What an unexpectedly wonderful book. There wasn't a moment I wasn't enthralled. I cried more than once. And I do not cry easily. I've been haunted by this story since I finished... I find myself thinking of it often.
Excellent writing.

Once We Were Home is a historical fiction novel about children stolen during World War II. This novel follows the stories of Ana and her brother Oskar, Roger, and Renata.

Whether they were placed with a kindly Christian couple during the war then taken back by a Jewish reclamation organization, placed in a French monastery then spirited away by the clergy before being reclaimed by family, or growing up with a past largely unknown, the grown-up children all had issues because of their circumstances. The author went back and forth between the perspectives and timeline, making the novel hard to follow as an audiobook. The narrators, Gabra Zackman and Vikas Adam, did a good job of telling the story as written. Polished and with emotion, the voices given to the characters brought them to life. That being said, the printed book was probably easier to read because of my aforementioned statement.

The biggest positive to this novel was its unique perspective. I had read many historical fiction World War II novels before this point, but none included the viewpoint of those who helped Jewish children. Though I first saw it as indoctrination, the story of Roger being hidden and then spirited away by the Church opened my eyes to the deep internal struggles of those who helped. Though I found the novel hard to follow and thought it to include too many perspectives, the strength of the premise alone would prompt me recommend it to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Audio Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to review Once We Were Home was entirely my own.

I’ve read quite a few books based around the timeline during and after WWII, but no matter how many times I read them, a book with displaced children breaks my heart each time.

This was such a moving story, and I thought the writing was beautiful.

*many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the gifted copy

While I typically devoir books set during WWII, this one left me unsatisfied. The basis of the book should have been wonderful. However, it was not carried out well. The constant back-and-forth was confusing and disjointed. Way too many name changes and situations to keep track of made it difficult to comprehend. I appreciated the effort the author made but was left disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨!

Oh wow, what a heartbreaking and beautifully written story, it completely captured and broke my heart. A must read for historical fiction fans!

I received an audio of Once We Were Home by Jennifer Rosner from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I’ve read many books about the holocaust. This books deals. With the children who Jewish parents entrusted their lives to gentile neighbors and the Catholic Church. .

Once We Were Home was a thought pro king read. I felt sorry for the children separating from their parents and separating from their caregivers. They just wanted a permanent home. Excellent book 5 stars.

Once we were home this was a very hard book to read, the story was heartbreaking I really didn't understand so much suffering but it is what was transpiring during the war so much injustice, I feel like in those days the word justice was not even on the radar of any survivor, after so many atrocities many of the lost all hope.

The story of many of the children during the war, separated from their parents trying to survive, in the hands of other families Christian families who change their faith and religion to be able to survive, that was the case with Renata, Roger, Ana, Oskar who later were separated once again by someone who taught was doing the right thing only to make things even sadder and worst, especially for Oskar who couldn't understand why he had to leave the only parents he ever knew because of his religion.

One of the saddest parts of the story was when Roger was giving a confession thinking he was born in the wrong faith and he was the wrong person. and the saddest part was there was no one around to tell Roger this was not a mistake and he didn't make any transgressions as he firmly believed.

This is exactly when I started to feel angry with that woman who taught she was doing the great samaritan job but the only thing she was doing was putting more pain in the children's hearts. I don't understand why they will do that, and when the woman started to question herself if she made a mistake with Oskar I was screaming to her that YES, indeed she did in fact make a huge mistake.

Many years had passed and still, there is so much to tell now years later, so many questions and feelings that are still unanswered.

I read about this situation in many of the WWII books but this is the first time I read about it in depth and is really hard and sad to understand I know this came from a good heart trying to save the children but I didn't understand what was the case to take the kids and shove the religion down their troths as if that will make any difference or made them feel happier or erase the atrocities they live, such an attitude for me was pretty ignorant.

This was a good ride, the emotions were all over the place and I cried like crazy.

The Narrations by Gabra Zackman and Vikas Adam were good, they really brought so much to the story.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the advanced audio copy of Once we were home in exchange for my honest review

My gosh, talk about heartbreaking! Once We Were Home by Jennifer Rosner pulled on my heart strings like you would not believe, friends. My heart broke for Ana and Oskar, the two main characters in this unique and moving story about displaced children during WWII. The author’s writing is absolutely exquisite. Rosner’s words are so thoughtful, graceful, and poetic. I truly appreciated the strong focus on the children, their perspectives, and themes of identity, family, belonging, and a sense of home. If you’re a historical fiction fan who loves to read about WWII, you don’t want to miss this remarkable story.

