Devil in Vienna

Set in Austria on the eve of the Second World War, this novel is presented as the diary of Inge Dornenwald, a young Jewish girl from a cultured, prosperous household. The story draws on the author's own life. Inge records a close bond with Lieselotte Vesseley, a Roman Catholic classmate she has known since they were seven. Between November 1937 and March 1938, Austria changes sharply, and the growing danger falls hardest on Vienna's Jewish community. Inge also explains how a baptismal certificate dated 1936 or earlier could offer an adult Jew a way out. The narrative moves readers with its account of Catholic priests in a troubled city who worked to rescue Jewish people.