of a good life.
I am personally always emotioned by these situations of humiliation the right-less have to confront. Bad, just ignorant, or even average people have all of a sudden such uncontrolled power over other people, which are depicted as animals to make “things” easier. The book is full of these situations.
A little Jewish boy with his beautiful aunt survives the German occupation in Poland with lots of “lies”, false documents, iron discipline, and good luck. This journey through Poland during the war is actually unbelievable and the reader learns a lot about survival, human abysms and heroism. Interestingly, the German do not even play a major role in their daily life, they are more background noise as war news. The couple is more concerned with the Polish (or even Jewish) collaborators, anti-Semites, afraid people or just amoral abusers. The whole spectrum. They do not trust anybody as a measure of survival. There are also Poles, which just want to help them despite of risking their own lives. Not even in retrospect it is clear who were these people. The big theme of the book: lies and do not trust in order to survive. And that contrasts with our common perception, that truth and trust are actually basic ingredients of a good life.
I am personally always emotioned by these situations of humiliation the right-less have to confront. Bad, just ignorant, or even average people have all of a sudden such uncontrolled power over other people, which are depicted as animals to make “things” easier. The book is full of these situations.
Facts:
English title: Wartime Lies
Original title: Wartime Lies
Published: 1991
