And the Violins Stopped Playing: A Story of the Gypsy Holocaust

Based on a true story, Ramati's novel depicts the atrocities committed by the Germans against the Gypsies during World War II. In the early 1940s, Roman Mirga learns that Gypsies in Germany are being rounded up and shipped to ""relocation camps'' for extermination. He warns his clan about the impending danger but is able to convince only a handful of them to flee with his familyto Hungary. When the Nazis invade, however, the Gypsies are deported to Auschwitz, and the family is able to spare Roman's younger sister only by dropping her from the deportation train while en route to the camp. At Auschwitz the Gypsies become slave workers; Roman is forced to help Dr. Mengele with his experiments on twins, and his father must play the violin for the Jews as they are herded into the gas chambers. Roman witnesses each member of his family die before he is able to escape. Awkward expository passages and one-dimensional characters vitiate the effect of this memorial to victims of Hitler's racial policies. (September 29)