#31 The Pianist

The Pianist
By Wladyslaw Szpilman

How did I come to find this book? Well, an old friend married a Polish woman and last summer they went to Poland to visit her family. They went to Warsaw, and the first thought that came to my mind was the Warsaw ghetto and the Jews who were forced to live there during WWII. Of course that got me looking up Warsaw, and I found out that the Germans had totally destroyed the city before they left, as a last act of vengeance, just before surrendering the war. Then I found out that the Poles reconstructed the city from the rubble to look exactly like it had looked before it was destroyed, as a symbol of their history and culture. Then I started looking up books about Warsaw, and I came across, "The Pianist".

A horrifying memoir of a young concert pianist, living in Warsaw, and how he survived the ghetto and the final destruction of the city for six years of German occupation. Near the end, he was caught living in the attic of a burned out building by a German officer. The officer spared the young man's life, and brought him food and a blanket, which enabled him to survive. It turns out that the German had helped several Jews and Poles survive through his acts of "kindness".

Another book about the atrocities suffered by the Polish Jews under German rule. Almost all the Jews of Poland were murdered, including the pianist's immediate family. Sent to the gas ovens, shot at random, sent to labour camps. Unthinkable crimes against an innocent people.

The book was made into a movie, directed by Roman Polanski. The movie is available on iTunes, so I'll watch it.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Only if you're into reading about this subject matter.