I found the subject matter to painful/heartbreaking to read, especially as a Jewish person who was also adopted. I was a little worried about that when I started the book. The prose is lovely, it is just too painful to read. Thanks netgalley for my ARC

Roger has been sent to a monastery in France to protect him from the Nazis. Oscar and Renata have been sent away to be raised in the country by a totally different family, also, to save them from the Nazis. But, now the war is over and no one will relinquish these children for various reasons.

It would be so hard on some of these children to be gone and never remember their past. Oscar is a character in which my heart went out to, along with Roger, for different reasons. Each of these boys had different situations and different outcomes. And then there is Renata. Her situation when she had her own children broke my heart for her. I totally understand why she did not want them in the “community”. You will have to read this to find out!

I did fluctuate between 4 and 5 stars on this one. Mostly because there were some “flat” places. But it is very emotional so I rolled it all the way up.

The narrators, Gabra Zackman and Vikas Adams made this story come to life. I loved their tag team on the characters and sections of this novel m

Need an emotional read about something you would never know occurred….this is it! Grab your today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

This was a really interesting book. It took me a few chapters to get involved but once I was I enjoyed the stories. The unique stories of Children during WWII is particularly interesting to me because of family connections. The stories of these children touched my heart. It was good to see them grow up and become contributing members of society dispte their troubled history. I do wish there was a little more closure at the end of the story but overall I very much enjoyed this listen.

Once We Were Home was the second book I had the pleasure of reading by Jennifer Rosner. I had previously read The Yellow Bird Sings and enjoyed it immensely so when I saw that she had written a new book I was excited to read it. Jennifer Rosner chose to write about the lives of several children during World War II and after. Her lyrical prose was based on true stories about some children whose parents were forced to make extremely difficult decisions in order to save their children from the atrocities carried out by the Nazis. Jennifer Rosner described in great detail the lives of these children during World War II and then once the war ended. She masterfully told the story of four different children that were displaced during World War II and the ongoing efforts of Jewish reclaiming organizations and surviving family members to find these children and reunite them with their families and religion.

During World War II and the Holocaust, some parents were forced to make heartbreaking decisions to ensure that their children would live and survive. In a ghetto in Poland, a brave yet desperate mother was forced to do just that for her seven year old daughter, Mira and her young three year old son, Daniel. Ana’s mother was about to do the hardest thing she had ever imagined. She was about to relinquish her children to a Polish farmer and his wife. Agata and Jozef had never had children of their own. In order to hide Mira and Daniel, Agata and Jozef registered them with the church as Agata’s sister’s children and renamed them Anastazja (Ana for short) and Oskar. Ana and Oskar were given these new names and were brought up Catholic.

Roger was brought to a monastery in France when he was practically a baby to be brought up by the nuns and priests. He was a very curious boy and always posed a multitude of questions to whoever would listen to him. To protect Roger, he was brought up Catholic and lived in the orphanage among the many nuns and priests. Growing up amongst the nuns and priests, Roger loved telling stories and was later encouraged by one of the nuns to write them down. Roger had one friend named Henri that he enjoyed sharing riddles and his stories with.

Renata was told from a young age not to reveal that she was originally from Germany. Her parents had always told her to tell others she was from Switzerland. She was brought up in England after she and her parents fled from Germany when she was a little girl. The reasons for their sudden departure from Germany was never revealed to Renata and Renata never pressured her parents enough to get adequate answers. Renata’s mother had just died so those questions would never be answered. In 1968, Renata, twenty-eight years old, now a post graduate student, found herself in Jerusalem on an archaeological dig with her fellow students from Oxford.

After World War II and the Holocaust, Jewish Reclamation Organizations and long lost relatives came forward to retrieve Jewish children that had been hidden during the war. These Jewish children had lived with Catholic families, priests and the nuns that had taken them in. Many of the children were now looked upon by the Church as being Catholic. Some of these children had even been baptized, learned the Catholic prayers and rituals and even thought of themselves as Catholic.

