Mischling

Author/Guide: Affinity Konar

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1945: The horrors of Auschwitz through the eyes of Pearl and Stasha Zagorski

ISBN: 978-0316308106
Genre: Fiction, Historical

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What you need to know before your trail

Twin sisters Pearl and Stasha Zagorski, arrive at Auschwitz with their mother and grandfather. It’s 1944 and all they can do is take refuge in their identical natures, comforting themselves with the private language and shared games of their childhood.

There are horrors here at Auschwitz which remain hidden from most of the prisoners – twins are studied in isolation. Mengele’s Zoo, the place of torture and experiments are where the girls experience both privileges and horrors. This haunts them, strips them of the personalities they once shared and crushes their spirits.

That winter, Pearl disappears. Stasha grieves for her twin, but clings to the possibility that Pearl remains alive. When the camp is liberated by the Red Army, she and her companion Feliks–a boy bent on vengeance for his own lost twin–travel through Poland’s devastation. As the young survivors discover what has become of the world, they must try to imagine a future within it.

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Auschwitz

A place of horror and torture – and a place of experiments on twins. “Mischling, the title of the novel, is the German word for “half-breed”and gives a good idea about what this novel studies and refers to.

Pear and Stasha are held in Mengele’s “Zoo” in Auschwitz. Dr. Josef Mengele took it upon himself to conduct the most hideous of experiments on captive Jews; and found twins particularly interesting. There was something about twins that made him really curious – here where two people, often identical. Since the Germans were trying to create the perfect race, by studying identical people, they hoped to investigate what made them like this.

The torture you can imagine and much of this is described in the novel. Even when alluded to, it sticks in your throat and makes you feel ill. When you realise the truth behind this story, your throat catches fire. Unspeakable torture filters through each and every page.