THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

In the summer of 1938, Toni makes the decision to leave Austria, with her teenage son, Rudi, for Dratscincz, a small town in the Carpathian Mountains of Galicia, land of her birth and where her parents still reside.

Years before, Toni had run away from her home with a non-Jewish man, whom she married.  Once at home in his native Austria, he began to abuse her.  He also fathered, Rudi.

The marriage long ended, and Rudi, near grown, Toni yearned to return home.  A very beautiful woman, Toni entertained many suitors; the last, left her a considerable estate; the inheritance provided her the ability to do as she pleased.

As Toni and Rudi begin their journey, all seems well.  They travel the days and stay the nights at inns, enjoying the food and shelter.  The people dote on them, and are warm and friendly knowing their guests  are Jews, for which they receive a full welcome.  The people confess to Toni, their lives were better when the Jews were around.

As Toni and Rudi venture further along, the peasantry becomes less friendly.  Mother and son must harbor only with fellow Jews, who are scared, and reluctant to fight against the peasants, who do them, and their property harm.

Throughout their trip, Toni and Rudi discover many emptied Jewish homes, with property upturned, and the many books, scattered over the floors.

The further Toni and Rudi travel, the more ominous their plan of homeward becomes.

Toni decides the final stretch of the trip too dangerous for her seventeen-year old son, so she scouts the area first.  Days later, with still no sign of Toni, Rudi begins the search for his mother.  After days of wandering, he finds he has reached Dratscincz, but sees few signs of people.  He finds a policeman who tells him, all the Jews have been rounded up, and taken away.

 

The author is a Holocaust survivor.  The book is a symbolic fable, representative of what was no escape for the six million Jews.