Don't Tell the Nazis. Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. 2019. 226 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: I huddled close to my sister under the comforter and prayed that we'd live through the night. At any moment the door might burst open and we could be dragged from our beds.
Don't Tell the Nazis opens in June 1941 in Ukraine in the days leading up to the Soviet retreat and the Nazi occupation. The Ukrainians suffered at the hands of the Soviets--no doubt--but any hope is short-lived that treatment under the Nazi regime would improve. If anything, the situation worsens. The book follows a young girl, Krystia, and her family. She'll face more than any child--any human--should be made to endure.
Don't Tell the Nazis is not an easy book to summarize. What you should know is that it is intense, compelling, heartbreaking, disturbing, haunting. It's the kind of book that requires a freezer. It is inspired by a true story, but it has been fictionalized to a certain degree. I found the author's note fascinating.
It is not the kind of book any reader "enjoys" reading. It is horrific and traumatic not because the author has a depraved, disturbed mind BUT because it is authentically capturing the horrifying and shocking truth of history. History that should never be denied, discounted, or dismissed. When history shocks and disturbs the answer is not to bury your head in the sand but to take notice, listen, and learn.
© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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