Newborn Nazi is another wonderfully written novel by Rhoda D’Ettore. The novel is about a German family who suffers much during Hitler’s rule. There are many stories out there both true and fictional about the lives of the Jewish people during that time, and those stories, more than any other, should be told, but I think seeing the world from a German point of view is also helpful because we don’t live in a black and white world were everything we are told or even see is true. The only other novel I’ve read like this is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
In Newborn Nazi, we see the German world through Hedwig, a young German woman, and her brothers: one who is forced into a Nazi Youth camp and all but brainwashed into believing Hitler’s propaganda, one who is blackmailed into complying with a corrupt government , and a third who refuses to acknowledge what is happening in his home world, as he escaped to America before Hitler cemented his control. We see how easily people are coerced into lying to their family, spying on their family and friends, committing murder, and even turning on their country when those they love are threated. We see how this coercion, these lies and secrets can crumble lives and bring an entire race of people to their knees.
As with all of D’Ettore’s novels, this one is full of twists and turns you never see coming. It is full of laughs, tears, love, and war. And most of all it has a strong female lead that teaches the reader that not everyone in Germany fell for Hitler’s lies, not everyone woman submits to the men in their lives who see them as nothing more than property, and more importantly, she shows how one person can truly make a positive difference in so many people’s lives. If it weren’t for her and people like her, her world could have been so much worse, which is hard to imagine since things were so horrific. She gives us courage, strength, and the desire to stand up for what we believe in and take care of one another. She says it all in one simple phrase, “All life is precious.” Hedwig losses everything in this novel, but she gains herself. She may not have gotten the life I wanted for her, but she lived a life worth living.
I can’t wait to get my hands on more of this author’s work.
--Author Jennifer Reynolds.
