Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf

Life in the tiny Czech village of Lidice was not easy in the year 1942, but Milada was happy, surrounded by a caring family and her best friend Terezie. Then her life was irrevocably changed on the night of her twelfth birthday - the Nazis came to her village and rounded up her father and brother and all the other men in the village and took them to an unknown destination. Milada, her beloved grandmother, mother, and baby sister, together with all the other village women and children were taken away to a nearby town where they were kept for a couple of days, presumably to be interrogated. Milada and a few other girls who all appear to share similar features such as blonde hair and blue eyes, are examined by Nazi doctors and before she knows it, Milada and a few other girls are taken away from their families.

Milada finds herself in a strange camp where she and the other girls are forced to abandon their native Czech language and are taught German, and the process of Aryanization is begun. Little does Milada know that she has been selected for the Lebensborn program, where Aryan-looking Czech and Polish children are Germanized and then adopted into German families. Milada is given a new name, Eva, but she strives to keep her real identity as well as her memories intact, in fulfillment of her grandmother's wish, and hangs on to the only object that reminds her of home, her grandmother's jeweled pin.

Milada's experiences are truly harrowing to read - she is forced to completely abandon thoughts of her former life and accept her given identity; she is compelled to embrace the German language and Hitler's policies without question; and before long, Milada finds the brainwashing and indoctrination have begun to take a strong hold over her. She is adopted by a high-ranking Nazi officer and his wife, and moves into a beautiful new home near a camp which emits a foul smell. Despite her experiences, Milada struggles valiantly to hold on to her true identity and hopes that she will be reunited with her real family someday.

Though this is a piece of historical fiction, the events described are based on actual historical events, and the author also portrays Milada as a credible character, a young girl struggling to hold on to her past, whilst finding herself irresistibly drawn to the comforts of her present life. Due to some disturbing themes - separation from family, some allusions to what goes on in the camp, etc., I think this novel is best suited for readers in Grades 6 and above. It is a compelling historical novel and deals with a little known event in history - that of the lost children who were taken away from their biological families and placed in the Lebensborn program. It reminds us that it was not only the Jews that suffered terribly during WW II (in what became known as the Holocaust), but non-Jews, and especially children suffered greatly as well. Recommended!