This book was both educational and heartbreaking. I've read numerous books on this time period and knew about the German families who took in jewish children to save them from certain death. What I did not know what the story of the French who did this as well. It's heartbreaking to imagine the pain the mothers and fathers felt as they gave up their children to be adopted, knowing they would never see them again, but also knowing and hoping that their children would live on while they themselves were facing certain death. This story has all the elements that make a book memorable. Courage, bravery and raw, pure love are displayed in this wonderful book. I often ask myself, what would I have done in that situation? Both as a jew or as a fellow countryman seeing what was happening. Could I have given my child to a stranger, never to see them again but hoping that choice saves their life, or would I be willing to risk the lives of my family to take in a child that could very well bring danger to my home? It's hard to imagine, but this is in fact what hundreds of thousands families faced.

I loved this book and highly recommend it. It will give you a glimpse into the lives of both heroes and those persecuted for simply being born. ( )

When I see Mario Escobar has a new book available I simply have to get it, he never missed a beat and has always giving us historical facts mixed into a good story. Again he didn’t fail...

The story in a few words:

August 1942

French parents were faced with a horrible choice: watch their children die, or abandon them forever. To save them, Jewish mothers of Vénissieux were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of abandoning them forever. The result of a coordinated effort by clergy, civilians, the French Resistance and members of other humanitarian organizations 108 children somehow managed to escape deportation and certain death in the German concentration camps.

Early 1990’s

Student Valérie Portheret in the midst of doing her doctoral research into the 108 children who disappeared from Vénissieux fifty years earlier made it her mission to match the abandoned names with the people they belong to. It took her a twenty-five year journey to allow the children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names.

My thoughts:

Told in dual timelines this account of true events is both sad and captivating. It is very well-said to keep our interest at its peak and us pushing on. It is chilling story that places us in the zone where Klaus Barbie was the German commander who ruled Lyon, France with an iron fist and did not hesitated to torture anyone. We do have graphic scenes to make the point. Of course this story is not fun to read, seeing the Jewish population hunted and shipped to concentration and children taken from their parents in order to save them is heartbreaking.

Although the conversation is fictionalized and the timeline may be out of sync, the characters are real and the events well documented. The timeline for those who hate this, the back and forth is on occasion and I felt it did not interfered with the flow. The chapters are short and the narration active. “The Forgotten Names” is well-said and well-done.

I received this Arc from harper Muse via Netgalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it. ( )