Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Based on the heart-wrenching true story of an ordinary young woman who risked everything to save countless children from the Nazis.
My name is Betty. Until a few months ago, I was just like every other nursery teacher in the city… then the Nazis came and began to take our children away. Now, the nursery is part of a German deportation centre. Little ones and their families are being forced across the border, to a place called Auschwitz. No one comes back.
So when I hear there’s an underground network to save the children, I know I have to help. Sometimes the parents won’t be parted from them, and sometimes we can’t get to them in time – there are spies everywhere. But each time I smuggle the warm, innocent bundle of a sleeping baby past the Nazi guards and into the arms of the resistance, I know it’s worth the risk.
Tonight, in the pitch black, we are readying five little ones to escape ahead of a transport tomorrow. We don’t know where they’re going, and they may never see their parents again. As I button their coats and smooth their hair, my hands trembling, I hear the nightmare sound of heavy army boots on the stairs. My breath catches and my blood runs cold…
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of We Had to Save Them to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Orphans of Amsterdam by Elle Van Rijn is an emotional story full of heartbreak, courage, bravery and extraordinary resilience at a time when all hope was lost for so many innocent people. Set in Amsterdam it tells the story of Betty, who comes from a Jewish family, who until now have been well off running a fabric business but times are changing thanks to the rise of Hitler. Betty lives with her mother, sister, three brothers and her grandmother and her former housekeeper Engel.
Straight away I’ll say, despite the tough subject matter, that Betty’s grandmother and Engel were like a comedy duo who offered some laugh-out-loud moments throughout. I don’t know was it meant to come across like this but it offered some light relief when things got very tough for the family and Betty. Aside from these moments, this book was a real eye opener as it was based on a true story. I’ve not read many books set in Holland during World War Two but it was definitely a story that needed to be told. We all know lots about what happened in other countries at this time and of the horrific camps etc but I knew nothing at all about the brave group of nursery teachers and the resistance network who put their lives on the line to save as many innocent children as possible.
The Germans have occupied Amsterdam and it has come to the point where it is hard to know whether someone is good or crooked, but Betty will soon learn that people will give others away if it means saving their own skin. I felt the themes and background to the story were very well introduced and I loved how at the beginning of each chapter there was a brief paragraph or two which informed the reader what was going with relation to the Jewish community and the war. Details of new laws and sanctions were mentioned and how they were being rounded up and being sent to camps. This tool of informing the reader at the beginning of a chapter was very effective as it then allowed the chapter to focus on Betty and the nursery and you could see how the actions of the nurses and the director fitted in with what was going on all around them.
Initially, Betty had an air of innocence surrounding her in that when she was offered a position on a training programme for nursery nurses at a nursery founded by the Infants Institution and Children’s Homes Association, she viewed it as just another regular job where she could interact, play with and care for children. The nursery takes in Jewish children whose parents have to work during the day but soon that all changes as it becomes a hub for transportation and here is where the innocence of Betty vanishes and the reader really sees her start to grow up and become fully aware of what is going on around her. She becomes part of a much bigger operation where in the face of so much hatred and lack of moral purity there are a few who are willing to do what is right and fight against the tide of evil which is rising rapidly. The laws regarding Jews constantly change and soon their lives are irreparably altered. To wear the yellow star on your clothing means you are marked and danger lurks around every corner. The Jewish community is branded and excluded but thanks to Betty’s job she is able to continue her work and is not targeted. The same cannot be said for the remainder of her family except for her sister who works in a local hospital. Betty finds herself treading a very dangerous path but the admiration the reader develops for her just grows and grows with every turn of the page.
At times as a reader when you read so much World War Two historical fiction you feel you may start to become hardened to some of the events and details and that should never be the case but admittedly for me on occasion this does happen. But with this story, my eyes were reopened as to just how much suffering went on and in this case with the specific focus being on children it really does pack an emotional and gut-wrenching punch. Pimentel is the director of the nursery and she come across as being firm but fair. She can see that Betty has great potential and is becoming deeply invested in the children in her care but that there is also a recklessness about Betty. She says what she feels without thinking of the consequences and I felt at times Pimentel almost had to give her a rap on the knuckles and rein her in a bit because she wanted her to be more heedful as she knew Betty could potentially play a very important role. This role does come to light around the halfway point of the story and here is where things really ramped up with tension, unease, mistrust and fear waiting around every corner.
Across from the nursery is a theatre where the Jew,s both young and old, are brought to once they have been rounded up. Here is where they wait until they are then transported to a camp. They are made to believe that camp conditions are good and that they are just being placed there for their own safety and they will eventually be able to return home. But Betty and the women at the nursery know this is not the case and with the aid of some members of the Jewish council and also a resistance network that has sprung up they do their best to hide as many children as possible and then they can be brought to a safe place. The descriptions of the conditions in the theatre were truly horrifying. That first time when Betty is sent there to bring over the children to the nursery where they stay until they reunite with their parents for transportation, well the images still have not left my mind. The desperation, anger and fear felt by those incarcerated was real and the living conditions were beyond appalling. No section of Jewish society was spared from being rounded up and my heart broke at those who couldn’t look after themselves and who had no notion of what fate was about to befall them.
Initially, there is an unpredictability and randomness as to who is sent to the camps but really no one is spared and Betty feels this when her family are taken. I think if her family had remained safe in the apartment above the family shop which had been taken from them then Betty wouldn’t have the guts to participate in the scheme to hide as many children as possible. But knowing her family had been so affected she concluded what she was doing was right and so very just. Betty and her colleagues show us that through joining forces we are made stronger and in doing so they protected so many children. In an end note it mentions that over 600 children at the nursery were saved which was remarkable. I loved uncovering all the little details that were put into play to make their ‘missions’ as successful as possible and my heart was in my mouth several times over as I was sure they were going to be discovered.
The Orphans of Amsterdam is an important and remarkable read. If I had not read it the true story of so many fearless women and men, I would have continued on in ignorant bliss. Instead, I have a newfound appreciation for what so many people did during the war and it makes you think how would you have reacted if you found yourself in the same situation? I found the first half of the book to be quite conversational in the writing style as it just detailed things seemingly one after the other. It became grittier in the second half which I felt it needed to be. I did find the ending to be quite abrupt and I wanted and needed more answers but then I found the end notes from the author and I was glad to see things explained and followed up in more detail. This book is worth a read as it taught me many things and despite the heavy nature of the topic the author shone a light on so many heroes whose story needed to be brought out into the forefront of many readers hearts and minds.
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