Very
Special Sisters - Novel by Paolo Arigotti
Review
by Maria Teresa De Donato
Germany,
November 9, 1918: Prince Maximilian von Baden, Chancellor of the German Empire,
following the Revolution that spread throughout the country, announces the
abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II and, by resigning, entrusts the task of
forming the new government to Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic
Party.
Germany
emerges from WWI defeated and worn out in all respects. On 11 August 1919 the
new constitution of what was named the Second Reich came into force with
Friedrich Ebert as President of the Republic of Weimar.
The
heavy losses suffered economically and financially by the country due to the
war and the subsequent Great Depression of 1929 which will have disastrous
effects on the entire world economy, as well as the high level of unemployment
in Germany, are all elements that facilitate the proliferation of the Nazi
ideology that on January 30, 1933 led to the appointment of Adolf Hitler as
Chancellor and, in August 1934, to his assumption of full powers
as President and subsequently as Führer of the Third Reich.
In
this historical context, Paolo Arigotti, Author of this book, places his
characters, the main ones being the German twins Elene and Johanna – born to
the Barons von Werner, belonging to the Bavarian nobility – and whose growth
after the death of the Baroness will be entrusted to the nurse Sara, a woman of
Jewish origin, who will love them all her life as if they were her own
daughters.
The
Author uses the narrative technique of the novel, as well as his legal and
historical academic
training,
to examine and deepen the sad and aberrant reality of discriminatory and racial
laws studied, elaborated and, consequently applied meticulously, systematically
as well as cynically by Nazi Germany starting from the thirties. The various
characters and above all the protagonists of the novel, beginning with the
German twins Elene and Johanna, as well as the twins, Maria a Sara,
subsequently born to Elene herself and her husband Herbert, of whom Sara born with Down Syndrome, are nothing else – in my humble opinion – but
instrumental factors.
By using his characters, their lives and specific
situations and conditions, the Author starts a debate, brings to light and
makes the reader more aware of the tragic reality and ruthlessness of those
discriminatory laws which, having their roots in the Darwinian principle
of the 'evolution of the species' would have been
further refined and widely used by Adolf Hitler and his closest collaborators,
including 'prominent' physicians, to justify the elimination of physically and
mentally disabled people so as to ensure 'the purity of the Aryan race'.
This 'purification' policy would have paved the way for the
'Final Solution' of the Jewish question, which culminated in the Holocaust, in
which some 6 million Jews were killed, as well as thousands of people,
including disabled people, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma and others
considered 'undesirable', 'inferior' and whose
lives were 'not worth living'.
Despite
the depth and gravity of the issues that emerge, the narrative is smooth, very
pleasant, always characterized by a strong sense of human solidarity that
fascinates the readers, involves them emotionally from the beginning to the end
of the publication, and surprises them with sudden and drastic twists, which
represent the key points of the novel.
An
incredibly beautiful work that highlights the great sensitivity of the writer
and leads to an inner
examination
and analysis of what may be our personal views and consequent perceptions
of
'diversity'
in the broadest sense of the term as well as of the World of the unknown…
A
novel to read it all in one breath and that I highly recommend to readers of
all ages.
