I read the book A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen, which is historical fiction. It follows a girl named Gerta who lives on the East side of Germany. After WW2, America, France, and Britain controlled the West side, and the Soviets controlled the East side. Seemingly out of nowhere, a wall was built, separating the two sides. Unluckily, Gerta’s father and her other brother were gone that night. Although they were supposed to return that morning, the wall stopped them, dividing Gerta’s family in half. Gerta is left with her other brother, Fritz, and her mother. The citizens of the East Side are constantly watched and kept in line by some of their own East German citizens-turned soldiers and the secret police. Interestingly, the secret police visit Gerta’s family regularly, and keep files on all of them, because her father was a part of an uprising a while ago. Fritz thinks that having a file on you results in being “branded a potential enemy of the state. It doesn’t matter to them if I’ve done anything wrong. They just figure I will” (Nielsen 61). Over many years, Gerta has not seen her father or brother at all. Suddenly, when walking to school, she spots her father on the other side of the wall. Although it poses a risk, she continues to try to spot her father, and brother. Her father ends up giving Gerta a message, to visit a building that’s part of the Berlin wall. Gerta ends up figuring out that there is a tunnel under the building, and she needs to tunnel under the wall with her mother and Fritz to freedom. If she gets caught, the punishment will be death. If she escapes, she will be able to live freely with her family, on the better side of the wall. Some of the main themes in the story are trust and caution, and freedom vs. communism. Trust and caution is a key theme because in the book, no one knows who to trust because there are informants everywhere. Interestingly, there is a member of the secret police called Viktor. He used to be a family friend, but now he turned against friends to become a soldier. Fritz talks about him, saying, “‘Viktor and I used to be friends. He was a good guy… once” (Nielsen 74). Freedom vs. communism is a main theme because Gerta and her family are stuck in the Russian side of Germany, and communism is keeping everyone poor and keeping the place from thriving like it could. The book I read is very informing, and interesting. Before reading it, I never knew about the Berlin wall, and its dire consequences. This story relates to my life because the Berlin wall was a real thing that impacted many lives, and something similar could occur if history repeats itself. Additionally, I agree with the book and its values. Life was very difficult on the Eastern side of Germany, and escape was a prominent requirement for long term survival for a family like Gerta’s. Overall, the story was very informing, and I would definitely read it again.
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