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A review by zoes_human
We'll Soon Be Home Again by Jessica Bab Bonde
3.0
This YA sequential art collective memoir of six Holocaust survivors lacks for little in terms of storytelling and nothing in terms of art. However, accuracy in nonfiction is critical, and this has some concerning errors and omissions in the materials following the six individual stories. Despite, the well-told and powerfully illustrated stories, I would not advise providing or recommending this particular book to a teen without discussing the following with them:
The glossary defines the Holocaust as "The Nazi genocide of Jews, Romanians, the disabled, and dissidents." I have no idea whether it was the other translator or the author who said "Romanians" instead of "Romani" (aka Romany or Roma) but these are not the same people. The Nazis persecuted the Romani, which is important not only because it's accurate, but also because they still face discrimination to this day. Additionally the list bothers me for presenting itself as complete when it is not. Homosexuals, particularly men, were also specifically targeted, persecuted, and murdered, as were Jehovah's Witnesses along with Poles and Soviet soldiers. Why were these groups omitted?
Lastly I'm troubled by how much emphasis this book places on the Swedish help given to refugees without giving equal attention to Sweden's complicity with the Nazis. Not only did they allow Germany to transport weapons and soldiers through their country, but they supplied massive amounts of iron ore to them which was used to build more weapons. Their "neutrality" in WW2 is highly contested, and I feel a Swedish book featuring the stories of Holocaust survivors who settled in Sweden should be more outspoken on that topic.
The glossary defines the Holocaust as "The Nazi genocide of Jews, Romanians, the disabled, and dissidents." I have no idea whether it was the other translator or the author who said "Romanians" instead of "Romani" (aka Romany or Roma) but these are not the same people. The Nazis persecuted the Romani, which is important not only because it's accurate, but also because they still face discrimination to this day. Additionally the list bothers me for presenting itself as complete when it is not. Homosexuals, particularly men, were also specifically targeted, persecuted, and murdered, as were Jehovah's Witnesses along with Poles and Soviet soldiers. Why were these groups omitted?
Lastly I'm troubled by how much emphasis this book places on the Swedish help given to refugees without giving equal attention to Sweden's complicity with the Nazis. Not only did they allow Germany to transport weapons and soldiers through their country, but they supplied massive amounts of iron ore to them which was used to build more weapons. Their "neutrality" in WW2 is highly contested, and I feel a Swedish book featuring the stories of Holocaust survivors who settled in Sweden should be more outspoken on that topic.