Book Review: My Real Name Is Hanna by Tara Lynn Masih

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Real Name is Hanna begins in the present day from the perspective of adult Hanna Slivka (who now goes by Marcelina Rosenberg) as she shares her story with her daughter. She details the experiences she and her family went through between 1941-1945 as they struggled to survive the Holocaust in their hometown of Kwasova in Ukraine during WWII – events that led to her family finally leaving behind their home, their country and even their real names.

The story begins with a brief picture of the changing political landscape as the Nazi occupy Ukraine and the growing intolerance and discriminatory practices against the Jewish population that follows. Fourteen-year-old Hanna’s life changes as she can no longer move about freely, is unable to attend school and her family struggles to make ends meet with the meager rations allotted to them. While most of their acquaintances turn away from them, they do find kindness in a few who are willing to help them including their neighbor, Mrs. Petrovich, with whom Hanna shares a beautiful friendship. As the Germans call for <i>"Judenfrei”</i>, a Jew-free Ukraine, the Slivka family is forced to flee their home and take shelter in a cabin in the forest to avoid being hunted, deported, or killed. When they sense they are no longer safe there, the Slivka family, along with others, make their way to the gypsum caves near the valley further away from their shtetele where they spend over one year in hiding. What follows is a harrowing account of a family forced to fight illness, starvation and the constant threat of discovery and their struggle to stay alive and keep one another safe.

“Abram Slivka (my Papa)

Eva Slivka (my Mama)

Hanna Slivka (14 years old, loves to read)

Leeba Slivka (12 years old, loves to sew)

Symon Slivka (10 years old, a really good boy

who loves his dog)

Ovid (our dog)

Steed (our horse)

We all lived in this house until October 12, 1942. If 

you find this, 

say these names out loud, please, and bury this paper 

in the yard.”

Just as other works that revolve around the Holocaust, this is not an easy read. I did like how the author weaves bits of Ukrainian and Jewish traditions, culture and folklore throughout the narrative. The author’s note at the end of the book states that though this book is a work of fiction, the story was inspired by the true account of the Stermer family (reference Esther Stermer’s memoir "We Fight to Survive") who spent over 500 days in gypsum caves to avoid capture by the Germans. She also mentions that only 5 % of Jews in all of Ukraine survived the Holocaust.

Tara Lynn Masih’s My Real Name is Hanna is a story about courage, resilience and survival. This is an important, well-written and well-researched story - the kind that should be read and shared and never forgotten. Though the target audience is YA and thus the tone is somewhat subdued, I feel that this would appeal to adults who are interested in historical fiction set in the WWII era.