Someone Named Eva
Encyclopedia
Someone Named Eva is a young adult novel by Joan M. Wolf. It concentrates on the life of Milada, an eleven-year-old Czech girl, who lives during World War II
, after Hitler annexes Czechoslovakia
, during the years 1942–1945.
If you've never read this story and want to read the book, I suggest you don't read this.
Milada Kralicek, a young Czechoslovakian girl, lives in the village of Lidice
, a few miles away from Prague
. In May, she celebrates her eleventh birthday
. She receives a telescope
as gift from her father, because she loves gazing at the stars. Her best friend, Terezie, Zelenka and Hana and a classmate, Ruzha, attend the birthday. A month later, the Nazi soldiers come to their house, taking away Milada, her mother, her younger sister Anechka and her grandmother. Her father and her brother Jaro are separated from the rest of the family and taken to concentration camps.
Milada, her mother, grandmother and Anechka are held together with the rest of the female inhabitants of Lidice in a school building of Kladno. With her curly shoulder length blond hair, perfect nose size, and blue colored eyes, Milada fits the [the perfect German girl] ideal. She is sent to a Lebensborn
center outside of Pucshkau, Poland, along with Ruzha and several Polish girls. She is renamed Eva, and Ruzha is renamed Franziska. The camp is brutal, and she works hard to remember her name Milada. But as hard as she works to remember, Franziska knows who she is, she is just being the perfect german girl to protect herself. She spends two years around other girls including Siegrid, Ilsa, Gerde, Leisel (who Eva befriends, learning her real name is Katarzyna), Heidi (who is sent off to a concentration camp after wetting her bed a lot of times), and Heidi's sister Elsa (who is sent away shortly after Heidi). The camp and its staff seem cheerful on the outside but appear to be hiding something unpleasant.
Once judged sufficiently trained, she is adopted by a German
family from Fürstenberg
near Berlin
. The Werner family is composed of Vater, (father in German) who is a high official at the Nazi government, Mutter (mother), and Elsbeth and Peter, her adoptive sister and brother. They live in a very large house, where Eva enjoys her own room. She is well treated, helping Eva to develop quite positive relations with her new family. The only strange feature she notices is a horrible smell that penetrates the house nearly all the time.
One day, as she is walking back to the house after a picnic with Elsbeth, Eva hears the Czech anthem being sung. Coming closer, she discovers a concentration camp with female prisoners singing in Czech. This brings back all the memories, enabling Milada to see clearly who she really is. Elsbeth explains to her that this is the Ravensbruck concentration camp and that her Vater is the head of the camp. Eva/Milada has some strange feelings that possibly her family could have been detained in this camp, meaning that all that time she could have been so close to her family.
By April 1945, the Nazi are losing on all the war fronts and Berlin is encircled by the Russian troops. Vater and Peter decide to go hiding, while Mutter, Elsbeth and Eva move to a shelter made in the basement
to protect themselves. In May, Soviet Red Army
troops come and ask for the papers
left by Vater in his office, but Mutter tells them that she is not aware of anything. They leave without causing any harm to the family, but having ruined the house.
A few days later, Hitler is declared dead and the war is over. Eva, Elsbeth and Mutter decide to fix up and clean the house, trying to survive in the new situation.
Some time after, an American female medic called Marci who works for the Red Cross Association comes to the house and announces that Milada's mother is alive and has launched a search after her daughter. Eva recognizes that she is the person they are looking for. At that moment Eva is Milada again. She is taken back to Czechoslovakia
.
She meets her mother in Prague, discovering that her mother was indeed detained in Ravensbruck, a few steps away from the Werner household. Milada also learns that sadly her father and brother Jaro along with all the other men and teenage boys were shot by the German Nazis near a barn and then buried in a mass grave the same day after they were separated and that her grandma died in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. She is also told that her sister Anechka was adopted into a German
family and that the Red Cross are looking for her. Her best friend Terezie was killed in Poland.
As their house, as well as all other houses in Lidice, were completely devastated by the Germans, Milada and her mother live at the house of their distant cousin in Prague. Milada has to learn the Czech language nearly from scratch. Milada and her mother get closer again as they tell each other what happened during the horrific times of their separation. Finally, Milada manages to recover her true identity and pride. But, Milada still wonders about her friends Ruzha [Franziska] and Katarzyna [Leisel]. READ FOR IT'S A VERY GREAT BOOK.
BY: Kassidy Venalaeguez :]Trickum Middle School
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, after Hitler annexes Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
, during the years 1942–1945.
Plot summary
'If you've never read this story and want to read the book, I suggest you don't read this.
