When We Were Shadows by Janet WeesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
When We Were Shadows is middle grade and a young adult novel that is based on the real-life experience of Walter and his family during the Holocaust period. This book recounts what happened to them and the constant fear the Jews have to deal with while trying to stay alive. Walter’s Oma, the grandmother, was able to keep the letters he has written to her throughout the time they were hiding; these written messages were included in this book as they were clearly describing their suffering.
Walter and his family left their home in Zwickau, Germany in 1937 when he and her sister, Hannah, were only five and nine years old. His family rode the train to Den Haag; their peaceful life in the Netherlands was cut short after three years because the country has succumbed to the hands of the Nazis. His father entrusted their home and his business to a butcher who had a shop beside his father’s.
Their family left Den Haag and stayed in a summer home in Nunspeet; however, their lives were still not safe hence their parents had followed the Underground’s advice to hide his sister in a hospital because of her osteomyelitis. Her illness will be a hindrance once they need to flee their home immediately because of the constant raids by the Nazi soldiers in towns. His Oma was the first member of their family that the Underground has taken in 1940 when they arrived in Den Haag and was kept until the country was free again. Walter and his parents were the only left in their family that was not safe so they have to continue on the move into some new hidden shelter.
The Underground is a group of people who helped the Jews by hiding them; providing them with food, clothing, and information; they also transported them from one place to their new hideaway, and they also helped them build their huts in the hidden village in the forest on 1943. Even though these people put their lives on a stake, they tried to do everything that they can so they can save these Jews from the Nazis.
When We Were Shadows is another novel that will intensely illustrate how it was to live during the Shoah. The story of Walter and his family show us courage, the willingness to live and hope amidst their situation. Also, even though there were times that they were indistinctly persuaded to change their religion from being a Jew to be a Christian, they didn’t falter and keep to their faith.
