希特勒、斯大林、妈妈和爸爸》丹尼尔-芬克尔斯坦评论--逃离暴政一个儿子对其父母在纳粹和苏联统治下生存的感人至深的描述

希特勒、斯大林、妈妈和爸爸》丹尼尔-芬克尔斯坦评论--逃离暴政

一个儿子对其父母在纳粹和苏联统治下生存的感人至深的描述

萨姆-弗里德曼

Wed 28 Jun 2023 09.00 BST

米尔哈姆和路德维克都出生在一个富裕的家庭。两人都有快乐的童年。与数百万人一样，他们的生活被第二次世界大战打破。米尔哈姆与母亲和姐妹们一起被抓到了被占领的荷兰，生活在日益压迫的纳粹统治之下，之后被转移到位于韦斯特博克的荷兰犹太人收容营，之后又被转移到贝尔森。在波兰长大的路德维克（Ludwik）与母亲被苏联流放到哈萨克斯坦东部，他们在那里度过了西伯利亚的寒冬，食物匮乏，居无定所。在那里，他们度过了西伯利亚的严冬，食物匮乏，居无定所。两人凭借顽强的毅力、远亲的帮助以及不幸中的奇迹般的幸运，以某种方式活了下来。最后，他们通过迂回的方式来到英国，在亨顿相识、结婚并过上了幸福平静的生活。

和许多幸存者一样，他们都没有写下自己的故事。他们不想被最糟糕的经历所定义。正如米尔哈姆（Mirjam）所说："我认为自己首先是一个人，一个妻子和母亲，最后才是一个幸存者。她们也没有意识到，在我们其他人看来，她们的经历是多么不可思议。

幸运的是，他们的儿子、《泰晤士报》专栏作家兼上议院议员丹尼尔-芬克尔斯坦（Daniel Finkelstein）为他们撰写了这本书。很难想象他还能做得更好。他所撰写的内容经过仔细研究，文笔优美；像任何惊悚片一样扣人心弦，有些地方甚至让人难以承受，我不得不停下来整理自己的思绪。我以前也曾被书感动得流泪，但从来没有从第三页开始就一直流泪。

虽然这本书传达了更广泛的政治信息，但其核心是关于母爱的力量。在这个包含许多自我牺牲和勇敢事迹的故事中，米尔哈姆和路德维克的母亲格丽塔和露西娅是最突出的女英雄。为了保护自己的孩子，她们忍受了可怕的苦难，与极权主义官僚机构令人抓狂的不合逻辑作斗争，她们的能力是非凡的。这部影片提醒我们，尽管令人遗憾的是，爱并不总能战胜恨--有太多的家庭未能幸免于此--但爱却能给我们带来希望和毅力，让我们在难以想象的困难面前坚持下去。

作为成年人和幸存者，米尔哈姆也是一位具有非凡智慧的女性，她看到了人性中最坏的一面，并选择代表最好的一面。例如，关于荷兰犹太社区领导层为避免立即遭到报复而决定与纳粹合作一事，一直存在争议。她的回答是正确的：这是纳粹的错。同样，当贾斯汀-比伯（Justin Bieber）在安妮-弗兰克（Anne Frank）故居的访客登记簿上评论说，他希望 "她会成为一名粉丝"，从而引起全球公愤时，米尔哈姆为他辩护。安妮的关键在于她的平凡，她绝对会成为青少年偶像的粉丝。在这个充满愤怒的世界里，一个完全有权利扮演受害者的人所表现出的冷静理智无疑是一种安慰。

在个人戏剧推动故事发展的同时，也有许多与当代相关的内容。作者告诉我们，过去十年的全球动荡动摇了他过去的信心，即我们永远不会遭遇他父母的命运。当他写到折磨他们的纳粹和苏联人 "认为人民的意志受到精英的阻挠，而组成精英的个人需要被武力消灭 "时，我们不难听到今天的回声。