Milada Kralicek, a young Czechoslovakian girl, lives in the village of Lidice
Lidice
Lidice is a village in the Czech Republic just northwest of Prague. It is built on the site of a previous village of the same name which, as part of the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, was on orders from Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, completely destroyed by German forces in reprisal...
, a few miles away from Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. In May, she celebrates her eleventh birthday
Birthday
A birthday is a day or anniversary where a person celebrates his or her date of birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, party or rite of passage. Although the major religions celebrate the birth of their founders , Christmas – which is celebrated widely by...
. She receives a telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
as gift from her father, because she loves gazing at the stars. Her best friend, Terezie, Zelenka and Hana and a classmate, Ruzha, attend the birthday. A month later, the Nazi soldiers come to their house, taking away Milada, her mother, her younger sister Anechka and her grandmother. Her father and her brother Jaro are separated from the rest of the family and taken to concentration camps.
Milada, her mother, grandmother and Anechka are held together with the rest of the female inhabitants of Lidice in a school building of Kladno. With her curly shoulder length blond hair, perfect nose size, and blue colored eyes, Milada fits the [the perfect German girl] ideal. She is sent to a Lebensborn
Lebensborn
Lebensborn was a Nazi programme set up by SS leader Heinrich Himmler that provided maternity homes and financial assistance to the wives of SS members and to unmarried mothers, and also ran orphanages and relocation programmes for children.Initially set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded...
center outside of Pucshkau, Poland, along with Ruzha and several Polish girls. She is renamed Eva, and Ruzha is renamed Franziska. The camp is brutal, and she works hard to remember her name Milada. But as hard as she works to remember, Franziska knows who she is, she is just being the perfect german girl to protect herself. She spends two years around other girls including Siegrid, Ilsa, Gerde, Leisel (who Eva befriends, learning her real name is Katarzyna), Heidi (who is sent off to a concentration camp after wetting her bed a lot of times), and Heidi's sister Elsa (who is sent away shortly after Heidi). The camp and its staff seem cheerful on the outside but appear to be hiding something unpleasant.
Once judged sufficiently trained, she is adopted by a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
family from Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg and can refer to the following.- Historical states :* Fürstenberg , county * Fürstenberg-Baar, county * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county...
near Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The Werner family is composed of Vater, (father in German) who is a high official at the Nazi government, Mutter (mother), and Elsbeth and Peter, her adoptive sister and brother. They live in a very large house, where Eva enjoys her own room. She is well treated, helping Eva to develop quite positive relations with her new family. The only strange feature she notices is a horrible smell that penetrates the house nearly all the time.
One day, as she is walking back to the house after a picnic with Elsbeth, Eva hears the Czech anthem being sung. Coming closer, she discovers a concentration camp with female prisoners singing in Czech. This brings back all the memories, enabling Milada to see clearly who she really is. Elsbeth explains to her that this is the Ravensbruck concentration camp and that her Vater is the head of the camp. Eva/Milada has some strange feelings that possibly her family could have been detained in this camp, meaning that all that time she could have been so close to her family.
By April 1945, the Nazi are losing on all the war fronts and Berlin is encircled by the Russian troops. Vater and Peter decide to go hiding, while Mutter, Elsbeth and Eva move to a shelter made in the basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
to protect themselves. In May, Soviet Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
troops come and ask for the papers
Document
The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...
left by Vater in his office, but Mutter tells them that she is not aware of anything. They leave without causing any harm to the family, but having ruined the house.
A few days later, Hitler is declared dead and the war is over. Eva, Elsbeth and Mutter decide to fix up and clean the house, trying to survive in the new situation.
Some time after, an American female medic called Marci who works for the Red Cross Association comes to the house and announces that Milada's mother is alive and has launched a search after her daughter. Eva recognizes that she is the person they are looking for. At that moment Eva is Milada again. She is taken back to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
She meets her mother in Prague, discovering that her mother was indeed detained in Ravensbruck, a few steps away from the Werner household. Milada also learns that sadly her father and brother Jaro along with all the other men and teenage boys were shot by the German Nazis near a barn and then buried in a mass grave the same day after they were separated and that her grandma died in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. She is also told that her sister Anechka was adopted into a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
family and that the Red Cross are looking for her. Her best friend Terezie was killed in Poland.
As their house, as well as all other houses in Lidice, were completely devastated by the Germans, Milada and her mother live at the house of their distant cousin in Prague. Milada has to learn the Czech language nearly from scratch. Milada and her mother get closer again as they tell each other what happened during the horrific times of their separation. Finally, Milada manages to recover her true identity and pride. But, Milada still wonders about her friends Ruzha [Franziska] and Katarzyna [Leisel]. READ FOR IT'S A VERY GREAT BOOK.
BY: Kassidy Venalaeguez :]Trickum Middle School