I found this book quite interesting. It is amazing to read about a Nazi officer who was doing what he could to save people's lives, who found the atrocities of the Germans horrifying.This story is told in a rather matter-of-fact way, with support from Wilm's letters and journals, but it helps you feel what it would have been like to be there.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

This book reads rather like a beginning intro into the atrocities committed against the Polish Jews. It is not overly detailed and intended for a younger audience. I am appreciative that there is literature like this available to introduce younger generations into the horrors of the Shoah and the surrounding events, such as the Ghetto life and deportations, but this book is not particularly interesting until you get to the actual journal entries of Wilm.

There is a certain dryness to this book, that makes the reader feel as if they are standing back and watching an event occur without really being involved. I suppose that is the case, but I felt this book could have been made more personal on some level.

Otherwise, this is a good book for beginners to learn about what happened and to reinforce the idea that not all German officers during WWII were heartless. That is an unfortunate stereotype that survives to this day. Books like this one are important for the next generation, and that is why I have chosen to leave it four stars.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Wilm Hosenfeld initially supported Hitler's conquests, but he quickly grew disillusioned with the Nazi party. He was stationed in Poland as the games director, and there he quietly helped as many Poles and Jews as he could, employing them in his office, reunited them with their families, and doing his best to protect them from Nazi brutality. Older readers might have seen one of Hosenfeld's heroic acts of charity in the Oscar-winning film, The Pianist. Wladyslaw Szpilman, the central figure of The Pianist, was a Polish Jew Hosenfeld helped, and he did not even know the name of his benefactor for decades.

What is perhaps most fascinating about Vinke's book is how he's able to reconstruct Hosenfeld's transformation through the many letters that he wrote to his wife and children. In them, we see Hosenfeld's eyes open slowly to the horrors of the Nazi regime. Vinke's book includes excerpts from many of Hosenfeld's letters and photographs of Hosenfeld and his family.

I first heard about Wilm Hosenfeld in The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman. The brave German officer who appears at the end of the story like an angel was one of the most intriguing figures in that story. Who was he? Why did he act the way he did? This book helps answer those questions. Actually, some of the most powerful moments in the book are the direct quotes from his journal and letters where we learn exactly what he thought about what was happening around him.
So that is would not be too traumatic for a younger audience many of the most brutal and goriest details of the Holocaust have been omitted. It is still detailed enough so that they will grasp to some extent the evil that surrounded Hosenfeld on a daily basis and the courage he exhibited in resisting it.
Unfortunately, it has a rather choppy feel. It tells the story completely but in a very abrupt dry style. Perhaps that is just a natural result of the combination of personal narrative and historical account. The authors sought to do more than just tell his story; they also included details about WW2 to give us a framework for his story.
I would still recommend it. It is vital that we teach the next generation about the Holocaust and the heroes that risked their lives for others. This story is especially important in that it showcases the choices of a man who rejected an evil ideology despite personal risks.
I received this as a free ARC through NetGalley and Star Bright Books. No favorable review was required. It was my pleasure to provide my honest opinions.

This is one of those books that I am glad I read because it was about a person I had never heard of and it sheds a hopeful light on humanity. It tells the story, through journals and letters mainly, of Captain Wilm Hosenfeld who, although he was a German officer, managed to rescue many Polish and Jewish people during World War II. Too many times we classify us and them and miss some of the stories of people who went against the grain.

liked the detail and found it a very interesting read. A period of time that I was very interested in studying while in school and would have found this book helpful. High School would probably understand it and not get lost in the detail. For myself, I very much liked the detail how it was written.

Very interesting read. I was never interested in history but this book caught my attention and I really enjoyed what I learned from it