The German Girl

The German Girl is a historical novel written by Cuban journalist and editor Armando Lucas Correa. It interweaves the stories of Anna Rosen, a 12-year-old girl living in New York in 2014, and Hannah Rosenthal, her great aunt, whose journey begins as a 12-year-old Jewish girl living in Nazi-occupied Berlin in 1939. Anna’s story revolves around a trip to Cuba to visit her great aunt Hannah, while Hannah’s story primarily centers around her journey onboard the MS St. Louis ocean liner, which carried more than 900 Jewish refugees away from Nazi Germany in 1939 only to be denied entry to Cuba on the other side of the Atlantic.

Both Anna and Hannah’s stories are marked by loss. Anna lost her father in the 9/11 attacks in New York City, while Hannah lost friends and family in her passage from Germany to Cuba, as well as back in Europe throughout the war. But perhaps the two protagonists’ strongest link is the fact that Hannah raised Anna’s father, a man named Louis, whom Anna never knew. When Anna receives a package from her Aunt Hannah, it inspires Anna and her mother to travel to Cuba to learn about their family’s past, but especially, in Anna’s case, to learn more about her father.

The novel has four parts. In the first part, Anna prepares for her trip to Cuba to visit her great aunt Hannah. In Hannah’s narrative, which takes place in 1939 Berlin, Nazi sentiments are beginning to take root, and Jewish families are losing their businesses, homes, and identities. Hannah’s family secures passage to Cuba, where they only plan to stay briefly before moving on to the United States.

The second part of the novel is told entirely from Hannah’s point of view. It is written as a series of diary entries spanning the two weeks it takes the St. Louis to travel from Germany to Cuba and chronicles the colorful events and adventures that transpire during the passage.

The third part of the novel resumes the alternating narrative structure of Anna and Hannah’s tales. In this section, Anna and her mother visit Hannah at her home in Havana and learn about their family’s history, while Anna develops a relationship with a local boy named Diego. Hannah’s narrative covers the span from 1939 to 2014 and chronicles the life she and her mother lead in Havana.

The fourth part is a brief portrait of Hannah’s last moments.

The novel is lauded primarily as a unique take on a little-known episode of Holocaust history. It unites the cultures and histories of Germany, New York, and Cuba; the languages of Spanish, English, and German; and the events of World War II, September 11, and the present day. Though told primarily from the perspectives of two 12-year-old girls, it deals with themes such as loss, death, war, suicide, and the power of the past.