Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Content warning: this review discusses rape, murder, and suicide.
I’ve read and watched plenty of Holocaust stories, both fiction and nonfiction. After a while, I noticed patterns among them. They involve protagonists witnessing or experiencing atrocities committed by the Nazis, a love story, and interactions with a sadistic Nazi official. Today’s subject: A Song of Silence by Steve N. Lee doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to this type of tale, yet it remains a powerful story about a man running an orphanage during a horrific episode in world history.
Inspired by a true story, A Song of Silence is about a man trying to protect the orphaned kids during the Second World War. When the Nazis invade a sleepy Polish town, Mirek Kozlowski vows to keep everyone in the orphanage safe no matter the costs. Despite his struggles and sacrifices, the war drags him and the children deeper into the nightmare. With 89 children to look after, Mirek must do whatever he can to shield them even if it means doing something criminal, distasteful, or perilous. To make things worse, a cruel SS officer arrives to bring unspeakable atrocities to the town, but he also brings hope for Mirek to save all of those he cares if only he has the courage to grasp it.
The Holocaust is undeniably one of the most destructive events in world history, and Lee holds nothing back while depicting the atrocities the Nazis committed during that time. There are scenes in which Mirek sees Nazis attack, rape, and/or kill various townspeople. This is nothing new because books like Maus and movies like Schindler’s List have similar ones. At the same time, these are absolutely necessary to include since they establish what Mirek is up against and how he’s personally affected by them. There’s a horrific scene, in which he finds out that one of the older orphans, Lena, an outspoken girl who was taken away by the Nazis, is at a brothel. When he tries to save her, he discovers that he’s too late, for she hangs herself in the room. It was absolutely devastating.
A handful of Holocaust-media also have a love story. I get why they are included to offset the tragedy even if it’s just for a little bit. Schindler’s List and The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen contained these scenes, and A Song of Silence is no different. The shy Ania arrives at the orphanage as a helper, and Mirek is instantly smitten with her. Over time, he helps her to read and to ride a horse. She grows more confident during the course of the novel. By the end, she transforms from a sheltered individual to a world-trotting one. Mirek wants to love her, but he lost a wife during the flu pandemic years prior, and he struggles to open his heart again. This romance works well since they make a nice couple, and it’s incorporated into the increasingly dire situation they find themselves in. At one point, a member of the Resistance comes up with a plan to smuggle the kids out of Poland. It involves Mirek and Ania leaving together with four of the children. Mirek is divided between saving all the children and his love for her.
And of course, a good chunk of Holocaust stories include a vicious SS officer. A good example of this is Amon Goeth (excellently played by Ralph Fiennes) in Schindler’s List. The main character has several interactions with this villainous person, which tests their skills and values. A Song of Silence has one named Hauptsturmführer Krueger. On several occasions, Krueger persuades Mirek to join the Nazi party to make his and the children’s lives easier under the Third Reich. At one point, Krueger finds out that Mirek is an accomplished author, so he sends him a manuscript of a story he wrote to review and make edits. Mirek at first is not so keen on it, but he ends up reading it anyway and likes it. However, what’s horrifying is that Mirek realizes that Krueger is capable of empathy based on how he writes and that he still chooses to lower rations and order executions of civilians for a variety of crimes like hiding Jewish people and spraying a Resistance slogan on the side of a building. Even Goeth wasn’t given this level of development in Schindler’s List.
Even with all the familiar tropes present in A Song of Silence, I was still invested in the story through its characters. Mirek is an idealist man to a fault. He spent part of his life running an orphanage and making sure the children have a childhood. Although people like his elderly assistant Hanka and Borys the Resistance member tell him that he should leave Poland for his safety, Mirek yearns to stay behind to protect the children.
Apparently, Mirek himself is based on an actual person, who was in a similar situation during World War II. Lee took some liberties when making this story since the real-life character Janusz Korczak was in his sixties and Jewish. Mirek is 37 and an “a-religious” Polish person. At first, I thought it was a bit disingenuous to take away the Jewish voice. But, I realized that Jewish people weren’t the only ones killed during the Holocaust. Plenty of Polish people regardless of religion died because they appeared more Slavic than Nordic. In an interview Lee gives at the end of the book, he states, “When so many millions suffered such unspeakable horrors, I didn’t want to focus on one ethnicity/religion at the expense of another, to make one life seem more important than another life, so…I decided to make my hero a-religious and to have him fight for both Jewish and non-Jewish children.”
This comes through in the novel as he treats all them Jewish and non-Jewish equally and how he protects them at the end. I won’t spoil what happens, but it’s emotionally devastating, yet poignant with Mirek showing his love for children while they sing kid-friendly songs.
A Song of Silence by Steve N. Lee contains the usual tropes found in Holocaust-based stories, but the way they are utilized is well done. It doesn’t sugarcoat the actions the Nazis take against the residents. The love story between Mirek and Ania may feel out of place at first, but it makes more sense as they get deeper into the Nazi-induced nightmare. Also, Krueger is far worse than Goeth simply because he’s capable of empathy, yet he chooses not to use it. Above all, Mirek is the kind of character that people can easily root for because of his willingness to do everything to protect the children at the orphanage. I won’t forget that ending anytime soon. I would recommend this novel for readers who love Holocaust-based stories and tales involving orphans. A Song of Silence is out now, so go grab it wherever you get your books.
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Book Reviews by a Chick Who Reads Everything 