It took me longer than I anticipated to become as fully immersed in this work as in the first book of his that I read, A Mass for Arras (reviewed here). But when I did I came away enormously impressed—again—with this author, a Polish Catholic who writes about Jewish/Polish relations. A man who took part in the Warsaw Uprising in WWII, was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, was an activist for Solidarity, and was imprisoned by the Polish Communist government, and who—it appeared after his death—may have collaborated with the secret police under Stalin. The book tells of the arrest and brief imprisonment of the title character. Each chapter examines in detail the life of one of the various people—Pole, Jew, Nazi, Catholic nun, and others—who had a role in her release. The stories are vividly told, occasionally philosophical, and always deeply moving. An exceptional work, highly recommended. ( )

In diesem Buch vereint der Autor verschiedene Personen aus dem Warschau während der Besetzung Polens durch die Deutschen, ich vermute ca. 1942. Denn das Ghetto gibt es noch und der Aufstand hatte noch nicht stattgefunden. Die titelgebende Frau Seidenman lebt unter falschem Namen im nicht-jüdischen Teil der Stadt. Da wird sie von dem jüdischen Polizeispitzel Bronek Blutman auf der Straße erkannt und der Gestapo ausgeliefert. Es entspinnt sich eine Rettungsaktion um sie, in die den groben Hintergrund der Geschichte liefert. Anhand dieser Geschichte werden verschiedene Charaktere, Polen, Deutsche, polnische Juden vorgestellt und ihre Hintergründe und Umstände skizziert. Der Kunstgriff, bei nahezu allen Figuren auch in die Zukunft zu schauen, zeigt die Beliebigkeit mancher Taten und ihrer Folgen, aber auch, dass die Geretteten tatsächlich weiterleben- neben Frau Seidenman kommt auch noch das aus dem Ghetto gerettete Kind Joasia in der Zukunft vor.
Ein lesenswertes Buch, das die Verläufe des 20. Jahrhunderts an einem begrenzten Figurentableau exemplarisch aufzeigt! ( )

La bella signora Seidenman è solo uno dei personaggi che si muovono in questo ottimo romanzo ambientato nella Varsavia del 1943. E’ la tessera in un mosaico che si compone di tante diverse figure - il ferroviere e il sarto, il giudice e l’avvocato, il filologo classico, la vedova ebrea di un noto radiologo (la bella signora Seidenman), Il giovane cattolico idealista e il disincantato amico ebreo, il tedesco antinazista e la suora convintamente impegnata a salvare bambini ebrei (convertendoli per ‘salvare’ anche la loro anima), il collaborazionista e il bandito, la bambina ebrea apparentemente inconsapevole, destinata a diventare una donna di Israele profondamente segnata - in un tutto che mescola, e al tempo stesso divide, polacchi, tedeschi, russi, socialisti e nazisti, ebrei e cattolici, chi si arricchisce e chi muore di fame. E su tutto incombe la tragedia del ghetto. La storia di ognuno si incrocia con quella degli altri, in un intreccio tenuto saldamente in pungo dallo scrittore che descrive la tragedia presente, ma conosce anche il futuro tutt’altro che radioso.
Mi sono chiesta perché tra tutti i personaggi sia proprio la signora Seidenman a dare il titolo al libro. Perché - credo - la sua storia non finisce con la rocambolesca vicenda della sua salvezza. La signora Seidenman è infatti destinata a essere vittima una seconda volta, espulsa in quanto ebrea nel ’68 dalla sua ‘amata’ Polonia. ( )

An excellent novel that looks at Poland (Warsaw) and the Polish during the German occupation of Poland during WWII.

The story is based around the blond and blue-eyed Jewish widow Mrs Seidenman, now known as Mrs Gromowski (sp?), a Polish officer's widow. Someone informs on her, and her community comes through to save her. Though this is the framework for the novel, each chapter looks at a different person living in Warsaw at the time--from Mrs S-G (as she goes by after the war, living in Paris), to Pawel (a teen who plays a part in her rescue), to her academic next door neighbor Mr Korba (who sets the ball rolling, and has no idea that she actually is Jewish), to a street criminal. We also meet a long-time pro-Poland fighter in the Underground who has been fighting for an independent Poland since 1905, Pawel's best friend Henio (and his father and 4-yo sister, who is smuggled from the ghetto to a convent, where she is converted to Catholicism to save her), to Johann (J�çs) Mí_ller (a German who has lived in Poland his entire life, and plays the key role in saving Mrs Seidenman).

It can get a bit confusing with multiple nicknames and aliases, but you get a real feel for the community that existed under occupation. During WWI, Poland was occupied by the Russians, and you see the fear from those events effecting some of the characters' actions. You see the confusion over what the Germans are doing to their Jewish friends and neighbors, and anyone who crosses the paths of the wrong German occupier.

( )

This is a very sad but enjoyable novel set in Poland and Warsaw in 1943. The novel brings together Polish history and the Polish character and attitudes through the thoughts of various people, all of which have contact with Mrs Seidenman, a blue-eyed and blond-haired Jewish woman. Mrs Seidenman has changed her name and has false papers. Andrzej Szczypiorski manages to get an excellent balance between the dark sadness of those days and the humour as individuals engage with each other and carry on some sort of normal life. The author shows incredible compassion for everyone, Jews, Germans and Poles and makes a good attempt to get inside the head of the different characters in the novel. Szczypiorski was born in 1924 and took part in the 1944 uprising and so the novel feels authentic in the scenes it portrays. It is good to read a war novel from a Polish perspective and this was an excellent read. ( )