'Allo 'Allo it's not....a true look at occupied France from the outlook of a young Jewish girl (Journal - Helene Berr)

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Journal - Helene Berr
Date:	26/02/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very informative and much reference to how the German occupation affected ordinary Jewish life

Disadvantages: A hard book to read at times, never really bonded with Helene!

Journal is a first person account of a young Jewish girl's experiences living under German rule in Occupied France during the 1940's. It is the direct translation of a series of diaries that Helene Berr was able to smuggle out to safety in installments to be kept by her fiancee who had earlier escaped to join the Free French. It is at times very moving and poignant and often very emotional as it tells the story of what it was like to live in a very different and scary time; the kind of era few of us will thankfully ever know...

The diaries start right from the early days of German occupation when Jewish people are required by law to wear the yellow star that depicts their faith. Helene describes the differing reactions to the star by the varying classes of the French people with disappointment and dismay. All around her, people she knows and was brought up with are gradually deported and taken to an internment camp at Drancy. This takes on especial relevance when her own father is arrested and becomes one of the detainees. Though her father is a highly decorated and respected French citizen, suddenly he becomes the enemy in the eyes of those in charge and a threat that must be contained! It is a shocking turn of events and one which we, generations later, can only read, experience and pretend to comprehend.

The book ends the way all such true accounts invariably end- in tragedy- but before it gets there is able to provide the reader with an important and unique historical document that will survive for generations to come and hopefully help us to avoid re-enactments in the future. Reading this book, there are important lessons to be learnt and it is one of those books that, although uncomfortable to read, should be compulsive.

As a book in itself, I did not really enjoy (if that is the right word) this account and found it hard at times to read. Though Helene's English was superb and much of the book was written in English, she is a difficult narrator to read and the in initial sections of the book, very little of importance happens and I found myself wanting her to get on with it. But it is a typical girl's diary full of girl's thoughts and this only serves to make it more authentic and remind you that are these are real words written by a real person who died long before I was born! I got this book out of the library because it was expensive to buy and I saw it on the shelves after I had already bought the diary of Anne Frank following the recent BBC adaptation. In a way I am glad I only borrowed it as it is not something I would read again though it was very interesting and informative.

As such books go, I do not think it is the best example available on the market and the fact that it has only just been published in this country means it may pass some people by who instead do as I did and pick up the more widely known Anne Frank diaries. But it is important and carries a lot of historicakl revelance so if you are a history student perhaps studying this period, I would imagine it would prove invaluable in giving you important insights.

There are photographs of Helene to give you some idea what she and some of the characters looked like and the book ends with both an account of how the diary came to be published and a brief history of how the Jewish people came to settle in France. This again is highly informative and of some use in providing reference. Also at the back of the book is a glossary of acronyms used and an index - the better to find points of reference if using this for essay material.

Overall, I found this informative and insightful but Helene for me was a difficult character to bond with, this despite me having empathy for all she had to endure, and I found this much heavier going than I would have liked it to be!

Summary: A true account of Jewish life in Occupied France.