The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz is a gripping and intense novel that is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the historical fiction genre, particularly those who appreciate stories about survival, resilience, and the human struggle to persevere in the face of darkness and adversity, as it masterfully captures the terrifying atmosphere of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

I didn't want The Passenger to end—and not only because I was swept up in its restless, hypnotic style. This story of a Jewish man on the run has a Scheherazade-like quality: if he can stay in motion, perhaps the fate we know awaits him will somehow be deferred. A haunting and unsettling novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Interesting writing about a Jewish man married to a goyim, and he decides to leave his home to escape the Nazis. He travels and checks into hotels but leaves the country. He is in a state of denial and thinks the anti-Semitism will just settle down. The book is a bit frustrating because the plot is very slow, but it reminded of the Tom Hank movie where he is stuck in an airport. The passenger can't go home and he can't leave.

I'm not sure that this book is a great work of literature, as such, but it is a great and compelling work of witness and testimony. When nonfiction and Kafkaesque excess so thoroughly overlap, (and when it appears that something similar could happen again), we need to pay attention.

A harrowing and prescient book that somehow remains riveting despite our knowledge of the fate of German Jews after both the time of writing and the events of the novel. With the recent rise in antisemitism all over the world, feeling unwelcome in your own country is something that is probably familiar to any Jew paying attention to the news and is expertly portrayed in this novel. A great and important work that deserves to be read by anyone who can.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Do you think you could imagine what it was like to live in 1938 Germany? Well unless you lived it, you probably can't. Reading "Passengers" is like living the nightmare of the Kristallnacht pograms that took place in Germany and Austria between November 7 and 13, 1938. Apprehension slowly turns to absolute fear as German Jew Otto Silbermann, a wealthy Berlin businessman, twists and turns trying to escape the web created by the Nazis by riding trains, but there is nowhere to go and no one is safe. Realizing this happened to real people and not that long ago, it seems unbelievable, but as the reader goes on Otto's journey, it becomes clear it was also unbelievable to him.

It has been written that "this is likely the first literary account of these atrocities". Originally published in English in the United States in 1939 the book didn't attract much attention and then went out of print. It didn't help that the young author died in 1942. Recently re-discovered and edited by Philip Boehm, the book is getting the exposure it demands. The history of the book and the tragic life of the author is included. Translation from the German is by Philip Boehm.

Thanks to Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

#ThePassenger #NetGalley

Historical fiction from the WWII era tends to be almost an overabundance, but this book provides a unique perspective of that era in a way that has not been told over and over again. The description called this book an "odyssey", and that is without a doubt the best word to describe this book. Readers will feel that they are on a journey along with the protagonist and feel transported back in time.

The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz. Is a difficult book to read and at the same time a difficult book to put down. The author as well had a traumatic short life. Ulrich was born in Germany to a Protestant mother and Jewish father. He and his mother in 1935 escaped to Sweden and additionally moved onward to Norway, Belgium, France, Luxemburg and England. In 1940 he was transferred to Sydney Australia. Finally in 1942 on a boat back to England he was killed at the age of 27 when the boat was torpedoed by a U-Boat and sank.
His book The Passenger was written over a four-week period while pushed from country to country just after Kristallnacht. It is a prescient story of Otto Silbermann a Jewish business married to an Aryan German. His physical appearance is not Jewish but of course his name gives him away as do his friends. The story starts with the Nazis coming to his house and his escaping into the streets just before they arrive. Where to go? How to survive? This is the story and Otto just can’t help take the wrong turn when given a choice. The only time he is secure when on the trains where the tracks make the choices for him. Every time he is on land. I feel like shouting NO! But he is on a track to his doom.
It is a compelling but difficult book to read knowing that Otto can’t help but always chose to move toward oblivion. Perhaps it is unfair and in fact there we no choices open to him. I am not sure I have read a book in a long time that made me angry, frustrated and pondered as much as this book did in a very long time. This not an “airplane” book but a book to read and think about how this happened and it is not beyond the realm to think it could happen again. I certainly found this book worth the time I spent reading it.

