I read a lot of Holocaust related books and at times take long breaks, partly because it’s a hard topic, of course. But partly because some writers just tell the same story over and over again. Like they are exploiting the topic rather than exploring the topic. I just finished Night Angels, a beautifully written novel by Weina Dai Randel, originally published in February of this year. Dr. Ho Fengshan is the Chinese Consul General in Vienna after the Nazis annexed Austria. This historical fiction book focuses on his decision to issue visas for Jews in Vienna to get out during the period Eichmann’s goal was to get Jews to leave Germany (which to him included Austria, of course) and before they went with the final solution.
At great career and personal risk, the “real” Fengshan saved many lives. This book imagines his personal relationships with individuals, both Jewish and German. It imagines his relationship with his American/Chinese wife and her involvement in the fate of Jews in Vienna. It includes all the aspects of this time that cannot be sugar coated and the few victories won by people whose values could not be shaken. I learned: More about Austria under Nazi Occupation. I learned: More about the changes in policy internationally and in Germany around what was happening and why some guy from China behaved with a moral compass while the US, Britain and other world leaders would not. I thought more about immigration policies then and now. I learned more about Japan’s war with China at the time and Germany’s move toward support of Japan. I learned more about diplomacy and the turns it can take. An all engaging, moving, sometimes devastating and sometimes happy story that manages to create a comprhensive sense of a year or two in Vienna at a moment of terrible change.
They Called me Bookworm 