The Sound of Freedom

Kacer, Kathy. The Sound of Freedom. 2017. 249p. ISBN 978-1-55451-969-9. Available at FIC KAC on the library shelves.

Ever since Hitler came to power in neighboring Germany, the Jews of Poland have lived uneasily. Over the last three years incidents of antisemitism have been on the rise, and violence against Jews is tolerated and even encouraged by local authorities. In Krakow, Anna’s father works for the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches students. Anna herself is a talented clarinet player, and she hopes to follow in her father’s footsteps. When Anna witnesses the old butcher’s assault by a gang of thugs while the police observes but does not interfere, she knows it is time to leave the country. Yet Jews are not welcomed anywhere, so obtaining transit papers to live somewhere else is almost impossible. Her father does not want to leave anyway.

An announcement in the local newspaper declares that Bronislaw Huberman, the world-renowned violinist, seeks to create the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra and is hiring Jewish musicians from all over Europe. Anna sees this as her father’s chance at an exit ticket, and encourages him to apply. He demures, saying that things are not as bad. Anna and her grandmother, who lives with them, conspire and write a letter to Herr Huberman anyway, asking him to allow her father to audition. When Anna and her father are attacked by thugs at the Philharmonic Orchestra, he is forced to agree that the situation for Jews is worsening, and that he must find a way out of Poland.

As Jewish persecution intensifies throughout Europe, and as the seeds of the Holocaust are being sowed, the family’s future rests on the success or failure of this audition. But even if it is successful, they will have to adapt to a new country, where the return of Jews is not welcomed by the local Arab population.

Inspired by true events, The Sound of Freedom discusses a little-known aspect of Jewish immigration in the tense years leading to the Second World War and the Holocaust. Fans of historical fiction will appreciate Anna’s efforts to save her family from a doom she cannot identify but that she can feel is about to strike.