Denenberg, Barry
Diary
Warnings: Graphic, violent scenes.
9/10
This two part diary is told from the perspective of 15 year old Julie Weiss, as she recounts the invasion of Nazi soldiers into Vienna Austria. Life before Hitler's reign was spectacular. Living in a wealthy Jewish home, Julie has one older brother and two loving parents. Her dad is a well known doctor while her mother is an extravagant hostess of beautiful parties and big group gatherings. The kind, talented family lives in an upscale apartment with in-house maids, cooks, chauffeurs, etc. However, the Weiss families lifestyle starts taking a turn for the worst as Hitler becomes an increasingly popular political figure in Germany and Austria. The Jews of Vienna don't realize at first the potential threat of Hitler rising to power and his desire to exterminate the Jewish population to create an Aryan race. Little by little as they begin realizing the dangers of the present, it is too late. The armies have started invading and everyday one Jew after another is dying. Julie begins to feel as though she is standing alone. In a community where everyone is becoming susceptible to Hitlers ways, Julie and her family are faced with challenging circumstances and life threatening situations all around them. Julies parents want to protect Julie from the uprising evils and they have to choose if keeping the family together is more important than keeping their family safe, but apart. As you journey with Julie through her new life, part two describes Julies new beginning after almost everything she has, has been taken away from her.
There is so much for all of us to learn from this diary. Not only is it something so dear and personal to Julie Weiss, but it sheds a light on the tragedies we all know and hopefully have learned about. This is Julie's PERSONAL story of a fight for life and her longing for things to return back to normal. Her journey is tragic and there are SO many others that had to suffer through nearly the same things. It is eye opening to hear as Julie and her family were so rudely and unjustly accused and literally forced away from each other as a consequence of their beliefs. This is a theme with so much significance and historical meaning, it is one that everyone should read and learn from. World War II was a real event and this story shows just how hard it was to be a Jew. Whether young or old, the Jews lived not knowing what tomorrow would bring and just hoping that the future held something more.
One eye laughing, the other weeping, is a very captivating and flowing diary of young Julie Weiss. Life for Julie is an adventure and everything seems to be going well until Hitler comes into the picture. The author, Barry, does an amazing job in re-telling Julie's story and literally pushing you to read on and discover what Julie's future holds. As the story progresses, every page leaves you hanging on with hope for Julie and her family. The work that Barry did to produce this book and make it the most accurate he could, is phenomenal. He truly does a splendid job and I believe that if I were to meet Julie someday, she would tell this story exactly the same. For of course, it is her story and Barry does a splendid job re-counting it to his readers. It's hard for me to say what style Barry is as an author because he is telling a true story. He is historically accurate and able to make his readers feel as if I was reading Julie's real journal. (which this story came from) As I read I felt as though I was listening to Julie myself day by day as she tells the little details of her everyday life with all its new struggles and challenges. Bary writes with, what I believe, an accurate "voice" of this young Jewish girl. "Although he sounded crude, there is something about the way he speaks that makes you listen. It was like when I'm on the Ferris wheel at the Prater and I look down even though I know I'm scared." He truly makes you understand and literally feel Julie's emotions and fear, as well as her hope and longing for a better circumstance and future. The author Bary himself says, "I wrote Julie Weiss's diary with Anne Frank's diary near me at all times so I wouldn't forget, truly, what I was doing. It was a constant source of inspiration." Bary also says that, "When I was twelve, I read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Every year I re-read it, along with more current books and documentaries. The true beauty of Anne Franks diary is that she sounds so incredibly real. Her diary makes the Holocaust personal, not political;individual, not anonymous." I think that Bary also does this with Julie's diary. What an incredible writer!
The audience that this book requires needs to be understanding and very mature. It has some mild, graphic detail about some of the ways the Jews were treated and it is a subject, that in my opinion, should NOT be taken lightly or in a joking manner. These are real people with real feelings and therefore those who choose to read this book need to understand that this really did occur and complete respect needs to be used as this book is read. Not only respect to Julie Weiss for sharing her story, but also for the author that so graciously repeats it. I would suggest that this be read by a young adult audiences as well as adults. I would definitely suggest that kids high school age read this especially if they like history and are taking a class relating to it. All adults would hopefully enjoy this book as well because it will open everyone's eyes to the possibility of such a tragic event. It is very insightful and with that being said I would recommend it to anyone 15 and older.
As I have said previously, I give my highest recommendation to all appropriate aged readers for this book. It was such an easy read but not because it was short, it was simply just enticing and a quick, well-written story. I found myself wanting to read until it ended! I even got it taken away in one of my classes because I wanted to find out the end so badly that I started reading in class. Julie is a very cute and chic character and it was so interesting to read her actual thoughts. I love reading and learning about World War II and the Holocaust so this book is surely at the top of my list! The way that Julie tells her story is so easy, gives just the right amount of detail, and is very well written to a personable level. "The world I knew is collapsing all around me, and I can only stand by and look on in helpless horror and mute disbelief. There is nothing I can do." Some of her entries were long and some were very short. I felt as though the whole time I was reading, I could tell what her surroundings were like, it was as if she was writing in a rushed manner at times and at other times she was slow and detailed. Every bit of this book touched my heart as I read and constantly made me question..what would I do? "There was a note on the dining room table but it hardly said anything. All it said was that he was going where he belonged. By that he means Palestine. I think Max didn't say more because he was afraid of who might read it." It is a truly meaningful book with words that are pure and thoughts that are straight from the heart. You can feel every emotion and every page is worth reading.
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