A Simple, Human Story from the Holocaust
In The Upstairs Room author Johanna Reiss portrays the struggles and fears of hiding from the Nazis during the German occupation of Holland between 1940 and 1945. This book reminded me a great deal of the Diary of Anne Frank as the circumstances were quite similar. A Gentile family agrees to hide Johanna and her sister from the Nazis and makes every effort to ensure that they will not be caught. The events of World War II in Europe form the backdrop of the story: the German invasion of Poland and Western Europe, the German occupation of the Netherlands, the Allied landings in North Africa and Italy, the invasion of Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and, finally, liberation from the Allied forces in 1945. According to the author's introduction, Reiss's goal was to write a simple, human story about how she and her sister suffered and complained during the war years; she admits that the Gentile family she lived with had faults. She also points out that the members of that Gentile family were not heroes, but people with strengths and weaknesses. My take away from this book is that war brings out the best and worst of people; moreover, this is a book about ordinary people doing extraordinary things during exceedingly difficult circumstances.
