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1930s: Leipzig in Germany was not a safe place to be..
People Like Us
What you need to know before your trail
Hetty Heinrich is a perfect German child. Her father is an SS officer, her brother in the Luftwaffe, herself a member of the BDM. She believes resolutely in her country, and the man who runs it.
Until Walter changes everything. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, perfect in every way Walter. The boy who saved her life. A Jew.
Anti-semitism is growing by the day, and neighbours, friends and family members are turning on one another. As Hetty falls deeper in love with a man who is against all she has been taught, she begins to fight against her country, her family and herself. Hetty will risk have to risk everything to save Walter, even if it means sacrificing herself…
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Travel back in time to Leipzig BookTrail style
This novel is partly inspired by the life of the author’s father and his time in Leipzig. He was Jewish and lived under Nazi rule.
She aims to show the similarity between these times and the western world inc the crash of 2008, the economic hardship of the 1920s and the rise of extremist views as a result of them both.
Instead of writing from the Jewish point of view, she decided to write from the German one.
“How could a people, a deeply civilsed, democratic nation, become so unbelievably cruel; to dehumanize one another and commit atrocities on such an unimaginable scale?
She visited Leipzig and particular the area of Gohlis where her father and his family had lived.
Some parts of the story such as the Hausfrau School are an invention but is similar to the Reich Bride school which offered courses in household management.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: People Like Us
Destination/location: Leipzig Author/guide: Louise Fein Departure Time: 1940s
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