The Umbrella Maker’s Son
Tod Lending
Harper Pub
Feb 11th, 2024
The Umbrella Maker’s Son by Tod Lending is heart wrenching with a bittersweet ending. The story goes deep into loss. How does Reuven, the Jewish Polish main character handle losing loved ones, how does he persevere, and is he strong enough to continue to want to live. He is a teenage Polish Jew who ends up taking an incredible journey to escape the Nazi occupation.
At the center of the story are Reuven Berkovitz and Zelda Abramovitch, who are in love and dream of a life together. That is, until the Nazis invade Poland. With terrifying brutality, the Nazis confiscate his family’s business, evict them from their home, and strip away their rights, threatening the lives of the city’s Jewish population. Zelda and her family decide to travel to her uncle’s farm, but shortly thereafter appear to disappear. Although Reuven and his family also decide to escape the Nazis, his desire is to be reunited with Zelda. Through his eyes, readers can see the brutality of the Nazis, as well as a local Polish farmer who has never met a Jew yet agrees to hide him because he needs help to work the farm. Unfortunately, the farmer’s wife is not as kind. Eventually Reuven must leave, embarking on a perilous journey through the Polish countryside, determined to reach the Kraków ghetto where he hopes to reunite with Zelda, whose life has also been forever changed by the horrors of occupation and war.
Although sad, this is a must-read story about war, heartache, loss, love, and resilience.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Tod Lending: In some ways I look at this book as an allegory to the story of Job. I wanted to show how someone could survive despite the horrible events they had to go through, the terrible losses and the sufferings. There were three major themes in the story: loss, love, and resilience. This is an important book for the younger generation who do not know much of the Holocaust history.
EC: What was the role of the umbrellas?
TL: I did not have a symbolic, metaphorical role. The idea of Reuven being the son of an umbrella maker came from my great grandfather, who was an umbrella maker in Warsaw Poland. It connected to my own ancestry and history. Although he did not flee the Holocaust he did flee the pogroms at the turn of the century.
EC: How would you describe Reuven?
TL: He was a young Jewish man who persevered. Resilient with a spirit that carried on. He had an inner drive to live. He was protective, grief-stricken, terrified, fearful, lonely, felt hopeless and guilty. But he also was brave. At the beginning of the book, he was well adjusted and was trying to fulfill his dreams. As things fell apart as the Nazis took over, he became shameful and humiliated. Feelings like fear, grief, guilt, and insecurity began to emerge as a reaction to the traumas he suffered. There were times he was fearful, but also times where he was fearless, times he felt completely numb, and for a moment he felt suicidal.
EC: Do you think he views his dad at the beginning of the book differently than at the end of the book?
TL: Yes. At the beginning of the book, he saw his dad as a weak figure and resented him for always giving in. He would not resist or defy even his wife. At the end of the book, he saw that his dad always had a reason for his actions. The dad was a gentle figure, sensitive, kind, and a man of integrity.
EC: What was the dynamics between Kaja, the Polish farmer’s wife and Reuven?
TL: At first, he was shocked and scared of her because she was profoundly antisemitic. What they both shared is loneliness. She did not want to be on the farm and fantasized in living in the city. She controlled him with Reuven terrified of her and feeling overpowered by her, while at the same time there were tender gentle moments because of the loneliness. He saw her as suspicious, unpredictable, angry, moody, distant, and seductive. He also saw that there was a part of her that found him attractive and connected to his loneliness. Some of the sex was about control and power for her. Yet, there were moments where each of them desired the other because of the loneliness, which superseded their repulsion of each other.
EC: What about the relationship between the Polish farmer, Stanislaw, and Reuven?
TL: There was a book quote where he told Reuven he was like a son to him, while at other times he treated him like one of the farm animals. He was illiterate but had farm knowledge. They respected and trusted each other including giving Reuven a sense of pride. At times Stanislaw could be determined and reckless. Reuven saw him as a model of manhood because of his strength.
EC: Does the book quote by Reuven “when facing the Germans we were so weak and so terrified of fighting back. There was no point,” signify an explanation of why many Jews did not fight back?
TL: This is how he sees it, answering the question of why the Jews did not fight back. For me, the answer to the question was partly that but also, as I point out in the book, the Germans made the Jews believe they were going to a better place. This is a very complicated question why there was not more resistance. It is hard to imagine without ever having been there.
EC: Reuven also ponders the question why did some Jews survive?
TL: This thought came from the last documentary I made about two Holocaust survivors. They answered this question 1000 times and they always answered, ‘it was a miracle.’ I asked them was it luck, smarts, and willpower? One story after another was told how if they had crossed the street at a different moment, they would have been dead. There is a quote by Reuven, ‘Without rhyme or reason, chance had saved me once again.’
EC: What about the relationship between Reuven and Zelda, the love of his life?
TL: When he first finds her, she has built a wall and tried to avoid him even though she was lonely. She is very traumatized having feared her brothers dead and she was sexually abused. Zelda felt she was not worthy because of her shame. She crawls into her shell to protect herself. But as time goes by, she does show him how much she cares for him, yet he sees her as quiet, withdrawn, and distant.
EC: The book delves into the ghetto. Please explain.
TL: Yes, there were numerous ghettos all over Poland, not just in Warsaw. In this book the setting was in Krakow. I talked about how the Germans cut off the Jews’ beards and took over ownership of Jewish businesses and belongings. They beat them, abused them, humiliated them, and hunted them as animals. What happened is beyond horrific and is unimaginable. I did do a lot of research. What Reuven and the other characters had gone through really happened. I did take a little writers’ poetic license with Reuven’s emotional and psychological reactions. I also had a Jewish historian review the book facts.
EC: Next book?
TL: It is not set in WWII but in 1982 in Chicago. The main character is Jewish. It is part love story, part crime story within the long shadow of the Holocaust. There are a lot of moral ambiguities. There is no working title and no publishing date.
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