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Aminat Awosanya HIST 1112-03

Formal Response PaperNovember 30, 2012

Under A Cruel Star, written by Heda Margolius Kovaly and published in 1986 is a

stimulating and powerful memoir of a Jew. It is a written account based on the early

struggles of Kovaly and many other Czechs during the occupation by Germany, which

is then followed by the Soviet Union finally leading to her victorious escape. The

expressiveness of Kovaly gives a strong perception of the trials faced by the

Czechoslovaks, which are mostly Jews, persuades the reader that the liberation

granted in these recent times have been selfishly relished, as the authority of these

oppressive regimes crush the brief liberation of the Czechs. In this book, Kovaly

symbolizes the voice of many Czechs, who were afraid of the consequences of being

forthright.

I studied World History in my secondary school and the occupation of

Czechoslovakia by Germany and Soviet Union and believed that I understood the

happenings of these major events in History. However, this book illustrated the truth

of what history books do not always explain. The Cruelty of Fascism is brought to

realization with this book as the promises of these regimes are later violated with the

indecent treatment of citizens. The opinion of the writer soon merges with that of the

reader, who begins to note the inefficiency of the people to rise against the leadership.

Kovaly’s experiences are detailed as she and her family had been affected by the

travesty all because she was Jewish. This memoir is not about her views of what had

happened to unknown people, but rather a real story that many people cannot relate

to and so they sympathize to. With the personalizing of this historical event Kovaly

communicates the hardship of not only just her, but also the other Jews and political

prisoners. When she escapes the concentration camp in Lodz also known as the

“Litzmannstadt Ghetto,” she faces rejection from some people she once knew before

German occupation, which later affects her as she learns to trust less people in her life

and got used to being alone when her husband was sentenced to death due to the

infamous “Slansky Case.” The violence many prisoners encountered with people being

shot cold blooded every day or locked in the gas chambers provides heavy gloominess

to her story. The fact that the population were all ridden with fear of the SS men and

also the black shirts during the two occupations, hints on the hope of the Czechs for

revolution and a very influential leader to overthrow the occupations.

I believe that her use of language is especially compelling that all audience of

different views and ideals are able to identify and relate to even though not by their

experiences. Kovaly talks about how many people lost their privacy as fear had been

driven into many people to the point that each neighbor spied on the other to protect

themselves. The reader would have believed that the helplessness of Kovaly was over

when the Germans had left Czechoslovakia to its devices, but her struggles continue on:

“when the Germans finally withdrew, I could go outside for the first time in years

without fear.” Kovaly struggles for years with the loss of all her family members and

then the loss of her husband, Rudolf Margolius, leaving her: “ lying in my bed as though it

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were a coffin. The streets of Prague were seething with rage. Rumor had it that I had

been kidnapped together with my child and taken abroad, that I was in jail, that I had

committed suicide. The truth was that there was not much left in me.”

Kovaly talks about losses in her life by beginning her story:

"Three forces carved the landscape of my life. Two of them crushed half the world. The

third was very small and weak and, actually, invisible. It was a shy little bird in my rib

cage an inch or two below my stomach. Sometimes in the most unexpected moments the

bird would wake up, lift its head, and flutter its wing in rapture. Then I too would lift my

head because, for that short moment, I would know for certain that love and hope are

infinitely more powerful than hate and fury, and that somewhere beyond the line of my

horizon there was life indestructible, always triumphant." (Page 5)

The most significant part of the book is Kovaly’s acceptance and awareness to the

struggle of the people and not just herself. Her ability to understand the reasons of

cruelty of the people towards her and others was due to fear without compromising her

judgement of their characters, but rather recognizes their fear with a mature

comprehension. Kovaly rarely blames herself for anything, and notices the reoccurrence

of anti-semitism under the Soviet occupation and did not see herself anything, but

human even when she was attacked in the streets due to her husband’s persecution. This

book does not just state how different kovaly is from others, who survived the German

AND Soviet annexing of Czechoslovakia it makes her more human as the reader can

sense her emotions and her lack of placing blame on everyone for what occurred to her,

but idolize her sense of acceptance alongside her ability to move on with her life and

seek a new journey. Her descriptions put to shame what many people had presumed of

what had occurred during that time period, giving her the ability to raise awareness to

many people who have never been experienced such calamity.