Roger had been secretly taken by one of the priests over the Pyrenees to hide in Spain when his aunt (his father’s sister) attempted to reunite with Roger from Israel. She had survived the Holocaust and was living in Israel. She wanted Roger to come live with her very much. The church saw Roger as Catholic and did not want to lose one of their own so they attempted to kidnap him. A representative from a Reclamation Organization came to Agata’s and Josef’s farm to take Ana and Oskar to Israel to live among others of the Jewish faith and that had also lost family in the Holocaust. Renata and her family had fled from Germany shortly after the war and she was always sworn to secrecy about her origins. These complex relationships, reasons and decisions that were made for these children affected them throughout their childhood and into adulthood. It was extremely sad that so many Jewish children were denied the lives they should have been able to live with their own parents because of the Holocaust. In the name of safety and survival, these Jewish children were indoctrinated into the ways of the church and lived with the families that agreed to take them in, hide them and keep them safe. How many of these children had assimilated so well into their new lives that their pasts were erased from their limited and dwindling memories? So many of these children were so young when they were placed with these new families. It was probably hard for them to remember much if anything about their former lives or families. How many of these children, over time, slowly forgot where they had come from and how they were raised?

I was surprised to discover how many of these families tried to deny the children they were charged with, the chance to be reunited with their family members that had survived the Holocaust. How confusing it must have been for these children! It is hard to believe that the church and the families that had taken these Jewish children in during the Holocaust often refused to relinquish these children from their hold after the war ended.

Ana, Oskar, Roger and Renata rebuilt their lives over time. They all found themselves living in Israel. It was there, in Israel, that with the help from others that understood their history and needs that they were finally able to begin to find the answers to their many questions, and that they were able to forge a path towards their acceptance of their past.

These four characters that Jennifer Rosner described so vividly were each affected by their own traumatic experiences during the Holocaust. Their experiences affected their lives in similar and different ways. Jennifer Rosner masterfully addressed the subjects that affected each one of these characters in her book. Other authors have written about the many children that were hidden in Catholic orphanages or taken in by and hidden by non-Jewish families in order to save them from the atrocities the Nazis were committing against the Jewish population of Europe. None have ever addressed, as far as I know, the noncompliance of those charged with keeping these children safe during the Holocaust, in returning these children to Jewish organizations or surviving family members. I do not believe that the trauma these decisions had on these children have ever been addressed either. In my opinion, Jennifer Rosner’s impeccable research and numerous interviews helped her present the impact these subjects played on each character in a very believable way. Once We Were Home was about survival, adaptability, loss, fear, survival, family, love, acceptance and longing. I was so completely taken by the stories of Ana, Oskar, Roger and Renata. I highly recommend Once We Were Home by Jennifer Rosner.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this audiobook of Once We Were Home by Jennifer Rosner through Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Audiobook Review - This is a very powerful historical fiction. You often hear about Jewish children who were placed with Christian families during the war for their own protection, but you don't often hear about these same children being kept and even hidden from their surviving family members after the war. The impact that these decisions, to keep the children from their people, followed these children all the way into adulthood. Highly recommended for all historical fiction collections!.

This was a powerful audiobook. Hearing about what happened to so many Jewish children being taken from their parents during wartime was heart wrenching. It was powerful to hear the stories of the four children portrayed in the book and how the choices made for them affected them as children and into adulthood. It was also fascinating to hear about the perspectives of the adults making these critical decisions. The narrators were outstanding and really helped bring each of the children's stories to life for me. Historical fiction has become one of my favorite genres and this was a standout. I cannot stop thinking about it.

This audio is pretty powerful. We follow several children who were stolen during war time. As they have tried to build new lives over the years, their stories are beginning to be told. Some of the children were stolen, but other families chose to place their children with others and Christian orphanages to keep their Jewish children safe. Roger, Renata, Ana and her baby brother Oskar are some of the children affected.

Ana and Oskar are smuggled out of the ghetto of a Polish ghetto and take on new identities with Farmers. Ana is old enough to remember her parents but Oskar is too young. Their mother stayed behind with their sick father.

Roger is living in a monastery in France and his friend Henri were close and I loved the jokes and stories they told. Anywhere you can find enjoyment during these dark times, is a blessing. Roger has an aunt who has been searching for him for years.

Renata story has her finishing her degree at Oxford and travels to Jerusalem. She has not been told the truth about her past.

