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Book Review: Salt to the Sea

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Disclaimer: The book link is an affiliate link. I make a small percentage off the sale which does not affect your price.

A few days ago I spent an entire day, minus a few hours exploring Haarlem, The Netherlands with my camera, reading Ruta Sepetys’ book Salt to the Sea. While historical fiction, it is based on a real-life, little-known story of a ship sinking that took more lives than the Titanic.

Before you stop reading, because I realize some of my readers feel military historical fiction is worthless, consider this written by the author at the end of her book.

What determines how we remember history and which elements are preserved and penetrate the collective consciousness? If historical novels stir your interest, pursue the facts, history, memoirs, and personal testimonies available. These are the shoulders that historical fiction sits upon. When the survivors are gone we must not let the truth disappear with them. Please, give them a voice.

ruta sepetys, author’s note “salt to the sea”

I applaud Ruta for including this in her book. I firmly believe within every book – fiction or non-fiction, there are stories, secrets, pain, truths, love, hate, and more dark things we keep hidden from our families that should be brought to light. Historical fiction gives us a start point to do this if we are brave enough to confront the past.

Sometimes writing fiction is easier for families to do because you can “hide” the truth and pain of something that happened inside a fictional story. I think reading historical fiction also provides family historians and military historians with the opportunity to see new topics to explore, questions to ask their family members about their past, especially those who left Europe before and after WWI and WWII.

The Wilhelm Gustloff was a ship tasked among many in Operation Hannibal, to take Germans and other “desirables” out of Germany when the Russians were moving in during the end of the war. It sunk. The official count is unknown as German staff could not longer keep order after 5,000 souls boarded the ship. Thousands more rushed the ship. It was hit by a Russian torpedo sunk. You can read more about this operation on the Wilhelm Gustloff Museum’s website.

Without giving too much away, the story casts four primary characters through which the story is told. There are other characters that support the story, but these four bring up topics that I almost never hear genealogists talking about in their family histories. Why is that? Are we so afraid to go there? The author introduces us to each in this way:

  • Joana – Guilt is a hunter.
  • Florian – Fate is a hunter.
  • Emilia – Shame is a hunter.
  • Alfred – Fear is a hunter.

Each character has a story that contains guilt, shame, fear, fate, secrets, death, with fear being the overwhelming emotion I felt. One character in particular really made me angry as I read the book and I can see a little clearer why some men and women left the war and used stolen valor and elaborate stories of their service, sacrifice and experiences. I think we have to look at the psychology of a person as it connects to stolen valor and elaborate stories that usually are not true. People sometimes came into the war with the darkness they carried. The war then made it worse and may have twisted it.

What I learned/Questions I had

When I finished reading I spent time writing out two pages of questions and comments that came out of the book for me. They are good suggestions and start points for those of you who wish to start asking questions and writing about this dark part of family and military history.

  1. There is always more to a person’s life and story than you know.
  2. Ask questions. Listen to stories.
  3. Observe! Ask!
  4. Write what you know. Research.
  5. Even after they are gone, you can still find answers.
  6. Fear, guilt, shame, fate, etc. all have layers. It is never just black and white. Right or wrong. Good or bad.
  7. How far are you willing to go? What are you willing to do or sacrifice?
  8. No judgment. Explore through a historical lens.
  9. How do you move ahead after a traumatic experience? How do you deal with all you saw or did to survive?
  10. Survivor’s guilt – or guilt you said the “wrong” thing and someone was hurt or died.
  11. What shows up in the family as a result of what people went through?
  12. How do we save the stories? How do we share them?
  13. How do we connect with others who had similar experiences or family who went through similar things? Seems a lot of support for Holocaust survivors and families but I have rarely seen anything for the support of Displaced Persons (DPs). Why is this? Are there resources available?
  14. For those who couldn’t go home after the war – what was their journey? Where did they go? If they went home – what happened (persecution, torture, prison, labor camp, death?)
  15. War disrupts so much and we don’t consider those left behind, those forced to leave, and those who did or couldn’t return. Why?

