What would you do if you are forced out of your home, told you are
worthless, and sentenced to death for doing nothing, but living life all because you have a different religion? Would you
fight? Would you hide? Would you be submissive and do everything you are told?
In Greg Dawson's Hiding in the Spotlight you follow the story Zhanna
Arshanskaya and her sister Frina as they escape the Nazi's in a death march and find themselves hidding in plain sight from the Nazi's with the use of their musical talents.
Their journey is unlike any other's you
may read or hear about from the Holocaust. While it starts off similar with
Ghetto's, exterminations, bombings, etc. it doesn't have the same fight for
survival. Zhanna explains in depth how she escapes the death march as her
father bribes the Nazi guard and she slips out of line, without a word of
goodbye and watches her family march to their death. She holds no hope in seeing
them again, only holding onto the words "I don't care what you do - just
live!" - Dmitri Arshanskaya
What Zhanna didn't know was that Frina
would also find away to escape that same exact march. However, the details of
her escape stayed silent with Frina, her way of coping with the tragedy of the
situation. Respectfully this is understandable and away for many to deal with
traumatic events in their lives, but leaves numerous questions for the many
generations to come after them.
As Zhanna found refuge for herself and Frina, her itch to play music, the love put into her by her father, was
starting to take over. When she found a piano that itch was suddenly able to be
scratched and the story of survival became one that would seem easy and
successful, but one that would also be stressful and daring.
But was it betrayal to entertain those who
killed her family to survive? A question of ethics and loyalty that plagued Zhanna as she clutched the idea of
traveling as a musician to entertain the Nazis. However, she never betrays her family, she becomes
a supporting piece of survival for so many victims just like her, who were
forced from their homes and lives, but to get there she had to do the
unthinkable and entertain those who demoralized and dehumanized her people.
This was not betrayal, this was survival in the only way she saw fit for her
situation.
Overall this book can be a little
confusing to read, with the timeline being slightly confusing in the beginning.
However, once the timeline is sorted out it is easy to follow and the reader
can follow through to the end. I love reading about survival, specifically
holocaust stories, and found this book intriguingly different. The story was
different, she didn't hide in a cellar, or a wall. She hide in plain sight
where at any second her looks could be questioned based on Hitler's Aryan race
criteria, but yet there was little to no questioning and her talents sealed her fate.
Those who risked their lives for Zhanna
and Frina where pivotal in their survival, including their father who bribed
the guards on the fateful death march to Drobitsky Yar. Without these selfless acts during a trying time saved to amazing girls and their talents for the future to hold.