The Passenger is an outstanding literary work unbelievably written back in 1938! It is a moving, panoramic view of strange events prior to the second world war as observed by a Jew.

Otto Silbermann, a well established businessman, a law abiding citizen, a soldier who fought for Germany in the Great War, in possession of wealth, family and friends is above all a German Jew. Overnight his patriotism, his establishments, are swept away as the storm troopers come knocking at his door and Silbermann forcibly flees through the back of his home leaving all his posessions behind. Regardless of his Aryan outlook, he flees across Germany fearing the stamp of J on his identity. As the walls of securities around him shatters, Silbermann, consumed by fear, collapses into the arms of despair.

The Passenger was a breathless, thrilling and at times a nerve-racking experience for me. The most unique thing about this book is that Boschwitz himself was deeply affected by the events of Kristallnacht and hence painted a compelling character in a thoroughly precise atmosphere. The authenticity of the sudden forfeiture of survival and the fears and mental dilemma of the Jews was richly evident and genuine. I could actually sense the tension, fear, confusion and agitation of Silbermann as he switched stations. This is a very emotional, enlightening and a brilliant work of literature.

With such striking passages and extraordinary tale of an ordinary man, I wonder how marvellously thrilling the original of this translation would be. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you HenryHolt Books and Netgalley for my copy!

The Passenger was a tremendous novel. Written by Ulrich Boschwitz following the Kristallnacht pogroms, this novel examines identity, justice, and humanity of a snapshot of different German people. The story follows Otto Silbermann, a German Jew, in the aftermath of a raid on his apartment. Silbermann flees and eventually ends up on a train. He rides all over the country, trying to decide what to do next, how to escape the horrendous crimes being committed against Jewish people. Along the way he meets all sorts of people, yet Silbermann becomes more and more agitated and the reader sees the psychological despair he falls into. Silbermann is German, fought in WWI for Germany, loves his country, and is devastated at the gross betrayal of his country.

“Who or rather what am I now anyway? he asked himself. Am I still Silbermann, Otto Silbermann the merchant?”

There are so many books about WWII, the Holocaust; however, this book is unique as it was written by a Jewish man who was processing the pogroms, in real time. Boschwitz offers his readers something that I haven’t come across much in other books covering this history—a true psychological reflection of what a Jewish person went through when everything was taken away from them. Boschwitz’s writing is superb. The reader feels Silbermann’s agitation, his pain, and his confusion. You are swaying along side him on the trains, observing the other passengers, wondering if they can be trusted. This was quite frankly, an excellent novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC. I highly recommend this book.

This book was written in 1938 at a time when Jews in Germany were finding that it was almost too late to get out of the country. Boschwitz himself was able to get out to England, but after the war started he was shipped to Australia as an "enemy alien". In 1942 he was being repatriated to England when the ship he was on was torpedoes and Ulrich died with all 361 passengers. His edited manuscript was with him on the ship, so only his original draft survives.

On of the problems with translation is that you many times lose context (especially in a seventy year old book) and nuances that were standard at the time but are unknown to us today. A lot of this book is autobiographical or happened to people that Boschwitz had met during his detention. The body of the book reminds me of Sartres' "No Exit" (he would have loved that comparison), no matter where the character Otto Silberstein goes he can't get out of the country or hiding that he's Jewish.

It's probably a little more meaningful to anyone who has family or themselves been driven out of their home country by some dictator who needs a scapegoat for his ineptitude. You hear the fear in the voices of all the characters as they speak about the National Socialists even though most of them admit to being members of the Party.

This is a worthwhile read for anyone who wants to see how people can cope with almost anything.

WOW. I had to keep flipping back to the copyright page at the beginning the book to verify this was written in the 1930s and not in 2021.

The Passenger is an incredibly important book in that is was the very first fiction ever written about the plight of Jews in Germany. He wrote this in just a few weeks, immediately after the Kristallnacht AKA: Night of Broken Glass in 1938. This is before Poland is invaded, before Pearl Harbor is bombed, before everything. The author saw this happening and wrote an impactful and claustrophobic story.

