Fifteen-year-old Hanka Kaudersov has ginger hair and clear, green eyes. When her family is deported to Auschwitz, her mother, father and younger brother are sent to the gas chamber. By a twist of fate, Hanka is faced with a simple alternative: follow her family, or work in an SS brothel behind the eastern front. She chooses to live, her Aryan looks allowing her to disguise the fact that she is … Jewish. As the German army retreats from the Russian front, Hanka battles cold, hunger, fear, and shame, sustained by her hatred for the men she entertains, her friendship with the mysterious Estelle, and her fierce, burning desire for life. Lovely Green Eyes explores the compromises and sacrifices that an individual may make in order to survive, the way a woman can retain her identity in the face of appalling trauma, and the value of human life itself. This is a remarkable novel, which soars beyond nightmare, leaving the reader with a transcendent sense of hope.
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Told through the eyes of one young Jewish girl fighting for her life in Nazi Germany after her entire family was murdered in a Concentration Camp. A very well written book about the unspeakable horrors of World War II perpetrated against the Jewish population especially, but also against everyone the Germans decided weren’t of pure Aryan blood. It’s impossible to understand how an entire population could be convinced to exterminate everyone, men, women and children, who aren’t like them. You think this couldn’t possibly happen today, but the exact same crimes are being committed now in the Middle East by ISIS and other Muslim radicals. History repeats itself!
great characters, heart rending history lesson
If you are interested in WWII stories and the horrific actions of the Germans towards Jews, this is a unique story of a 15 y.o. girls struggle to survive in 2 camps that she was placed in during the end of the war.
Very hard to follow – no flow or character development
This book was very hard for me to read. It was in a style that I really didn’t enjoy reading. To me, the author skipped from one subject to another without any or very little transition. The story line was interesting and this could have been a 5 star rating had it not been so disjointed. The subject was dark but most books written about WWII and Holocaust survivors usually are.
I am always interested in reading about the Holocaust and the German part of the war. Maybe because I am of German descent and am horrified by what the Nazis did.
A nightmarish time in history.
I found the writing style to be difficult to follow and I found the characters to be hard to follow. I quit after roughly a third of the way through.
I started this book twice and was not able to find any interesting point. The last time I just decided there are enough books available for me to force read something.
Somewhat confusing as it jumps around from one character’s perspective to another.
Lustig has done it again. His haunting language and brilliant prose takes us into the life of a girl trying to survive the Holocaust. At fifteen, she’s no longer a child, as the war has stripped her of those she loved, all she had, and it’s difficult to imagine her smiling. Survival came at a very high price.
I couldn’t finish it.
It was pretty good, sometimes it was hard to understand what was going on though. It did some skipping in time. I wonder if it was s problem with translation. It surely was a horrendous time, this book tells some of the horrors.
Well written, keep me reading til the end. Thought about abandoning it due to the intense subject and vivid details, but couldn’t. It’s one of those books that stays with you for a few days. Glad I read it.
Blah
Having read many books about people’s experiences during WW II, this story had a focus that was unknown to me. The role some female prisoners played to sexually satisfy the German troops and military hierarchy saved their lives. Simply put, women did what they had to do to survive the war.
I learned more than I wanted to about the Nazi death camps & the sex slaves for officers in the Reich! It is hard to forget the pictures this book painted in my mind!
I remember lovin it, but I don’t remember the details. Read a long time ago. Many others in between.
Sad but had a plot and good characters.
Having read many books about Nazi crimes, this was an area I knew nothing about. It was well written but repulsive what this young girl had to endure.
The cruelty of humans to defenseless children is always a hard read.
I am glad there are people to tell these stories so hopefully we can keep history from repeating itself wherever we can control it.