Everyone has many and deep layers to their personal and family stories. Isn’t it time to consider exploring those layers? To better understand ourselves, our families, our history and the world? Are you ready to step onto the path of this journey? One step is reading this book.

Jennifer holik

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

Did you read Salt to the Sea? What did you think?

Can I help you with your research?

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Experiences in Healing the Past

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So many names. So many stories. So much pain.

More than 20 years ago I began researching my family’s history after I had a project in a history class in college. After hearing a few stories, digging into some records, and attending a couple of Czech Genealogy Society conference in Chicago (and being the youngest person in attendance), I was hooked. Years passed and life happened and then the time came to fulfill a dream I’d had since that course – to have my own genealogy business. Seven years ago I started that business. Interestingly, the genealogy clients and work only lasted about three years. The universe and my ancestors had other plans for me. To explore World War I and World War II research. Little did I know when I began that journey, that it would lead me to sad, dark places.

Since I started researching my family’s involvement in both World Wars, a lot has happened. Genealogy, for me, was never exhausting and emotionally draining, sad, and depressing. Military research though, for me, has a tendency to be so. I realized this happens in part because I’m constantly channeling soldiers and other people connected to not only the World Wars but in all time, dimension, and reality. I’m also healing myself and I apparently agreed to heal my ancestors and children, and all these souls and entities who show up, in the process. Though over the last year I have learned how to not be consumed by this.

Explaining the healing part of my life and work has not always been easy. Having an awareness of the peace, answers, and forgiveness the dead seek, in part through me, often leaves me sad, confused, and determined to share the knowledge I have with the world. How do you explain the generational trauma that you were never fully aware of most of your life? How do you explain the sadness that arises through research or the feeling of coming home, to a place you’ve never been in this life?

I’ve learned I’m not the only person working to heal themselves and the past, to contribute to a better future. Several people have entered my world in the last two years, who focus on healing through their own businesses and projects.

Today I was in the Holocaust Educator’s group on Facebook and read the article by a woman named Donna, who is about to embark on her second trip to Poland. She so beautifully explained in her article why she was returning to the place of her ancestors, it brought tears to my eyes and chills to my body. Then I visited her website, Healing From War, and read more, particularly her article called, “Let the Healing Begin!” from 2016, when she made her first trip to Poland.

As I read her article, I felt a connection because it seems as if she channels her family members too. Hearing their voices and things that float through her mind like the song she mentions, that she would not have experienced in this life. How much of her family’s trauma does she carry? How much is she able to heal, not only for herself but all who came before her?

The sense of going home really struck a nerve with me too. I don’t often hear people express this.

I’ve felt that in many places in Europe. The first time being in April 2015 when I visited my first ABMC cemetery – Normandy. It was probably good that was my first and not Luxembourg, where my cousin is buried. That cemetery was to be visited at the end of that trip, where I made arrangements to fly his burial flag from 1949.

When I arrived at Normandy Cemetery, the tears began to flow and increased as I moved through the visitor’s center. In fact, I couldn’t even “enjoy” the visitor’s center and really read through everything because it was too painful. Too many voices, too many souls vying for attention, waiting to be heard. The tears continued to flow until I climbed the steps to enter the cemetery itself.

Then peace. No more tears.

I heard, “We’re so happy you finally came home!” as thousands of voices cheered.

There were other places I’ve experienced that in Europe, connected to significant places and also visiting places my family members fought and died, and soldier’s I’ve researched. Sometimes those places were connected to past lives, the details of which may not have been known, but felt.

For a long time I felt mostly alone in the processing of all this until a few people entered my life to help me learn techniques to heal myself and the past. And new people and new techniques continue to show up. I’m so grateful.

How many of my readers are moving through the process of healing themselves and the past? Did you know you’re not alone? I’d love to hear from you and know about your website if you are writing about your experiences of healing the past and the war. By sharing these stories, we can contribute to a much different future than we can imagine.

© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center