Night and Hope, by Arnost Lustig
Northwestern University Press, 1985
Night and Hope, by Arnost Lustig, is an intriguing collection of short fiction that focuses on the lives of individual people, who happen to be living in Theresienstadt, a "model" concentration camp, where Lustig himself was interned during the war.
The stories do a fantastic job of bringing the Holocaust down to a personal level: the old woman running the Nazi-owned junk shop who receives a gift of two boiled potatoes from an elderly gentleman suitor; the young boy who hatches a raid on a secret pantry in an attempt to become accepted into the clique of houligans in his boys' dormitory.
Life goes on from day to day. People wake up; if there is food, they eat, if not, they begin their routine for the day. Many of the underlying plots are themes that transcend the fact that this is a concentration camp; these themes are relevant to adults and children in any time period, in any country.
The unique quality of Lustig's stories is seeing how each theme is affected by the fact that it does take place in Theresienstadt ghetto. The boys aren't simply spying into an old woman's house or stealing pickled cabbage from a family's basement. A gift of two potatoes is not just a gift of two potatoes. A new and deeper meaning is given to every situation, to every simple gesture or deed.
There is a broader theme that strings these stories together, tied to the concept of hope in the book's title. The broader theme is that of belonging: belonging to a group, wanting to belong, belonging to someone, having your own "belongings." These feelings and needs are so basic, so easily identified with, one cannot help but put down this book with a more intimate perspective on the true effects of the Holocaust on the individual.
It is one thing to say millions died and millions were affected. It is another thing to put a face on even one of these people and enable us to recognize ourselves in them. Arnost Lustig does a brilliant job of showing basic human needs and desires during a horrific time.
