Katarina ANNOTATION
During World War II in Slovakia, a young Jewish girl in hiding becomes a devout Catholic and is sustained by her belief that she will return home to her family as soon as the war ends.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
During World War II, a Jewish orphan is living with her aunt and uncle when she is rounded up with other Jews, and sent to live in a peasant household. When her Judaism is discovered, she is asked to leave and wanders from village to village, confused by the threat that hangs over her, but maintained by a fierce belief in her eventual return to her family.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Astonishing for its uncanny grace and dexterity in handling harrowing subject matter, Winter's semi-autobiographical debut novel describes the ordeals of a Jewish girl in WWII Slovakia. When the state police begin singling out the Jews in 1942, seven-year-old Katarna, an orphan, is especially unsettled because her guardian, Aunt Lena, has raised her without religion. Lena protects them from roundups through various ruses and strategic decisions; Katarna also relies on the saints the new maid has secretly taught her about. Then one of Lena's schemes misfires and Katarna, hidden among superstitious and fearful peasants in a remote hamlet, is turned out of her shelter and forced to make her own way. A sophisticated structure purposefully incorporates flashbacks and occasional shifts in narration, all of which underscore Katarna's vulnerability. At the same time Katarna herself is an unusually strong character, and Winter evokes her reactions with a robust verisimilitude that will directly engage the target audience. Whether recreating Lena's progressive household, a forest ritual prescribed by a witch, or Katarna's thoughts as she spends months alone in hiding, the prose reverberates with authenticity. First-rate fiction, it marks the author as someone to watch.
Publishers Weekly
In a starred review, PW called this semi-autobiographical novel of a Jewish girl in WWII Slovakia "astonishing for its uncanny grace and dexterity in handling harrowing subject matter." Ages 10-up. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
School Library Journal
This book bears testament to the pernicious influences of insularity and superstition and to the courage of people who, in the face of danger, are willing to defend the helpless. Katarina has been raised by her aunt, a free-thinking woman who has always scorned the constrictions of organized religion. She knows nothing of her Jewish heritage beyond the fact that she is Jewish. In fact, Katarina iis secretly being taught the Catechism by the family's maid and considers herself a devout Catholic. As the Nazis tighten their grip on the Jewish population, Aunt Lena finds a peasant family whom she pays to take in the girl. She is hidden for a time but, as the danger to the family increases, she is sent out on her own. After several near escapes, Katarina makes her way to her former maid's family and is placed in a Protestant orphanage for the duration of the war. This is a difficult book, not only because of its subject matter, but also because it moves backward and forward in time and because the voice sometimes shifts from that of Katar na to that of a person observing her. Then, too, an eight-year-old child must, necessarily, have had a confused understanding of the calamity that had befallen her. In spite of the challenges of its style, however, Katarina is worth reading and begs for discussion. Winter has told her story with admirable evenness. Even the people unsympathetic to Katarina's plight are given motivation. Readers are also aware of numerous characters who risked their own lives to help her. Many teachers, librarians, and parents should find ample use for this powerful book.- Miriam Lang Budin, Mt. Kisco Public Library, NY
Horn
In "The Children We Remember", Chana Byers Abells recounts that some Jewish children survived the Holocaust "rescued by Christian families" or "pretend[ing] to be non-Jews." Eight-year-old Katarina of Slovakia is such a child. Orphaned Katarﾽna has been lovingly raised by her aunt Lena. Despite their lack of religiosity, they are Jewish, and Aunt Lena worries about their survival. When Katarina's first-person account of her ordeal opens, she is feigning scarlet fever - her quarantine buys them some precious time to plot their escape. At their new home, a young maid, believing Katarina a heathen, schools the child in the history of saints; Katarina's whole-hearted embrace of Catholicism turns out to be an asset when Lena sends her away as a Christian orphan. Katarina is delighted to not wear the Star of David (all she "knew about being Jewish was to be ashamed"), but despite Katarina's prayers to the Holy Mother, she is exposed as a Jew and sent away again. The author captures the near-madness of the child as she roams the countryside hungry and alone, distrustful of everyone. Her final war home, a Protestant orphan-age, confounds Katarina: a Jew by birth and a devout, practicing Catholic with her secret rosary and picture cards of the saints, she must now reveal neither identity. Winter documents Katarina's confusion not only about her religion but also about her homeland: how can one be a good Slovak and still wish the enemies of one's country to win the war? A year after the liberation, Katarina returns to her village certain of her reunion with her aunt. There is no joyful meeting; Katarina's village has been decimated. Katarina's joy, Winter reminds us, rests in her memories of those she loved; it is those memories replayed with which the novel concludes.
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