This was my first novel by this author, and I ordered a physical copy so I can re-read in the future. Its heart wrenching and emotional how parents and people could make the ultimate sacrifice to save the ones they love.

Where Do I belong?

Based on true stories this novel is one of the children of WWII who were displaced during the war. After the war some relatives tried to claim them, but the Catholic church and the families fostering them were reluctant to return the children. The children were often reluctant to leave their foster families because they were too young to remember their real families and the foster families were mom and dad to them. Some were stolen from Poland because they looked Aryan and were given to German families to raise. It is a story of children uprooted from their homes and transplanted elsewhere.

As these children in the story eventually ended up in Palestine they would wonder where they really belonged. They would set down roots, but some would search for their real families. It was quite an upheaval for these children and left them feeling like they didn't really belong anywhere.
It focuses around four main characters. Ana and Oskar sent from the Polish ghetto to a Christian family in Poland. Oskar is too young to remember his parents and longs to stay with the Polish family. When he is stolen along with Ana and taken away he is very unhappy. Roger who was sent to a French monastery and hidden by the church until eventually they relinquished him to go to Palestine. Renata is an archeology student who has always tried to find out about her past and why her mother and her had to flee Germany so quickly when she was a young girl.

These children carried some heavy baggage between them and some were moved from place to place before finally being sent to Palestine. One of them thought she was Jewish, married a Jewish man and found out she was German. It caused all kinds of mental and emotional problems for these children which lasted long into their adult lives.

It was quite an interesting story, it is something I have heard little about, but so many children were affected. I would think it would be a terrible burden to carry to not know who your parents were, where they came from and why you were sent to live elsewhere. Under what circumstances, and why then were you uprooted again when you were happy where you were? These and more questions were ones these young people asked themselves and each other.

Can the uprooted really feel rooted in a new and strange environment and can they ever really feel like it is where they belong and can they call it home?

What a powerful story, I enjoyed listening to the audio book. The narrators did a wonderful job, they were pleasant to listen to and easy to understand. I recommend this story.

Thanks to Jennifer Rosner for all her research and for writing a great story, to Gabra Zackman and Vikas Adam for the great narration, to Macmillan Audio for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the audio book to read and review.

Gosh, how do I describe this book? Tragic? Yes. Also, hopeful. I can see so many different angles to the decisions that were made in this story and all of them make sense. Oskar’s story and relationship with the only parents he knew really tugs the heartstrings.

🌀Synopsis
Oskar and Ana are shuttled out of the Polish ghetto to help them escape the Germans in WWII. They are sent to live with a Christian family and that family is the only one Oskar can remember.
When they are stolen from that family, Oskar is devastated. He doesn’t want to leave the only family he’s known and he doesn’t want to leave Christianity behind to be a Jew again. However, life keeps going on. They move from place to place before finally landing in Israel- which is where they stay permanently.
Oskar and his sister grow up and have kids but Oskar still keeps in touch with his old “family.” Ana finally realizes how much they meant to him and with the death of one of them, she realizes how much they meant to her too.

A beautifully crafted and important story examining the lives of Jewish children separated from their families during the Holocaust and the tragic aftermath. The narrator was excellent and the story heartfelt and heartbreaking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this audiobook.

This author was new to me. I had not read her previous novel, The Yellow Bird Sings, but plan to after reading this book. I have read many WWII novels, but have not read one from this same perspective. It tells the story of four children who were evacuated from their homes during the war and the challenges they had after the war. Ana and Oskar, brother and sister were sent to live with a Christian family friend during the war. When the war is over, Ana remembers her birth family, while Oskar, who is younger does not. Roger, a Jewish boy is evacuated to a Catholic church and raised and baptized as a Catholic. Renata spends her life trying to figure out the secrets that her mother kept about why they left Germany when she was a little girl.. The book helps us to see the challenges these children faced when they are forced to confront their pasts and live in a new world. The afterward tells us how the book is based on the true stores of children who were stolen and/or evacuated during WWII. The author does a wonderful job using beautiful language to bring her characters to life. I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrators, Gabra Zackman and Vikas Adam were amazing in making the characters believable and real. The author interview with the narrators at the end is a wonderful bonus.

I know that there is a lot of WW2 novels that have come out lately but this one is different. It begins towards the end of the war and focuses on the surviving Jewish children who were hidden either in a monastery or with Christian families. I liked how the different storylines intersected towards the end. I just wish there was more!