Finding Rebecca:A Story of Love and the Holocaust by Eoin Dempsey

This book really touched me - an insightful account of the dark history of the Holocaust.

The cattle trains arrived at the train station in Auschwitz. There were 1200 people on the train, built for cattle transport. The people huddled together on the train, their throats raw from thirst, and clinging to their children who would soon die. The SS went into the train with guns drawn and dead bodies were thrown out of the rail cars. The selection was started and two lines were formed, one of younger, fitter looking people and then the rest, the older people and the children. The line with the younger was about one or two hundred, and they were marched off to Auschwitz. The rest of the people, easily a thousand, were told that they were brought to Auschwitz - Birkenau to work and they'd be safe and well fed. They were required to shower and be disinfected. Much of the fear had been lifted and the people were herded through an entrance of a flat roofed building. But, the unthinkable happened - there were SS men on the roof, carrying metal canisters and wearing gas masks. The contents of the canisters were poured down the chimneys, and the screaming began.

The story shifts to years earlier - 1924. Christopher Seeler has left Germany, with his family, to the island of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. When Christopher is 6 years old he finds a distressed 6 year old girl, Rebecca, on the beach. The story evolves around Christopher and Rebecca for a number of years.

Time goes by and in the summer of 1939 there was fear everywhere. The Nazi hatred, led by Hitler, is like nothing ever known. The Nazi's blame the Jews for everything and begin a process of cleansing the population. The Nazi's invade Jersey and the five year occupation begins. Rebecca is identified as a Jew and deported to Germany in 1943. And the story unfolds as Christopher becomes an SS officer in Auschwitz and begins his search for Rebecca.

This novel completely absorbed me from beginning to end. Finding Rebecca is a poignant and heart heavy story that will remain in your thoughts long after you read the final page. The novel is rich in historical detail with strong characterization.

The topic of the Holocaust brings with it deep sadness - a horrible realization of what occurred at that time. The horrors that Hitler put on the Jewish people will stir you soul. On my list of favorite books. 5 stars.