Review of 'Daniel's Story' by Carol Matas

Daniel's Story is a 1993 an exciting historical fiction and children's novel written by Carol Matas, a prominent Canadian writer. It tells a the tragic and inspiring story of Daniel --a young and courageous Jewish boy who survives the horrors of the holocaust for Jews in central Europe. Daniel embodies the experience of millions of children and their families during the Holocaust.

Daniel is a photographer who tells the story through the pictures in his album and in his mind’s eye. At the beginning of the book Daniel is 14 and by the end, he is 18 years old. During his four years in Nazi Germany, Daniel changes from someone who has a very stable life and is well liked to someone who helps conspire and fight the Nazi government. As he looks through his photo album, Daniel has a series of memories that are well described and take the reader into the harsh world that he once lived through.

Theme

The theme given by the book is the level of brutality of man against his fellow being resulting from prejudice and discrimination, uncontrolled hatred, racism and religious intolerance. The events described in the book are the highest expressions of man's heartlessness to his fellow human being. People were tied up and publicly humiliated, children were forced to harass and ridicule, people were crowded and pushed and starved and beaten and killed. They were thrown out windows, tortured, burned, chased, they were stripped of all dignity and life before they died, but an even more insidious horror, is the fact that men did this.

Characters

The characters for the book are:

• Daniel (main character, a 14-year-old Jewish boy who lives with his family in Frankfurt, Germany. At the beginning of the book, he is comical kid who likes to make jokes),
• Ruth (Daniel's mother, who dies at Auschwitz, is loyal to her family and works hard to care for them, and she is described as calm, beautiful and sweet),
• Joseph (Daniel's father and constant companion, a much respected head of the family; he is a religious man, and his spirit helps others to survive), and
• Erika (Daniel’s younger sister, an avid violinist and the youngest person in the Lodz orchestra/ She is calm and quiet and expresses herself through her music).
• Rosa (Daniel's girlfriend).

Setting

The book takes place in Poland and Germany during Hitler's reign of terror and the Nazi regime. Much of what happens takes place in Lodz, the ghetto in Poland. The time frame of the story is from March of 1933 through Germany's surrender in May of 1945. Daniel, the main character of the story, and his family lived in Frankfurt before being forced to move to the Lodz ghetto in Poland.

Plot

Daniel grows to despise the Nazis so much that, at Auschwitz, after meeting up with an old friend from Lodz, ultimately joins a successful conspiracy to free himself and other Jewish prisoners from Buchenwald. In this secret conspiracy, there are many dangers, but Daniel never has any second thoughts.

Climax

Daniel eventually ends up back in Lodz at the end of the book, which is where most of his trouble began. He shoots a Pole there, which shows that Daniel still has enemies, even though the Nazis are no longer in power.

Conflict of the Story

An example of an external conflict is the Jews and Hitler. The Jews are upset how Hitler is treating them. An example of an internal conflict is Daniel struggling with dealing with the Nazis. His mother and sister also die.

Resolution

Daniel is liberated at the Buchenwald concentration camp when he is 18. Though Daniel is free, he is still bitter towards the Nazis since he has experienced some of the worst conditions ever. Because Hitler turned many people against the Jews and this legacy remained, Daniel realizes that he can never live the life he once led.

Style

Daniel’s Story is written from a limited first person point of view of Daniel, the title character. It is unique among first-person accounts of the Holocaust in that, although it is not based directly on the author's own experience, it does have a historical foundation, and was based on her extensive research.

Authors Mood and Tone

It is a well-written book that tells an intriguing story, with much action and conspiracy. The writing is good and convincing in terms of providing insight into how Jews might have viewed life in Nazi Germany. The tone is happy in the beginning, but towards the end it starts to get sad.

Authors Purpose For Writing

Carol Matas has published this exciting book, Daniel's Story, 'in hope that [children] will live in a world of peace and love and to the memory of the children who found neither.' Matas, who never experienced the Holocaust, did extensive research on the event because she felt it was important and hoped to achieve her goal by showing people how terrible racism and religious intolerance is.

What I Learned

I won't say that I enjoyed this book, because who can enjoy such suffering. However, Daniel's Story forced me to think about what I would do if I were in Daniel's place during the story. Matas' vivid description of the story made the horrible scenes come to life and made me wonder how people could survive in the way they did, especially kids. I learned how hatred, racism, and religious intolerance, if uncontrolled, can destroy people's lives and affect the whole world.

Would I Recommend this Book? 

Yes I would recommend this book to a friend because it is a very good and interesting book to read. It gives you a lot of information about the Holocaust and tells you how Jewish people were treated, sent to ghettos, and concentration camps. I would recommend it for people between the ages of 11 and 14 years old. I thought it was amazing that people could survive in the way they did, especially kids. Matas has proved that people will do unimaginable things to survive. This book helps to demonstrate the human will to survive, even in miserable circumstances.