The Forgotten Names

THE FORGOTTEN NAMES by MARIO ESCOBAR is a brilliantly written description of the horrors perpretrated aganst the Jews in France during the Germao occupation. We learn about the brave men and women who made it their business, often paying a horrible price, to save over one hundred children from the Venissieux prison in August 1942. We see the courage and unconditional love of the parents who signed away their precious children in order to save their lives. I like to see the Jews, Catholics and Protestants working together to save God’s chosen people. I also like the scriprture references…….
In 1992: Valerie Portheret chose to write her university thesis on these forgotten children and made it her life’s work to find the real names of as many of them as possible in order to give them back their identities…….
The book is written in the form of a novel which by no means takes away from the authenticity of the historical content.
I found The Forgotten Names both informative and inspirational.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Harper Muse. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

The triumphant story of the French men and women who did everything they could against incredible odds to save the lives of Jewish children from the Nazi Extermination camps.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Just when I thought the atrocities committed by the nazis couldn’t get any worse, I read another novel which highlights yet another of their policies which sicken me. The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar brings to light another of these senseless, heartbreaking policies-Jewish deportation quotas. Yes, you read that right. It’s not only sickening, it’s also heartbreaking. The story centers around a policy in which a quota of deportees needed to be met by the French government in order to be able to maintain their free zone. However, the church, as well as several members of the resistance, just couldn’t accept that. They took it upon themselves to have parents relinquish their parental rights in order to save their children’s lives. It was both surreal and heartbreaking. To think that one man had the power to lead others to blindly follow his orders out of fear for their own lives as well as their families. I found the parallels the author drew between the deportation of the Jewish people and the Old Testament to be very eye opening. Overall, an incredible true story about courageous people who risked their lives to save the children of Vénissieux.

This was really well done, it had that historical feel that I was looking for in this type of book. The characters were what I was hoping for and thought they worked with this time-period. I enjoyed the dual timelines and thought the overall feel worked well. I enjoyed the way Mario Escobar wrote this and left me wanting to read more.

This book is heartbreaking to read, but it is so important that the true history this is based on not be forgotten! The agonies of the Jews being hunted by the Nazis and shipped off to concentration camps is not fun reading. This book centers on Lyon, France, and children who were rescued because their parents gave up their parental rights in order to save their children. The conversations are fictionalized, but many of the characters really lived through that period of World War II. The hope and miraculous deliverances are the bright spots in the story, along with the tale of finding the children who survived. If you can handle reading about the atrocities of the Nazis, the book is well worth reading.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." #TheForgottenNames #NetGalley

This is a true historical account of members of the French Resistance hiding and aidindg 108 children who were scheduled to be deported from Lyon France in August 1942. This occurred during when Klaus Barbie was the German commander in the area. This was in the interment camp near Lhon France where families were waiting their fate. By using a French law members were able to obtain signatures from the parents absolving their parental rights and therefore letting the children be orphans.
How we know about this is due to Valerie Porthret who at first wanted to base her thesis about the trial of Klaus Barbie which had occurred in the late 1980s. However, after she found out about the children she decided to change her thesis and write about the children and vowed to find them and give them their real names.

Mario Escobar does research about Valerie and the members of the Resistance. He gives a detailed account on what happened on August 1942 and what hat happened to the children.

I highly recommend this book . I would hope the reader would go beyond the Epilogue and find out more information about Valerie Portheret, the children, and the other members of the team that saved these children

This is the rare historical novel that emphasizes the history but also works on the narrative through lines. There are two: the time around 1942 and the rise of Nazi control of the area around Lyon France, and the efforts of some very otherwise ordinary people to protect about 100 children from being exported to the death camps. These 100 form the basis of the novel's title and the second time period of the current era when a French law student takes it upon herself to document who was involved and to try to reconnect with them and recognize what they went through. The book documents how everyday people performed heroic acts but were lost to the sands of time and shifting circumstances. Most of us are familiar with the actions of Schindler in Poland to save hundreds of Jews but the efforts of the Venissieux neighbors who managed to convince parents to relinquish their rights as they were being rounded up by the Nazi deserves to be told. The parents knew that many of them would never see their kids every again, although a few did survive the death camps and were eventually reunited. The book's power is in its verisimilitude and the very real people -- although of course the dialogue and some of the events have been created to fit the narrative. If you are a fan of historical fiction, or WWII-era stories, this book is a must read.

When I see Mario Escobar has a new book available I simply have to get it, he never missed a beat and has always giving us historical facts mixed into a good story. Again he didn’t fail...

The story in a few words:

August 1942

French parents were faced with a horrible choice: watch their children die, or abandon them forever. To save them, Jewish mothers of Vénissieux were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of abandoning them forever. The result of a coordinated effort by clergy, civilians, the French Resistance and members of other humanitarian organizations 108 children somehow managed to escape deportation and certain death in the German concentration camps.

Early 1990’s

Student Valérie Portheret in the midst of doing her doctoral research into the 108 children who disappeared from Vénissieux fifty years earlier made it her mission to match the abandoned names with the people they belong to. It took her a twenty-five year journey to allow the children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names.

My thoughts:

Told in dual timelines this account of true events is both sad and captivating. It is very well-said to keep our interest at its peak and us pushing on. It is chilling story that places us in the zone where Klaus Barbie was the German commander who ruled Lyon, France with an iron fist and did not hesitated to torture anyone. We do have graphic scenes to make the point. Of course this story is not fun to read, seeing the Jewish population hunted and shipped to concentration and children taken from their parents in order to save them is heartbreaking.

Although the conversation is fictionalized and the timeline may be out of sync, the characters are real and the events well documented. The timeline for those who hate this, the back and forth is on occasion and I felt it did not interfered with the flow. The chapters are short and the narration active. “The Forgotten Names” is well-said and well-done.

The Forgotten Names is one of the most engrossing books I've ever read (and I read at least 150 books a year.) I was born two weeks before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the event that forced the United States to enter World War II. One of my first memories is that of my father and uncles returning from the war, so the chaos of life during WWII has always held great fascination for me. The recovery from that war provided the context of my childhood.

This story brings to light one amazing example of the heroism of good people who band together to save the most vulnerable from the unchecked power of evil. There are so many stories of good conquering evil, but this is one of the most memorable. It is a story of redemption, selflessness, and eternal good. It is a story that shows how ordinary people often show extraordinary courage and creativity when they are faced with seemingly unconquerable odds. Simultaneous to the horrifying and edifying story unfolding in 1942, the author tells of a modern-day heroine who determines to give back to those rescued children their heritage and their names that were lost in 1942 to save their lives.

This story is so remarkable it would likely touch readers even if told badly; but, thankfully, a very skilled writer spent the time and energy needed to research and write, revise, edit, and polish a profoundly evocative account of this amazing side-story of World War II.