Twilight in Danzig

This novel is based on real events and follows Jonas, a young boy who observes the world with the innocence of a child and yet an unusual maturity. His family is wealthy and well connected with the Danzig nobility, which, for a time, shields them from the growing power of Hitler. Reading about his father's confidence in that protection, a reader may feel an urge to beg him to get his wife and son out of the city while they still can.

Jonas is cleverly manipulated by his governess into joining a Hitler youth group, drawn in by its excitement, which is more appealing to him than the Jewish youth group his parents believe he still attends. He comes to see, with real shame, how badly he has been misled. He cuts his ties to Hitler and to the governess, but as a child he has little power to undo the harm his involvement has caused.

What sets this family's story apart is the scale of the fortune they had and then lost. It adds another layer to the personal suffering inflicted under the Third Reich, where no Jewish family could count on safety, whatever its standing. The source text breaks off before the ending.