Daughters of The Fatherland by Jericho J Johnson was an historical fiction book that took a close examination of the fate of the Romani or Gypsy families during World War II and the Holocaust. It captured the strong ties these people had with one another and how they traveled and lived together. Daughters of The Fatherland paid close attention to the fate of the children during this horrific period in history. I listened to the audiobook that was well narrated by Alyona Popova. During the dire economic crisis in Germany that followed World War I and just prior to the start of World War II, a Gypsy caravan was traveling through Berlin seeking a safer place to settle when an older couple noticed something along the road they were traveling on. After stopping to retrieve it, they discovered a tiny baby girl that wrapped in a thick blanket that a mother had abandoned. The gypsy couple decided to keep the girl and raise her as their own. They named the baby Rosa. She grew up to be a very inquisitive child who loved to read. Her grandmother had gifted her a book of fairytale stories. Her favorite was Little Red Riding Hood. Rosa often chose to read instead of doing her chores. She was constantly getting into trouble for her outbursts and lashing out at others. When Rosa was about ten years old, the Gypsies in the caravan voted to separate themselves from Rosa and her family because of Rosa’s defiant behavior. It was because of this that Rosa and her parents were arrested by the Nazis. Rosa and her mother were sent to the Women’s Gypsy Concentration Camp in Austria and her father was sent to the Men’s Gypsy Camp in Berlin. Life at the Women’s Gypsy Concentration Camp was hard. It was lucky that Rosa’s mother was skilled at tailoring. Unfortunately, Rosa’s behavior had not changed and it continued to get her in trouble more often than not. Rosa was determined to find a way to escape from the camp. Then one day Leni Riefenstahl, the photographer and movie producer, visited the camp. Leni was working on directing and starring in a film called Gypsy Queen, Tiefland. She needed gypsy children for the movie. What better place to find the children she required than at the Women’s Gypsy Concentration Camp. Without any regard of separating the children she chose from their mothers, Leni Riefenstahl took about thirty gypsy children in all. Rosa was one of them. She did not want to be separated from her mother. Rosa had promised her father that she would take care of her mother. She was breaking her promise to her father. Leni ended up keeping the gypsy children for about six months before she sent them back to the camp. When the gypsy children returned, it wasn’t long before the camp was dissolved and all the remaining gypsy prisoners were sent to Auschwitz where they were killed. Leni knew that this would happen but she sent those innocent children back regardless. Rosa remained with Leni as her assistant until she was able to escape. She was determined to get to Berlin to find her father. Would Rosa be able to reach Berlin? How would she get there? What dangers would she encounter along the way? Daughters of the Fatherland by Jericho J Johnson was inspired by real events and some real people. So many children were robbed of their parent’s care and had to learn to fend for themselves during the war. What the Nazis did to the Romani people was horrific and tragic. This is a side of the Holocaust that needs to be recognized as another atrocity committed by the Nazis. I found Daughters of The Fatherland interesting and informative. I recommend this book to those of you who gravitate towards historical fiction about World War II. Thank you to Interactive Publications Pty Ltd. for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Daughters of The Fatherland by Jericho J Johnson through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. – Marilyn Kurtis (Educator) Loading...
