THE MAN FROM THE OTHER SIDE
The book by Uri Orlev The man from the other side gave insight of the struggles and conditions the Jewish and polishes people endured during World War Two in Warsaw. The story is about a young Polish boy named Marek who lived near the Warsaw ghettos. Marek had wanted nothing to do with the Jewish people until one day he is tasked to assist his stepfather Antony smuggle food and weapons through the sewer systems to the forbidden part of Warsaw where the Jewish are segregated from the rest of the polish population. Since Poland was occupied by the Nazi’s anyone caught helping Jews was immediately arrest and executed. Marek was an ordinary polish boy who had the values of the catholic religion instilled in him by his parents. Even thou Marek was a good Catholic he gave into temptation and assisted his friends Wacek and Janken mug a Jewish man fleeing the Nazi’s. He is caught by his mother who tells him about the Jewish people and their struggle and about the consequences the Jew had to face because of Mareks actions. He also finds out that his biological father was a Jew. After realizing what he had done he is overwhelmed with guilt and feels that he has to pay back the Jewish people somehow.
While praying at church Marek notices a man who frequently prays around the same time he dose. He notices that the man crosses himself differently than the way that he was taught. He decides totalk to the man one day and discovers that he was Jew hiding out in the church under the protection of the priest. Pan Jozek, the Jew From the church talks to Marek and tells him that he was travelling because he can no longer stay at the church and that he is seeking a place to hide temporarily until he finds something for long term. Marek saw this as an opportunity to make up for what he had done to the Jewish man he and his friends robbed. The new friendship he develops with Pan Jozak leads him to literally experience the pains and struggles that accompanied all Jewish people of that time period. Reading the book The Man from the Other Side gave me an insight of what it might have been like for many Jewish people during the Nazis occupation of Europe. I found the book to be very descriptive when it came to the battles that were fought within the Jewish Ghettos. While hiding in Mareks Grandmothers house Pan Jozek receives news of an uprising taking place in the ghettos against the Nazis. With this news Pan Jozek decides to return to the Jewish Ghettos to fight along with his community.
Because it was hard to enter or leave the Ghetto through the main gates Marek decides to smuggle Pan Jozek through the secret sewer tunnel that him and his stepfather used which was only located in his house. Once they start the journey part of the tunnel is caved in by an explosion from the fighting above. Marek is stranded in the Jewish Ghetto with Pan Jozek to fight the Nazis. I thought the story was very graphic because when Marek is in the battle along with the Jews he tells the reader of things he witnesses. He tells the reader about the burning Nazis soldiers along with descriptions of there screams and agony. He tells the reader about corpses scattered through the Jewish Ghetto and the filthy living conditions of the Jews. After reading this story it made me realize how lucky I was to be born when I was. It made realize how fortunate I am as a visible minority to be living in a society where racism and discrimination is not tolerated, and also because the conditions described in the book still exists in some parts of the world today.
I also thought there was ahidden message that could be interpreted differently by each reader. I thought the message behind the story was that racism stems from ignorance. Marek did not care to help the Jews before he met Pan Jozak. Because he never met a Jewish person before he was heavily influenced by his surroundings and the Nazis propaganda. But after he met Pan Jozak he had a change of heart about the Jewish people. I thought Marek finding out the truth about the Jewish people brought out the courage in him. Although he knew that his grandmother and his peers disliked Jews he still pleaded with her to let Pan Jozak stay with in her house, and risked his own life by guiding Pan Jozak back into the Jewish Ghetto. Overall I really enjoyed reading this because it gave a good insight life under the occupation of the Nazis regime. It also made me realize how good we have it hear in Canada because horrible conditions described in the book still exist today all around the world.