Review: The Collaborator

Title: The Collaborator

Author: Diane Armstrong

Publisher: 19th August 2019 by Harlequin Australia, HQ (Fiction, Non Fiction, YA) & MIRA

Pages: 496 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction, world war II

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Is he a hero or a traitor? Based on astonishing true events set in the darkest days of World War II in Budapest, this is an enthralling story of heroism, vengeance, passion, and betrayal. It is also the story of three women linked by a secret that threatens to destroy their lives. For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, All That I Am and Schindler's Ark (List).

An act of heroism, the taint of collaboration, a doomed love affair, and an Australian woman who travels across the world to discover the truth...

It is 1944 in Budapest and the Germans have invaded. Jewish journalist Miklos Nagy risks his life and confronts the dreaded Adolf Eichmann in an attempt save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the death camps. But no one could have foreseen the consequences...

It is 2005 in Sydney, and Annika Barnett sets out on a journey that takes her to Budapest and Tel Aviv to discover the truth about the mysterious man who rescued her grandmother in 1944.

By the time her odyssey is over, history has been turned on its head, past and present collide, and the secret that has poisoned the lives of three generations is finally revealed in a shocking climax that holds the key to their redemption.

My Thoughts

‘How was it that this man, a Jew, was able to secure special protection for his group from the Hungarians and the Germans at a time when Jews were being rounded up in ghettos and deported?’

Always up for anything WW2 related, especially when factually based, this is a fascinating story surrounding Rudolf Kastner and his crusade to rescue over 1000 Hungarian Jews from imminent annihilation by the Nazis. Attempting to select a cross section of Jews from all areas of society, as well as people from his home village and family members, there would be, sadly, no simple outcome. Unlike Oscar Schindler, it would appear that controversy surrounded Kastner (fictionalised Miklos Nagy in the story) concerning not only human costs but also a moral complexity surrounding the whole debacle. After the war, when Kastner was working for the government in Israel, he would be accused of collaborating with the Nazis in his attempt to save lives. As the author states herself, ‘I’m fascinated by the moral ambiguities of the story .... How do you balance the merit of rescuing over fifteen hundred Jews against the crime of writing an affidavit to exonerate a Nazi? Can a man be a hero as well as a collaborator?  Was it possible to be both? Can the end justify the means? Were human actions able to be judged in absolutes?’

‘There were times when he saw himself as a modern-day Noah, sending his ark out of Hungary in the hope that this tiny part of the community might survive the Nazi inundation.’

Not only do you have a fictionalised version of events during WW2 and in Israel in the early 1950s, but this tale is also told through the eyes of one young Australian - a woman whose grandmother was one of the lucky survivors on that train. Unable to get a satisfactory response from her family, Annika sets off to first Budapest (loved the descriptions of this city!) and then to Tel Aviv Israel, in an attempt to discover the truth and meaning of not only her grandmothers (and thus her very own story) but also the meaning and angst behind the whole situation. 

‘Appalled by their gullibility, Miklós had argued with the council members in Budapest, urging them to stop co-operating with the Nazis. Frustrated by their inability or unwillingness to see through the deception, he shouted, ‘You can’t believe what they say. By colluding with them, you’ll only make it easier for them to destroy our whole community.’

The story will move between past and present with the themes of collaboration and heroism mixed with deceit and honesty battling it out in both storylines. The link between Annika’s grandmother and the historical story I found to be really well done. There is also a whole lot of Israeli history and politics involved for those who try to wrap their head around this controversial place in the world. 

‘He knows that for most people, denying reality is preferable to confronting a disturbing truth.’

‘This is a trick question, and there is no way of answering it truthfully without incriminating himself. It’s a question that assumes that actions can be judged in black or white, but he knows that the truth always lies inside a narrow crack in between. He longs to explain this but knows that isn’t possible.’

For me, I was totally engaged in the whole dilemma of hero versus traitor. How could a man who saved so many from certain death, be at the same time, vilified by so many? And the final plot twist (which I had suspected) was still well presented. Although a little long in parts, this is most certainly a fascinating tale of courage and compassion during dire circumstances. Tied in neatly to the present day with the search for not only the truth but also personal answers, this is a book I would highly recommend to history lovers. 

‘For many years, I used to wonder if my life had any meaning. But if I can save this group of Jews, I’ll feel I haven’t lived in vain.’

‘What makes it worse is that our own government is collaborating with the Nazis,’ Ilonka sighs, and Miklós nods. ‘One day they will pay for their collusion,’ he mutters.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.