Once We Were Home
Once We Were Home is based on the true stories of hidden Jewish children, the youngest survivors of the Holocaust who eluded the Nazis by hiding in convents, orphanages, and other places. Jennifer Rosner tells the stories of Mira and her baby brother, Daniel, from a Polish ghetto; Renata, moved to England without explanation by her mother to hide German bloodlines; and Roger, concealed in a Catholic monastery in France. The children must at times hide in plain sight, so Mira becomes Ana, and Daniel, Oskar. Rosner creates dialogue laced with candor and reality as Roger masks his confusion with endless questions, riddles, and jokes. She continues themes from her previous novel, The Yellow Bird Sings, by exploring the longing for connection and finding one’s roots.
By 1968, the paths of the young adults intersect in Israel. Rosner sinks readers into each of their adult worlds as they navigate the past; filled with distress and torment, overcoming tribulations and sorrow. Like Renata’s matryoshka dolls, nesting one inside the other, Rosner slowly unveils the familial connections and roots of the four hidden children. She also treats readers to the return of a beloved character from The Yellow Bird Sings.
Rosner’s novel reflects personal interviews and in-depth research of those involved in the redemption of Jewish children. She illuminates the complex and opposing political and religious viewpoints of the adults and organizations involved in the kidnapping, or considered by some to be reclaiming, ransoming, or redeeming the children. Representing thousands of Jewish children saved, Rosner’s heart-wrenching revelations in Once We Were Home will persist in readers’ minds for seasons to come.
