Emil and Karl (edition 2006)

"Emil and Karl" is an ideal companion novel to "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas," "The Book Thief" or "Once" - in fact any of the novels that deal with the awful persecution that occurred during WW2. What makes this book so different to the ones I have mentioned is the fact that it was written in 1940 as the events were unfolding. It tells the story of 2 boys who are both persecuted by the Germans for different reasons - one has a parent who is a Communist, and the other is Jewish. This book details their harrowing attempts to escape from a progressively worsening situation. Emil and Karl are protected all the way through their flight by the kindness and charity and above all BRAVERY of adults (mostly complete strangers) who risk their own lives to protect the children. This is an absolutely fascinating story which is only predictable in that it deals with both the best and worst of human nature - a very subtle masterpiece. The part with the schoolteacher is absolutely chilling and goes some way to explaining how ordinary people stood by and let the jews be persecuted because they were so afraid. p.15 -21.

Great story! It was written during the actual time period. The story is quite emotional and heartbreaking dealing with the boys and their struggle dealing with this new world order. ( )

Emil and Karl are nine-year-old friends in Vienna. After the Anschluss (1938), the situation becomes graver every day. Karl’s father has already been killed for being a Socialist. The book opens with his mother being dragged away by the authorities. Although a neighbor offers to help him, he runs to Emil’s apartment. Emil’s father has just been killed, and his mother suffers a breakdown while sitting shiva. The two are now on their own in the city—hiding in a basement, relying on adults who offer them food and refuge and eventually getting on trains out of Vienna to England with other orphans on the Kinder transport.

The book is a story of friendship, a historical fiction about Vienna, and an exciting and emotional suspense story. Although Karl is not Jewish, he sticks by his Jewish friend Emil. He defends him in school while others are beating him and spitting on him. His teacher secretly tells Karl how proud she is of his behavior, but must berate him in public because everyone is so afraid of the brown shirts. Graphic, vivid descriptions of Jews cleaning the streets and being made to act like animals in public parks are seen through the boys’ eyes. The reader feels their urgency has they run from hiding place to hiding place. They meet adults who are either resisting the Nazis, cooperating with the Nazis, or trying to stay under the radar. As the boys are lining up to get on the trains, they are separated, so it is unclear what happens to them. This leaves the reader with a glimmer of hope that they will reunite and be happy and safe.

While the story of the boys’ friendship and their rapid coming of age are touching, the descriptions of anti-Semitic activities in Vienna may be too vivid for middle grade readers, who could relate to the boys in terms of age and interest. If this book were read by those younger than fourteen, parental directive is strongly encouraged. ( )

This story of two boys left alone in Vienna after their parents have been arrested by the Nazis, is particularly significant because it was the first book written for children about the Holocaust. It was published in the United States in Yiddish in
1940 before the full horrors of World War II had unfolded. Shandler’s seamless translation now makes the story accessible to contemporary readers. ( )

In the early days of the Second World War, Karl and his friend Emil find themselves abandoned in Vienna. Emil's family is Jewish, his father had been killed and his mother so traumatised that she is taken away. Karl's father has already disappeared. He was a Socialist and therefore a threat to the Nazi regime.

This interesting story was first published in 1940, and so preempts some of the more 'familiar' stories about the Holocaust at its height. This is the forerunner of all that. ( )