Hiding in the Spotlight by Greg Dawson

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.