In an online interview, Arnost
Lustig, author of Lovely Green Eyes: A
Novel, poses the question, "Why is life precious for some people and
for others it’s worthless?" (Central Europe Review (22 October 2001) vol. 3, no 28) His
answer is this gut wrenching novel about the Holocaust and one Jewish girl
heartbreaking choice to escape death in a concentration camp by hiding her
ethnicity and by becoming an army prostitute for the Germans.

Lovely
Green Eyes is set during the closing months of World War II. Fifteen-year
old Hanka Kaudersova is the last surviving member of her family at
Auschwitz-Birkenau. Bright and beautiful, she has been selected by Dr. Krueger
to clean his surgery, however, when Dr. Krueger blunders by grafting Jewish
skin onto a frost bitten German officer, he is condemned to be sent to the
Front. Hanka, knowing that retribution generally extends to camp workers and is
convinced she will be sent to the gas chamber for Krueger’s faux pas. That
night when a blackout occurs in the medical facility, Hanka is given a second
chance at life. Posing as an eighteen-year old Aryan, Hanka slips into a line
of girls interviewing for positions in a field brothel. She is accepted and so
is born “Skinny” aka “Lovely Green Eyes.” At Feldbordell No. 232 Ost, Skinny
spends twenty-one traumatic days as an army prostitute servicing twelve to
fifteen men daily. After the War, Hanka goes to Prague to re-establish her
life. There she meets rabbi Gideon Schapiro who tries to work with her on the
religious and ethical repercussions she is feels about her choices. She also
meets and befriends two equally young Holocaust survivors, Erwin Adler and
Jindra Kraus. While each part opens with Hanka’s post-war attempts to
re-assimilate in Prague, the bulk of the novel’s chapters focus on Skinny’s experiences
at Feldbordell No. 232 Ost.

Hanka/Skinny is a very complex
character with reactions that are often not easy to understand. At first, I was
a bit annoyed by Hanka’s ho-hum attitude towards her whole experiences at the
Feldbordell, but finally, I came to realize that by staying unresponsive and
non-reactive to what was happening to her body and to those around her, she was
able to survived by causing no waves. By simply being mediocre, she was able to
pass through awful situations without being noticed or remembered. Most minor
characters past through the story in a mindless blur much like the repetitive
lists of men that formed her daily quota. Only the compassionate Captain Daniel
Hentschel and the dangerous Obersturmfuhrer Stefan Sarazin stand out.

Lovely
Green Eyes is not an emotionally easy book to read. It has very graphic
violence and the sexuality, while not as graphically descriptive, is hardily for
the prudish. The sheer inhumane treatment of humans and animals was shocking
and repulsive to me. I found the most
interesting section of the book to be “Part Three” wherein Hanka works with
Rabbi Schapiro to try to interpret her choices and experiences in light of
Torah. It challenged me to reflect on how easy it is to judge others who have
made what look on the surface to be terribly unethical choices without a
heartfelt exploration of the individual’s actual lived experiences.

Arnost Lustig is a Holocaust
survivor. He was born in Czechoslovakia. At the age of 16, he was sent first to
Thereseinstadt, then to Auschwitz – where his father died in the gas chambers, and
finally to Buchenwald. After the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, he
immigrated to the United States. He is a professor of literature at American
University. He has more than 20 works in print, including: Dita Saxova (1979, Revised1994), Night and Hope (Translated by George Theiner, 1985), A Prayer for Katerina Horovitzova
(1985), Darkness Casts No Shadow
(Translated by Jeanne Nemocova, 1985), Diamonds
of the Night (Translated by Jeanne Nemocova, 1986), Indecent Dreams (Translated by Vera Borkovec, 1988), Jewish Lives Series: Children of the
Holocaust (1995), Jewish Lives
Series: The House of Returned Echoes (Translated by Josef Lustig 2000) and Jewish Lives Series: The Bitter Smell of Almonds
(2001). He lives in Washington, D.C. Lovely
Green Eyes: A Novel (2002) is his latest novel.

Lovely Green Eyes by
Arnost Lustig is gut wrenching and thought provoking look at the lives of Jews
and non-Jews in German controlled Eastern Europe at the close of World War II.
It is not a pretty picture and this not an easy read. It is, however, a
necessary picture of the harsh realities of life in war torn and occupied
regions for the local residents. I highly recommend this novel.

© 2002 Su Terry

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at
Dowling College, Long Island, NY. Interests in Mental Health: She is interested
in the interplay between psychology, biology, and mysticism. Her current area
of research is in the impact of hormonal fluctuation in female Christian
mystics.

Categories: Fiction