BOOK REVIEW - Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir - Daniel Finkelstein - 4*

 

BOOK REVIEW

Hitler, Stalin, Mum & Dad - Daniel Finkelstein (Released 2023)

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As part of my studies at college, I am completing modules on sociology, politics, press and broadcasting, and history (among others). A key part of all of these subjects is applying relevant theories to contemporary life. I decided to take out some online newspaper subscriptions to a variety of newspaper services, leaning different ways politically, to help me get a better understanding of what's going on around me. Anyway, what I didn't realise is that The Times, on top of having a decent discount for students, and great crosswords, gives subscribers a free audio and digital book download each

month. The choice each month is limited, my experience has been perhaps 5 titles (2 audio and 3 digital, selecting one of each), and for the most part aren't books that I would normally pick or even be aware of, from Audible or Kindle for example. However, I LOVE getting my money's worth, so I have been expanding my horizons and this was the first audiobook I got, back in August 2024. 

BLURB

From longstanding political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein, a powerful memoir exploring both his mother and his father's devesatating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War. 

Daniel's mother Mirjam Wiener was the youngest of three daughters born in Germany to Alfred and Margarete Wiener. Alfred, a decorated hero from the Great War is now widely acknowledged to have been the first person to recognise the existential danger Hitler posed to the Jews and began, in 1933, to catalogue in detail Nazi crimes. After moving his family to Amsterdam, he relocated his library to London and was preparing to bring over his wife and children when Germany invaded the Netherlands. Before long, the family was rounded up, robbed and sent to starve in Bergen-Belsen. 

Daniel's father Ludwik was born in Lwow, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, Ludwik's father was arrested and sentenced to hard labour in the Gulag. Meanwhile, deported to Siberia and working as a slave labourer on a collective farm, Ludwik survived the freezing winters in a tiny house he built from cow dung. 

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad is a deeply moving, personal and at times horrifying memoir about Finkelstein's parents' experiences at the hands of two genocidal dictators of the twentieth century. It is a story of persecution; survival; and the consequences of totalitarianism told with the almost unimaginable bravery of two ordinary families shining through. 

 

AUTHOR

Daniel Finkelstein is primarily a journalist, mainly for The Times, he still has a weekly political column there He has also written for The Jewish Chronicle, has been an advisor with the Conservative Party, is a peer in the House of Lords, and was awarded the OBE in 1997. He's had a varied career within the political sphere and this memoir chronicles his family history, through what was clearly countless hours of research, showcasing a unique double viewpoint of some of the most pivotal years for society. 

PLOT/STORYLINE

Well, the plot is World War Two...with two families impacted in different ways, one through the regime of Hitler, and the other through the tyranny of Stalin. The key events of the war are well known and documented, but individual plights and stories of heart and survival are the ones that really drive home the reality of the terrors that many people didn't survive. 

In British schools, certainly when I was in school (a while ago now!) our learning was really honed in on the British war effort. The propaganda, Churchill, the Blitz, rationing, evacuating children to the countryside. I remember learning a little about the geography and chronology of events, but a great deal of my learning came later - through media, film and television, documentaries, and more recently books like this one. I knew very little about Stalin's role, and it wasn't until I visited a museum in Gdansk, Poland, last year, that I really came to terms with how the conflict tore their society apart. On a side note, the museum in Gdansk is a must-see, it's free to enter on Tuesdays and is one of the best museums I have visited, very impactful and poignant, it shed a different light on things for me. I don't want to use the word "enjoyable" but very enlightening, a well-thought-out place, and worth visiting! Here is a link to their website :)

Anyway, I digress! Daniel has meticulously researched his parents' experiences during and after the war, and documented everything in this book. It's in a rough chronological order though there is a little mish-mash of timelines here and there, to keep on track with certain topics. 

The nature of the book is extremely upsetting, Daniel does not shy away from the reality of his parents' experiences. However, he does a fantastic job of including the positives that they found in those dark years, the birthday celebrations, the friendships, all very bittersweet but laced with hope and power.  

CHARACTERS

I couldn't help but fall in love with all of the people in this book. The focus is primarily on Daniel's grandparents, as his parents were only children at the time. These were incredibly strong, passionate, hopeful and inspirational people, his grandfather in fact was one of the first people to talk about how badly the situation with Hitler was going to get. 

From the kindness of strangers to the friends and family risking their lives to help each other, I was awed by everyone. It's probably also important to point out here that, these people are not characters. This was their real experience, there's no character arc here, or "fleshing out" of personalities. It's raw and true, and that's what makes each of the people in these families truly exceptional. 

The strength of character shown by each person, the bravery (even when they didn't feel very brave at all) and the ability to find hope, to see a break in the clouds, was humbling to say the least. 

It was also incredibly heartwarming to see these two people come together, in a new country, a different culture, continuing to learn, inspire, and become incredible pillars of their new communities. Beautifully depicted by Daniel, who I think did them justice in this book. 

OVERALL REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

SPICE: 🆒

I mentioned the word "enjoyable" earlier on, speaking about the museum in Gdasnk, that it's not the right word to describe the experience of visiting it, given the poignant nature of the contents. The same goes for this book. I am extremely glad to have read it, I feel that the experiences of Daniel's family were truly brought to life and, for me as a novice in world history, educated me in some really key moments without feeling that I was being lectured. 

Memoirs, especially ones covering difficult topics like this one, can feel very dry, almost boring when they're not done right. These things really happened to people, so being able to almost view it through the eyes of people who experienced it made every part of this book feel interesting and relevant. It was eye-opening, again showing my naivety, perhaps the things that Daniel speaks of are common knowledge? 

The stories from before the war felt just as important as the ones from during it, especially for me - I may be a little naive when it comes to history and the intricacies of these events, but I was completely unaware of just how long this was building up for, how liberty was slowly taken away from people way before the technical start date of the war. The relations between Germany and Russia, particularly when it came to Poland, were also very new to me and I genuinely found Daniel's narrative to be kind to the uneducated amongst us. 

Yes, some parts were perhaps above my pay grade, and a little long-winded, I didn't quite pick up on everything that was going on, first time. But this feels like one of the most important books I have read this year. It's piqued an interest in history that I didn't know I had, and opened my eyes to the struggles of so many people. People whose stories I want to hear, whose stories should be heard. This book will stay with me. For a long time. 

 

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?

If you have even the smallest desire to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experience of people who experienced the Second World War firsthand, this book will do you no wrong. I listened to it as an audiobook, which gave it a natural cadence that I found easy to digest, almost conversational. I'm not sure how that would translate into the written word, I know that I may have found it a little hard to get through in that format, but it's available in print form too. 

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