Book Blurb:
SS Private Max Schrader is a brutal Nazi guard at Dachau concentration camp. While he is ruthless towards the Jewish prisoners trapped behind the barbed wire, the Nazi soldier does have one soft spot: he loves animals, especially cats.
When Max finds an injured cat near the front gate of Dachau one day, he nurses the feline back to health. Max happily adopts the cat, named Faust, and comes to love his precious new pet. But it seems that Faust is searching for something: every day, the cat follows Max to Dachau and searches the concentration camp.
As Max attempts find what his pet his looking for, his worldview will be shattered…and his sins may cost him dearly.
A Cat at Dachau is a heart-wrenching short story by award-winning author Elyse Hoffman.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/JBMz7n
Author Bio:
Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. Having studied WWII since the age of thirteen and with interests in fantasy and Jewish folklore, she loves to combine them in her writing. Elyse started writing novels at fourteen and finished her first historical fiction work at fifteen. She has published eight books: five in a series called The Barracks of the Holocaust, and three novels, including The Book of Uriel, Where David Threw Stones, and Fracture. In her spare time, she loves to read, work on pretty keyboards, and hang out with her co-authors - her Goldendoodle Ari and her ex-feral cat, Echo.
Editorial Review:
The guards at Dachau concentration camp had been trained to regard the prisoners as less than animals... Real animals, however, rarely ventured through the gates.
In a mere span of fifty-two pages, Elyse Hoffman weaves a narrative of profound discomfort, one that resonates with the innermost echelons of human emotion, forcing us to grapple with the uncomfortable truths that lie dormant beneath the surface of our consciousness. The prose, while adorned with the grace of language, delves into realms that stir empathy and evoke disquiet in equal measure. In the quiet recesses of its pages, a story unfolds - a tale of a young SS soldier, SS Private Max Schrader, who walks a fine line between the inhumane cruelty of his role at Dachau concentration camp and the glimmer of a connection to his own humanity.
“Don't you worry, little fellow,” he said. “We'll find your human, and if not, I'll be your human. You'll like it here at Dachau. Plenty of mice and plenty of nice people.”
It is a peculiar affinity that stirs within Max, a fondness that sets him apart from the banality of his cruel comrades. A fondness, unexpected yet undeniable, for creatures with fur and whiskers, particularly the delicate elegance of felines. Amidst the horror that shrouds Dachau, Max discovers an injured tabby, fragile as life itself, near the unforgiving gates of the camp. And so, in this unsuspecting meeting, the catalyst is unveiled - a connection is forged, a bond that shall permeate the darkest corners of his soul.
The Jew was punished for that made-up offense, of course. He got Twenty-Five, and after that, he died. Max couldn't care less about that, though. A subhuman was worth far less than the comfort of a cute little cat.
The injured tabby, christened Faust, becomes a fragile embodiment of tenderness within Max's hardened existence. Through his meticulous care, Max nurses Faust back to health, a glimmer of compassion in a world where such sentiments are eclipsed by darkness. Yet, Faust is no ordinary cat, for each day, he shadows Max's footsteps, traversing the grim expanse of the camp, seeking something that eludes human comprehension.
As the story unfurls, it peels away the layers of Max's convictions, forcing him to confront the unsettling reality of his actions. Max's burgeoning empathy, kindled by his relationship with Faust, stands in stark contrast to the atrocities that surround him. Through Faust's unwavering presence, Max's perception of the world shifts, fractures in the façade of dehumanization reveal themselves, and a newfound vulnerability comes to the fore.
"A Cat at Dachau," penned by the adept hand of Elyse Hoffman, lingers with an ineffable resonance, casting shadows of empathy, horror, and introspection upon the reader's consciousness. In the confines of a brief yet potent narrative, Elyse transcends the limitations of language to sketch a tale that speaks to the intricacies of humanity's capacity for both cruelty and redemption. It is a contemplative exploration of a moment in history where the fragility of a cat's presence managed to unravel the tightly-wound tapestry of human indifference.
As he stared out at the mass of identical subhumans, Max found himself wondering how many of them had pets at home. Maybe a few were dog people, some preferred cats, a few may have had both or maybe a bird or a lizard instead.... He wondered how many of the prisoners here, whatever their crime against the state – subterfuge or a joke or merely existing as a Jew – had a pet at home that mourned them as much as Faust mourned Jakob.
To turn the pages of this narrative is to traverse the spectrum of emotion, to be drawn into the labyrinthine psyche of a young Nazi guard. Through a lens that distorts the familiar and unfurls the enigmatic, we bear witness to the coalescence of love and horror, compassion and cruelty. It resonates as a testament to the multifaceted nature of humanity, and as a reflection upon the countless lives that found themselves ensnared within the clutches of a conflict that defied comprehension.
And so, we traverse these pages, embracing the disquietude and seeking illumination within the shadows, much like Max himself as he embarks on a quest that shatters the boundaries of his reality. "A Cat at Dachau" beckons us to reflect upon history's harrowing contours, to question the nuances of complicity and resistance, and ultimately, to unearth the resonances that remind us of the indefatigable thread that binds us all - our shared humanity. Heartbreaking and a definite worthy read for any reader who absorbs stories set during WW2.
*****
“A Cat at Dachau” by Elyse Hoffman receives five stars and the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence from The Historical Fiction Company
Award:
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