I wanted my mother. My mother loved Lithuania. She loved her family. The war had torn every last love from her life. Would she have to learn the grotesque details of our suffering? Would news make it to my hometown of Biržai, to the dark bunker in the woods where my brother and father were thought to be hiding?

Salt to the Sea: How the Wilhelm Gustloff Was Sunk | Time Salt to the Sea: How the Wilhelm Gustloff Was Sunk | Time

Although a young adult novel, I knew Salt to the Seawould be graphic and tragic, especially since Sepetys focuses on children and teens during WWII. Not to mention that the sinking of the IRL Wilhelm Gustoff is at the heart of this story. Sepetys uses the metaphor of a pregnant ship that will give birth to draw a parallel with Emilia's pregnancy. Emilia gives birth on the ship. While giving birth should represent life, for Emilia it signifies death. She feels certain that she is doomed, and that she will die in childbirth just like her mother. Moreover, Emilia’s baby is the result of her rape by Russian soldiers. Therefore, giving birth forces Emilia to confront this traumatic experience and the shame it has left her with. Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. My husband told me that Hitler suspected the Polish intellectuals of anti-Nazi activity. The senior professors in Lwów, they were all executed. So the girl’s father, sorry, but he was probably strangled with piano wire and—”These four unlikely characters meet in 1945 as three of them flee Soviet advances as the Nazi regime collapses. Once a glorious luxury boat, the gutted ship’s sole purpose is to transport wounded soldiers, women, and children. Now filled with over 10,000 refugees, the Wilhelm Gustloff has barely any walking room let alone proper life vests and boats. For this book, Sepetys exhaustively researched the devastating sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German evacuation ship, in which an estimated 9,000 people drowned. Her fictional account of this tragic event is brilliantly written and tremendously sad. While there are many important stories of World War II, Sepetys chose to focus on the story of the Wilhelm Gustloff, because even though it is the deadliest disaster in maritime history, most people have never heard of it. Often, stories of war focus on great battles or famous historical figures. Yet Salt to the Sea brings to life the stories of the war's refugees, especially those who are not usually the focus of narratives about World War II. In this way, the novel questions which elements of history are preserved and which are forgotten. She insists that it is important for us to preserve the memory of those who perished and to give a voice to the survivors of historical tragedies. Sepetys, Ruta (March 22, 2011). Between Shades of Gray (First; Hardcovered.). Philomel Books. ISBN 9780399254123.

You Shouldn’t Skip WW2 Novel, Salt to the Sea Why You Shouldn’t Skip WW2 Novel, Salt to the Sea

I told myself that the handsome young man was a sleeping knight. He moved forward, his pistol at the ready. He was leaving. On board the Gustloff, Joana works in the infirmary while Florian hides from the Nazi soldiers who are looking for him. Emilia gives birth to her baby, Halinka. Suddenly, Russian torpedoes hit the Gustloff. Within an hour the ship sinks and thousands die. Joana and Florian escape on a lifeboat with Halinka and Klaus, a young boy who traveled with their group. Emilia ends up on a raft with Alfred. Emilia reveals she is Polish and Alfred tries to kill her. The reader learns that despite Alfred's racist ideology, his love interest, Hannelore, is Jewish. In the end both Alfred and Emilia die. Salt to the Sea is written in four perspectives, three of them from sympathetic characters and one from an unsympathetic character. Why do you think the author chose to include Alfred's point of view? What does his perspective show about Nazi ideology and rule? Unofficial Sequel. One of the protagonists of Salt to the Sea, Joana Vilkas, is the cousin of the protagonist in Sepetys’ first novel, Lina Vilkas, who appears in Between Shades of Gray. The whole thing’s unfair, Eva. You know that. Hitler allowed me into Germany. He thinks some Baltic people are ‘Germanizable.’ But for every person like me that Hitler brought in, he pushed some poor soul, like Emilia, out.”Are you okay?” I asked, barely recognizing my own voice. His face twisted at the sound of my words. Plus, salt is essential to the sea just like how love, friendship, and family is essential to humanity–which is now lost at sea. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) One of four narrators, Florian is a talented young restoration artist from East Prussia. He worked for the Nazis restoring European paintings. When he realizes the Nazis stole the art, he decides to take revenge by stealing the amber swan, Hitler's favorite piece from the Amber Room. Florian acts deceitfully and believes he is on a mission with this stolen piece of art. Later in the book, he shows himself as a kindhearted person and realizes that his act of revenge was pointless. Emilia Stozek

Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys – review - The Guardian Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys – review - The Guardian

Wasn’t a person supposed to feel better after telling the truth? Perhaps there was no peace because Joana hadn’t understood or hadn’t heard me. Was it enough to admit the lie to yourself and the heavens, or did you have to tell someone who listened? Heinz is also known as the “shoe poet,” or simply, “poet.” He is an old German shoemaker. He talks with great love and emotion about shoes, which he believes are the key to health and always tell the true story about someone. Heinz is kind and caring, and he becomes a grandfather figure to Klaus. Eva The Nazis couldn’t stop the wind and the snow. The Russians couldn’t take the sun or the stars.” Emilia, p. 90 If you like survival stories, historical fiction, or WWII narratives, Salt to the Seawill intrigue and capture your heart. Although YA, this title will flood your soul.Plus, before we traveled to the Baltics on a whirlwind road trip tour around Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, I craved more Baltic and eastern European history. Growing up I had no idea where these countries even landed on a map. You can learn more about the Wilhelm Gustloff here. Salt To The Sea Review: Is This Baltic Book For You? I moved from body to body, treating blisters, wounds, frostbite. But I had no treatment for what plagued people most the most. Fear." Joana, p. 40 Food. I wanted her to know our food. How my hands missed the feel of dough dusted with flour. My ears missed the snap of apple pancakes in the pan and my yes missed the rainbow of fruits and vegetables sealed in jars on the shelves. War had bled color from everything, leaving nothing but a storm of gray. The book was honored as a finalist of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award in 2017 [6] and was listed as a 2017 Best Children's Book of the Year with Outstanding Merit from the Children's Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education. [7] Characters [ edit ]

Salt to the Sea | Ruta Sepetys Salt to the Sea | Ruta Sepetys

I’m relived you are not here to see this. Your sugared heart could not bear the treacherous circumstances here in the port of Gotenhafen. At this very moment, I am guarding dangerous explosives. I am serving Germany well. Only seventeen, yet carrying more valor than those twice my years. There is talk of an honor ceremony but I’m too busy fighting for the Führer to accept honors. Honors are for the dead, I’ve told them. We must fight while we are alive! Emilia died, just like more than nine thousand real people who were on board the Gustloff. But Sepetys ends Salt to the Sea insisting that while war breaks families into irretrievable pieces, "those who are gone are not necessarily lost." Emilia is physically gone, but her memory lives on. Florian, Joana, Klaus, and Halinka continue to be inspired by Emilia’s bravery. And Clara and Niels, the couple who find Emilia’s body on the Danish shore, bury Emilia by a small creek near a beautiful bed of roses. Emilia loves nature and surely would have been happy in this setting. Clara insists that she thinks of Emilia often, and that Emilia is safe and loved. Hmm. Your eyes. Your nose. Pretty,” he said. He put his lips against the top of the baby’s head and closed his eyes. He looked beautiful. Joana stared at the knight. She thought he was beautiful too.The daughter of a refugee and “seeker of lost stories,” Sepetys wrote Between Shades of Gray, one of her most famous novels now made into a movie. Between Shades of Greyis about a family pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and their survival story. A wandering Prussian boy on a secret mission filled with revenge and pain, Florian possesses hidden artistical talents. He is mysterious, handsome, and cautious. An orphan of war, he must choose whose side he is on while remaining alive. Emilia coins Florian as “The Knight.” War had bled color from everything, leaving nothing but a storm of gray.” Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys About Salt To The Sea Author, Ruta Sepetys The book concludes with a glimpse into the future, 1969. Joana and Florian live in the United States. They have Emilia's baby, the boy Klaus, and a child of their own. In a letter sent by Clara Christensen, a Danish woman, it is told that Emilia's body was found washed up on shore, and she was buried.