Separated from loved ones, required to serve under a cruel leader, and forced to change their way of life are just few of the miseries people had to endure during the Holocaust. Joan M. Wolf’s story focuses on the true event of the destruction of the Czech town, Lidice, and on the Germanization of young children with Aryan qualities. In her novel, Someone Named Eva, Joan M. Wolf creates an intriguing plotline and a truly mesmerizing story.

In the spring of 1942, Milada Kralicek, an eleven-year old stargazer, lives with her family in the small town of Lidice, Czechoslovakia. Milada, with her sun-kissed hair and blue eyes, is a polite, amiable girl. She and her best friend, Terezie, spent their time that spring carefully planning their upcoming birthday parties but worry little about Hitler’s rising regime.

Babichka is Milada’s kind and wise grandmother. She strongly opposed Hitler’s reign. Babichka expressed her feelings towards him by spitting at the sound of his name and by ripping down his posters. When Nazis soldiers storm the town of Lidice, Babichka says to Milada, “Remember who you are Milada. Remember where you are from. Always.” Milada often recalled her grandmother’s words later when she faced difficulty in remembering her identity and her former life.

Soon after these parting words, Milada is torn apart from her family and from her beloved Czechoslovakia. She is sent to a Lebensborn camp in Poland with other young girls and is renamed Eva. At the camp, the girls are told that their blond hair and blue eyes mark ideal Aryan-like traits. The girls were also informed that they were the German salvation and from now on will serve under Hitler. Milada, defenseless to do otherwise, slowly adapts to her German lifestyle while cherishing the hope that her family will come rescue her one day.

Someone Named Eva tells of a young girl’s struggle to hold onto her true identity during a time of crisis. Joan M. Wolf’s novel is a powerful story that portrays a unique perspective on the Holocaust and its significant themes. It reminds us that we need to remember who we are even in the face of a dangerous foe.