Gertruda's Oath: A Child, a Promise, and a Heroic Escape During World War II

Numerous memoirs of the Holocaust have been published, and no doubt many are yet to be published. Most of these fall into a particular genre. They chronicle someone's experience of one of the darkest periods in human history. They are heroic tales of personal triumph against overwhelming odds. The great majority leave the reader depressed. After all, how many pages of graphic description of man's inhumanity to one's fellow human beings can one read without vicariously experiencing the events through which the author went? Gertruda's Oath is different. It does not minimize the horrors of the Holocaust. They are there, but they hover in the background like a dark cloud above the horizon. The focus of the narrative is the relationship between Michael, a small Jewish boy, and his nanny, Gertruda Babilinska, a Polish Catholic Christian. It is also the story of how the fate of a Jewish family and that of the family of a SS officer are determined by the choices made by individuals in response to forces beyond their control. Michael's parents, Jacob and Lydia Stolowitzky, are one of the wealthiest Jewish families in Poland. Because of their immense wealth, the Stolowitzkys are able to live among and mix socially with the Polish upper class, despite the latter's anti-Semitism, which is soon to be unleashed by the German invasion. Lydia is oblivious to reality, shielded as she is by her wealth and her obsession with her son. Jacob, aware of the rising tide of anti-Semitism, feels that his wealth will protect his family, just as it did his ancestors. Gertruda comes from a devout Roman Catholic, peasant family. She shares the anti-Semitism that permeates European society during the inter-war years. When first offered the position as nanny for little Michael by Lydia Stolowitzky, Gertruda politely turns it down. "Why?" asks Mrs. Stolowitzky. Gertruda's reply is frank, but honest: "Because you're Jews, and I'm Catholic." But this book is not just the story of a working-class Polish girl and a wealthy Jewish family. It is also the story of Karl Rink and his family. Their future becomes fatefully entwined with the Stolowitzkys and Gertruda. Karl Rink is a German married to a Jewish woman. They have a small daughter, Helga. Karl joins the SS, motivated by idealism and the need for employment. His loving wife, Mira, tries repeatedly to get her husband to understand her fear of the New Germany. As persecution of the Jews escalates, Mira tries to persuade her husband to leave Germany. Karl refuses to listen. Like Jacob Stolowitzky, he believes that his position as a SS officer will shield his wife and daughter from any harm. Then, one day Mira vanishes, and Karl must face the likelihood that his superior had her murdered or sent to a concentration camp. Realizing his daughter is in danger, Karl arranges for her to go to Palestine. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Lydia, Gertruda, and Michael must flee

Gertruda's Oath takes you back in time, into the stories of two families, whose lives were forever changed from the horrors of Hitler's Holocaust across Europe. The author Ram Oren spent years searching for documents and interviewing the family members and survivors to put together this most extraordinary story of a wealthy Jewish Family in Poland and of a German Family whose father became part of Hitler's SS men. Because so many of those involved in this story have long passed away, Mr. Oren uses his writing skills to recreate parts of the dialogue and story to fill in details of these horrific events. Mr. Oren's completed work is so real, you feel everything that was going on first hand in this brutal, vicious time in history, and you cannot stop turning the pages to see what will happen next. Gertruda Babilinska is an unmarried Catholic teacher, whose fate has changed when she becomes the nanny for little Michael Stolowitzky, the only son of a very wealthy Jewish Family in Poland. Gertruda's love for little Michael proves to be stronger than life itself, when Hitler invades Poland. Upon Michael's mother's deathbed, Gertruda takes an oath that she will take Michael to the safehaven of Palestine and raise him as her own. Following the years of their journey during WWII, and what Gertruda and Michael had to endure at the Nazi's and other unscrupulous people's hands, you hope upon hope itself, that they will somehow get to Israel, even though the odds are always against them. In Germany, at the same time Gertruda and Michael are trying to survive against all odds, a German man named Karl Rink is out of work, and will do anything to put food on the table for his Jewish wife and only daughter Helga. Karl attends an SS meeting promising a good paycheck to those who qualify for entry into this most secret of Hitler's organizations, and of course upon being accepted, joins the SS to feed his family. Karl's wife being a Jew is a problem for the SS, and Karl proves that all the Nazi's and SS men did not have such high enthusiasm for the extermination of the Jewish People. These two very different sets of people's lives intertwine during the most brutal part of WWII, and the author Ram Oren makes you feel as if you are right there with them. If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would, for such a touching, moving story of hope, determination and love. Gertruda had the strength of a thousand SS men and her love for little Michael, who is now in his 70's and living in New York, endures forever. Gertruda's Oath gets my highest recommendations.

Gertruda's Oath contains the stories of several different players, all of which will intersect and interact throughout this story of the Holocaust. First there is Gertruda, a Polish Catholic who moves from her village to Warsaw in the hopes of finding employment after being jilted on her wedding day. Next, the Jewish Stolowitzky family, wealthy enough to be dubbed "the Rockefellers of Poland" and occupants of a vast mansion who are looking for a nanny. Finally, the Rink family: Karl, his wife Mira, and their daughter, Helga. Although Mira is Jewish, Karl, who is unemployed, is lured by the promises of financial stability and the glow of patriotism to become an SS officer. As war nears, all our characters make life altering decisions: after wresting with her conscience and discussing matters with her priest, Gertruda decides that she can morally work for a Jewish family; Jacob Stolowitzky travels into Nazi Germany believing his status as a wealthy foreign businessman will allow him to visit his plants and clear up financial concerns in that country; and Karl Rink tells his wife that since he is a valued member of the SS, his superiors will accept their marriage in time. Once the war begins, the intense ramifications of these choices become evident. Gertruda promises Lydia Stolowitzky that she will protect her charge, Michael, like he is her own son, an oath that will cross her path with the Rink family and give her life a single, consuming focus. This book, based on a true story compiled from interviews with the surviving characters and analysis of historical documents, is highly recommended. Michael and Gertruda interact with the worst humanity has to offer, but also the best. Forced from the life of privilege they knew in pre-World War II Warsaw, Gertruda employs everything at her disposal to save her charge, in a tale that is truly heartwarming. On many occasions the strangers met by the pair put themselves in danger to aid the child. The story caught me from the very first pages, opening with the adult Michael and his attempts to claim his inheritance - millions his father deposited in Swiss banks prior to the outbreak of conflict. The story's intensity remains high throughout, keeping the reader intrigued. Written by "the John Grisham of Israel," this book will not disappoint you.

Ram Oren's well written book opens another window into the minds and souls individuals and the larger community of which they were a part, before, during and after WWII. The description of the destruction of Vilna was excellent and the story of the aborted trip of the Exodus captured the intensity of emotions that everyone experienced. There are many excellent survivor accounts of these years available but what set this one apart for me was the underlying questions it posed: "Who do we save, to whom do we owe help, how much of our own comfort and safety are we willing to risk for another person?" Questions as relevant today as they were 70 years ago. Each person is shaped by the circumstances of their lives, each one of us doing what we feel we have to do. "Gertruda's Oath" portrays honestly and without judgment the conflicting loyalties and responsibilities that each person felt as they struggled to achieve a moral and balanced response to an impossibly difficult situation. Nobody has a corner on compassion and despite having been viewed and excluded solely on the basis of being Jews, many of these people were reluctant to extend the same acceptance when Gertruda sought passage to Palestine. Those who survived the Holocaust often did so because of seemingly random, lucky events but the reality is that the things that save or condemn are not so much the whims of life but the result of choices that individuals made. This is a provocative and encouraging testament to the extraordinary tenacity, commitment and generosity that we are all capable of calling forth.