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Comments (0)Though compelling enough to be read all the way through at one sitting, the novel “Displaced Persons” by first-time author Ghita Schwartz is the type of book that requires the soundness of mind to think actively about the words on each page, giving it full attention; this is certainly not the sort of book to read a few pages of before dozing off to sleep. Because the characters are usually speaking Polish, German, Hebrew, Yiddish, and sometimes other languages to one another, most dialogue is not wrapped in quotation marks, making the need for the reader to focus even stronger.
Once you are able to get into the rhythm of this style of storytelling, the pages will begin to paint pictures of lesser-known struggles that continued long past the end of the Holocaust for its survivors.
Beginning near the end of the war and finishing in the year 2000, “Displaced Persons” breaks out of the category of historical fiction and follows the lives of four people — Pavel, Fela, Chaim and Sima — as they first come together, then grow apart, and finally reconnect, leaving their pasts behind as they come to America with what little they have left to them.
This is a heavy, complicated story. It takes effort to fully absorb, but it is a satisfying feat to close the back cover. This particular Holocaust narrative sets itself apart in its staging and emphasis, and is one whose tale is universal, reaching across generations and cultures, as a lesson that the pain doesn’t end just because the war is over.