We Our On Our Own

We Are On Our Own by Miriam Katin is the story of a young Hungarian Jewish woman and her small daughter struggling to survive through the Holocaust. Esther Levy is during her best to raise Lisa (really author Katin) while her husband Karoly is off fighting the Nazis during WWII. But one by one their freedoms are taken from them, including their right to own a dog or live in their apartment. Rather than go to a concentration camp, Esther fakes their deaths and flees into the countryside. She is forced to become the mistress of a Nazi commandant, raped by Russian soldiers, fights through a blizzard, and has an abortion. All in the quest to save her daughter's life. The scenes from the war are drawn in black and white with a charcoal feel to them. They are alternated with scenes from Lisa's life as a mother which are brightly colored, almost harshly so. The pictures are haunting and with a few simple strokes, Katin is able to bring remarkable depth and emotion to each frame. Several pages with the reunion of Karoly and Esther brought tears to my eyes and are examples of masterful storytelling. Another review here says that the book is pointless and doesn't have enough interest to merit publishing. I beg to differ. The Holocaust is such a huge tragedy that thinking about the death of 9 million is impossible to comprehend. But seeing the fight and heroics of a simple woman in the midst of the war brings home the destruction and devastation it brought. Not just to the landscape, but to the human spirit as well. It's a powerful story told about love and courage told with the same.