这就是为什么米尔哈姆和路德维克赞美平凡和世俗，并将保护平凡和世俗的重要性--自由准则、公民权利和法治--传递给他们的孩子。他们在逃离年轻时的恐怖后，在自己居住了50多年的房子里安详地去世，享受着家庭生活的温馨仪式。如果说我从这本书中了解到他们什么的话，那就是他们会为他们的儿子讲述他们的故事而感到无比自豪。

希特勒、斯大林、妈妈和爸爸：丹尼尔-芬克尔斯坦（Daniel Finkelstein）撰写的《奇迹般幸存的家庭回忆录》（A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival）由威廉-柯林斯出版社出版（25英镑）。为支持《卫报》和《观察家报》，请在guardianbookshop.com订购。可能需要收取送货费。

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein review – escape from tyranny

A son’s profoundly moving account of his parents’ survival under Nazi and Soviet rule

Sam Freedman

Wed 28 Jun 2023 09.00 BST

Mirjam and Ludwik were both born into prosperous families. Both had happy early childhoods. Like millions of others, both had their lives shattered by the second world war. Mirjam was caught with her mother and sisters in the occupied Netherlands, living under increasingly oppressive Nazi rule before being moved to the Dutch holding camp for Jews at Westerbork, and then Belsen. Ludwik, who grew up in Poland, was exiled to eastern Kazakhstan by the Soviets with his mother, where they lived through a Siberian winter with little food and no shelter. Both somehow survived through a combination of willpower, help from distant family and moments of miraculous luck in a sea of misfortune. They ended up, through circuitous means, in Britain, met, married and lived a blissfully quiet life in Hendon.

Like many survivors, neither wrote their story. They did not want to be defined by the worst of their experiences. As Mirjam said: “I think of myself as a person, a wife and mother first, and a survivor last.” Nor did they realise how incredible their journeys would seem to the rest of us.

Luckily their son, Daniel Finkelstein, a Times columnist and member of the House of Lords, has put pen to paper for them. It’s hard to imagine how he could have done it better. What he has produced is carefully researched and beautifully written; as gripping as any thriller and in places so overwhelming that I had to stop to compose myself. I’ve been moved to tears by books before, but never from page three and then consistently throughout.

While there are wider political messages, this is at heart a book about the power of maternal love. In a tale containing many deeds of self-sacrifice and bravery, the standout heroines are Mirjam and Ludwik’s mothers, Greta and Lusia. Their ability to endure terrible hardships, and fight the maddening illogic of totalitarian bureaucracy in order to protect their children, is extraordinary. It is a reminder that while love sadly does not always conquer hate – there are too many families that didn’t survive to believe that – it can give us the hope and fortitude required to persist in the face of unimaginable odds.

Mirjam, as an adult and survivor, also emerges as a woman of remarkable wisdom, someone who has seen the worst of humanity and chosen to represent the best. For instance, there is an ongoing controversy over the decision taken by the leadership of the Dutch Jewish community to work with the Nazis so as to avoid immediate retribution. Her response is the correct one: it was the Nazis’ fault. There is no value in blaming the victims for making one impossible choice over another.Likewise when Justin Bieber created global outrage for commenting in the visitors’ book at Anne Frank’s house that he hoped “she would have been a belieber”, Mirjam defends him. The whole point about Anne was her ordinariness, someone who absolutely would have been a fan of a teen idol. In a world of perpetual outrage such calm reason from someone who had every right to play the victim is a balm.

While personal drama drives the story, there is much of contemporary relevance. The author tells us that the global turmoil of the last decade has shaken his former confidence that we are perpetually safe from the fate that befell his parents. When he writes that their tormenters, both Nazi and Soviet, “believed the will of the people was being thwarted by elites, and that the individuals who made up the elites needed to be eliminated by force”, it’s not hard to hear the echoes today.

Which is why Mirjam and Ludwik celebrated the ordinary and mundane and passed on the importance of the things that protect that – liberal norms, civil rights, and the rule of law – to their children. They died peacefully in the house they lived in for more than 50 years after escaping the horrors of their youth, enjoying the gentle rituals of family life. If I learned anything about them from this book, it’s that they would be tremendously proud of the job their son has done in telling their story.

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival by Daniel Finkelstein is published by William Collins (£25). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.