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    Emil and Karl: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Emil and Karl: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Emil and Karl: A Novel
    Ebook163 pages1 hour

    Emil and Karl: A Novel

    By Yankev Glatshteyn

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Written in the form of a suspense novel, Emil and Karl draws readers into the dilemma faced by two young boys in Vienna--one Jewish, the other not--when they suddenly find themselves without homes or families on the eve of World War II.

    This unique work, written in 1938, was one of the first books for young readers describing the early days of what came to be known as the Holocaust. Published before the war and the full revelations of the Third Reich's persecution of Jews and other civilians, the book offers a fascinating look at life during this period and the moral challenges people faced under Nazism. It is also a taut, gripping, page-turner of the first order.

    Originally written in Yiddish, Emil and Karl is one of the most accomplished works of children's literature in this language, and the only book for young readers by Yankev Glatshteyn, a major American Yiddish poet, novelist, and essayist.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJan 26, 2016
    ISBN9781250111951
    Unavailable
    Emil and Karl: A Novel
    Author

    Yankev Glatshteyn

    Born in Lublin, Poland, Yankev Glatshteyn (1896-1971) was a major American Yiddish poet, novelist, and essayist. Emil and Karl is his only work for young readers.

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    Reviews for Emil and Karl

    3.5/5

    4 ratings4 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Great story! It was written during the actual time period. The story is quite emotional and heartbreaking dealing with the boys and their struggle dealing with this new world order.
    • 3/5
      Emil and Karl are nine-year-old friends in Vienna. After the Anschluss (1938), the situation becomes graver every day. Karl’s father has already been killed for being a Socialist. The book opens with his mother being dragged away by the authorities. Although a neighbor offers to help him, he runs to Emil’s apartment. Emil’s father has just been killed, and his mother suffers a breakdown while sitting shiva. The two are now on their own in the city—hiding in a basement, relying on adults who offer them food and refuge and eventually getting on trains out of Vienna to England with other orphans on the Kinder transport.The book is a story of friendship, a historical fiction about Vienna, and an exciting and emotional suspense story. Although Karl is not Jewish, he sticks by his Jewish friend Emil. He defends him in school while others are beating him and spitting on him. His teacher secretly tells Karl how proud she is of his behavior, but must berate him in public because everyone is so afraid of the brown shirts. Graphic, vivid descriptions of Jews cleaning the streets and being made to act like animals in public parks are seen through the boys’ eyes. The reader feels their urgency has they run from hiding place to hiding place. They meet adults who are either resisting the Nazis, cooperating with the Nazis, or trying to stay under the radar. As the boys are lining up to get on the trains, they are separated, so it is unclear what happens to them. This leaves the reader with a glimmer of hope that they will reunite and be happy and safe.While the story of the boys’ friendship and their rapid coming of age are touching, the descriptions of anti-Semitic activities in Vienna may be too vivid for middle grade readers, who could relate to the boys in terms of age and interest. If this book were read by those younger than fourteen, parental directive is strongly encouraged.
    • 3/5
      In the early days of the Second World War, Karl and his friend Emil find themselves abandoned in Vienna. Emil's family is Jewish, his father had been killed and his mother so traumatised that she is taken away. Karl's father has already disappeared. He was a Socialist and therefore a threat to the Nazi regime. This interesting story was first published in 1940, and so preempts some of the more 'familiar' stories about the Holocaust at its height. This is the forerunner of all that.
    • 5/5
      This short book came out around the same time as "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", on the same topic (Holocaust), but this book is so far superior as to make the other an insulting farce. It is easy to love these two boys and the courageous and loving people they meet, and at the same time understand the horror of what is happening to them all.