In the late 1930s, Germany was a nation of small towns where everyone knew each other. The Levi family prospered from their livestock business, and twelve-year-old Erich enjoyed a privileged lifestyle. When Hitler’s Nazi Party assumed control, however, Erich’s world fell apart. His father’s busi ness foundered; neighbors and friends spurned him. Erich was humiliated and bullied in school. This is not typical Holocaust fiction, however. Barth Grözinger and her students researched the effects of Nazism on the Jewish community in their town of Ellwangen, Germany, resulting in this book. Al though some names have been changed, much of the book—including Erich Levi’s story—is true. 2007 USBBY Outstanding International Books List. lmp

Originally published as Etwas Bleibt in German by Thienemann Verlag Germany, in 2004. Translated by Anthea Bell.

Erich Levi doesn’t understand why his father is so gloomy when the Nazis are elected to power. He’s too concerned with keeping his grades up, finding time to hang out by the river with his friends, and studying for his bar mitzvah, to worry about politics.

But slowly, gradually, things begin to change for Erich. Some of the teachers begin to grade him unfairly – because he’s Jewish. The Hitler Youth boys in his class bully him, and he's excluded from sporting events and celebrations. His whole world seems to be crumbling: at school, and at home, where money is tight because no one wants to do business with a Jewish family.

Not everyone is so cruel, though, and many of the Levis’ friends and neighbors remain fiercely loyal at great risk to themselves. With good people still around, Erich can’t believe the situation will last, and stubbornly holds onto his dreams – even as his homeland becomes a dangerous and alien place.

Inge Barth-Grözinger has brilliantly recreated the life of a Jewish family in a small German town during the Nazi era. Something Remains provides, with terrible, everyday detail, an answer to the impossible question: how could the Holocaust have happened?