Our protagonist, Otto Silbermann is a Jewish businessman who is stuck in Germany. Most of his friends have been arrested for being Jews, his business is bust, all of his rights are gone, and worst of all he cannot leave. The borders are militantly guarded and visas are impossible to get, so all Otto can do is ride from city to city in Germany in the train system trying to evade police.

Boschwitz is lodged so thoroughly in Silbermann’s head that the book reads like there’s a microphone stuck right in his brain as he’s trying to figure out what to do and how to stay alive. Oddly enough, this book is funny and sarcastic, even in the worst of times.

One of the saddest parts of this book is that Silbermann is not immune to the prejudice that so many held against Jews then. He finds himself looking down on his fellow people that don’t “pass as Aryan” like he can or that can’t ride the train in first class. This book is such a powerful commentary on race, class, politics, and law enforcement in such a contemporary way that it feels like it was just written.

I am SO thankful to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this one. I could talk about this book for days, but that pesky character limit gets me.

Lots of good juicy twists and turns written in signature style. A great escape for the afternoon in this crazy world that we are now living in.

A harrowing read, though there's surprisingly little in the way of physical violence. Following Kristallnacht, German-Jewish businessman Otto Silbermann goes on the run—but there's nowhere he can go. The books captures all the anxiety, mistrust, dread, fear, and frustration that Silbermann feels as he jumps from train to train, station to station, desperate to escape. As much as I wanted to find out Silbermann's fate, I could read "The Passenger" in only small parcels at a time, as otherwise I became too angsty. The ending is both absurd and appropriate—absurdly appropriate, befitting the absurd horror of the Nazi regime.

Thank you, NetGalley and Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Co., for providing me with an advanced copy is exchange for an honest review.

"...informants and plainclothes policemen are stalking everywhere, in trains, street corners, cafes...This is 1938, and World War Two hasn't erupted yet, but everyone knows it's coming...With the dragnet closing in, you realize you're trapped and have nowhere to go...Why didn't you flee when you could easily have done so?"

-From The Preface by Andre Aciman

Having soldiered together for three years, Silbermann and Becker became business partners. Silbermann provided the start-up capital and built the company from the ground up through diligent work. They have worked together for twenty years. Becker recently stated, "In these uncertain times, in this unclear world, there's only one thing that can be relied on, and that is friendship...for me you are a man-a German man, not a Jew". Once the populace treated Otto Silbermann as though he were one of them, but, "I'm something different...I no longer have any rights...I've been officially degraded, but the public debasement has yet to take place". Suddenly, without warning, Becker draws up a deed of partition to dissolve their partnership and declares that their friendship was over. When Silbermann threatened to denounce Becker to the National Socialist Party, Silbermann received a small payment, a fraction of the net worth of the business.

A wild ringing...fists pounding on the apartment door. "Ten minutes ago it was my house that was at stake, my property. Now it's my neck. Everything's happening so quickly...I'm completely on my own- in enemy territory...It's the times that make a person doubt everyone and everything...who could have imagined anything like it?" Silbermann determined that he must leave Germany. What country would let him in? "I have enough money to start a new life...but...to make it out of here you have to leave your money behind, and to be let in elsewhere you have to show you still have it". So, Silbermann rides the rails. "I am no longer in Germany. I am in trains that run through Germany. I am safe...I am in motion".

"The Passenger" by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz was penned in one month in November 1938 following Kristallnacht. (November 9-10, 1938). This novel was recently discovered then edited by publisher Peter Graf. "Silbermann is trying to escape from Germany and race against his despondency. He rides "...from train station to train station across a homeland that is no longer home...". His mission: "...to smuggle myself and my briefcase [of money] through both German and French lines...Where shall I go? Where can I go? Every choice is an unwise one". There are people who maintain their decency and humanity but Silbermann's trust in his fellow man is shattering. "You become so sensitive. You start smelling meanness everywhere". This work of historical fiction is arguably a riveting, emotional, and eye-opening examination of how human behavior can turn on a dime. Do not miss this highly recommended tome.

Thank you Henry Holt & Company/ Metropolitan Books and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.