Steve Sem-Sandberg lýsir hér í sögulegri skáldsögu sinn á hrollvekjandi máta örlögum gyðinga í gyðingagettóinu í Lodz í Síðari heimsstyrjöldinni. Örlög þeirra og gettóið hafa orðið alræmd vegna þess að æðsti öldungur þeirra, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, tók upp virkt samstarf við nasista í von um að það tryggði honum og helstu fylgismönnum hans grið fyrir morðæði SS-sveitanna. Hlutverk hans og gjörðir eru mjög umdeildar enn í dag, hann nýtti sér aðstöðu sína til að stjórna gettóinu sem harðstjóri og af grimmd en mögulega kann hann að hafa lengt líf gyðinganna þar umfram það sem nasistarnir ætluðu sér.
Saga Sem-Sandberg hefur hlotið nokkur verðlaun og er vissulega áhrifamikil en hann hefur líka verið gagnrýndur fyrir að velta sér upp úr grimmdinni og hræðilegum örlögum gyðinganna og höfða stöðugt til tilfinninga lesenda og ég verð að játa að mér finnst um of í þessari sögu. Þótt Helfararsaga gyðinga sé vissulega ömurleg þá má gera um of við það að velta sér upp stöðugt upp úr tilfinningasullinu. ( )

'Labour is the ROCK OF ZION! Labour the FOUNDATION OF MY STATE! HARD, PUNISHING LABOUR!', 27 May 2012
By
sally tarbox

This review is from: The Emperor of Lies (Paperback)
An amazing and horrific account of life in the Lodz Jewish ghetto - second largest in Poland. The head of the ghetto, Chaim Rumkowski, set to turning 'his' town into an industrial centre that would become invaluable to the Nazis, and so- he hoped- save the inhabitants. Certainly it was the longest lasting ghetto, surviving in part at least until 1944. Yet at the same time Rumkowski definitely feathered his nest on the proceeds, living comfortably and eating well while the rest starved.
Not a consecutive narrative, but a series of 'snapshots' of the wartime experiences of the inhabitants, perhaps most terribly the regular demands by the Nazis that the ghetto periodically hand over set numbers of its people to go to 'work camps'.
"They demand that we give them the very things most valuable to us- our children and our old people....I must now reach out my hands and ask: Brothers and sisters, give them to me. Give me your children!"
Perhaps the part that will remain most vividly with me is the heartbreaking final section where one of the young men hides from transportation and attempts to live out a Polish winter with almost no food or heat in an almost deserted ghetto.
The author doesn't attempt to solve the controversy that has always persisted about Rumkowski; I didn't finish the book with a 100% certainty of what I felt about him. Sem-Sandberg doesn't describe 'the Emperor's' feelings as he does other characters, and while he had huge personal failings, he was in an impossible political position. ( )

During WWII, the Lodz ghetto was the last to be evacuated. Its chairman Rumkowski had turned it into a special production zone, whose inhabitants produced useful output for the German war economy and thus were spared the transfer to the extermination camps until very late in the war. At the same time, Rumkowski had to accommodate the Germans, and eliminate all non-productive elements from the ghetto, amongst which were its children. His notorious "Give me your children" speech is included in the book.

This novel offers descriptions of various characters (many of which actually existed) who lived in this ghetto as it descended into starvation and extermination during the war years. Some of these characters really come alive on the pages, but Rumkowski remains an enigmatic figure, an evil deus ex machina rather than the personification of hamletian ethical dilemmas. At the end the dry narrative style of the book, so effective on describing the hunger, fear and violence, veers off into a rather unfortunate magical realism. What I'll remember from this book are the odd combinations of human pettiness and heroism, ruthless selfishness and suicidal generosity amidst the gradual descent into misery and annihilation. ( )

Heard about this book on Eleanor Wachtel's Writers and Company. Thought it sounded interesting. However, I really couldn't get into it. Fro me there were too many characters, or perhaps because I'm not familiar with Polish names I just kept getting confused. ( )

The Lodz ghetto was established by the Nazis in 1939 and was home to over a quarter of a million Jews. Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski was its leader – a business man and the director of an orphanage who was chosen by the Nazis to rule the ghetto. Rumkowski thought by establishing the ghetto as a productive center for the Nazis, he (and likewise the ghetto) would become indispensable to the regime.

Was his dictatorial rule really designed to save Jews? Or was Rumkowski motivated by greed and power in his collaboration with the Germans? This question has been debated by scholars and students of history. Rumkowski was surrounded by controversy. Although he attempted to make the ghetto a community, he also worked hand in hand with the Germans as they began to “resettle” the Jewish inhabitants in concentration camps where they were systematically murdered. Many survivors remember Rumkowski as a tyrant. However, many scholars have pointed out that the Lodz ghetto was the last ghetto in Eastern Europe to be liquidated and nearly 7000 Jews from that ghetto survived the war – although Rumkowski himself was murdered in Auschwitz. For me the question is: Does the end justify the means?

Steve Sem-Sanberg’s novel is a mesmerizing, albeit disturbing, look inside the Lodz ghetto and examines the life of its most controversial member. The book is a door-stopper at over 600 pages and introduces dozens of significant characters – many who are historical figures.The narrative focuses on several central characters as they struggle for survival in the ghetto.

Sem-Sandberg has done a vast amount of research for his novel and there were moments when the book felt more like nonfiction than fiction. Readers who are hoping for an answer as to whether or not Rumkowski was a villain or hero will be disappointed because the author does not really answer that question. Rather, he lays out the facts through fiction and allows the reader to come to her own conclusions.

This is not an enjoyable novel. Often the realities of life in the Lodz ghetto are horrifying, dark, depressing and overwhelmingly sad. The Emperor of Lies reminds the reader that the Holocaust is a very real part of our recent past. Despite the passage of years, it still feels acutely painful to re-live.

Steve Sem-Sanberg won the August Prize for The Emperor of Lies and it is easy to see why. The book is magnificent in its scope, painstakingly researched and an astonishing accomplishment. That said, readers should be warned that this is an emotionally difficult historical novel.

Highly recommended. ( )