Those Who Save Us

A deeply affecting story of love, war, and guilt, "Those Who Save Us" draws you into the lives of Anna and her daughter Trudy. Through shifting timelines and emotional depth, Jenna Blum crafts a haunting tale about the price of survival and the silence that often follows trauma. This is a compelling choice for book clubs ready to explore themes of moral complexity, history, and mother-daughter bonds.

For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when they were liberated and brought to Minnesota by an American soldier. The only clue to Anna's past is a photograph showing her with Trudy and a Nazi officer.

Now a professor, Trudy begins to research the past, uncovering the truth about her mother's choices during the war. Blum skillfully weaves together the past and present in this emotional narrative of sacrifice, secrecy, and redemption.

1. How would you categorize Those Who Save Us - as a war story, a love story, a mother-daughter story? Why?

2. Discuss the novel's title. In what ways do the characters save each other in the novel?

3. What is Anna's attitude towards the Jewish people of Weimar? Does it change, and if so, how and why?

4. Is Anna's beauty a blessing or a curse? How does it shape her destiny and relationships?

5. Why does Mathilde risk her life to help the Buchenwald prisoners? Would American women act differently?

6. How does Anna's relationship with the Obersturmfuhrer affect her sense of self and her bond with Trudy?

7. Do you see the Obersturmfuhrer as a monster or human? How would his life differ in modern-day America?

8. Has the Obersturmfuhrer affected Anna's ability to love? How do you interpret her feelings for him?

9. Are Trudy's struggles with her mother rooted only in secrets, or is something deeper at play?

10. How does shame manifest in Trudy's life? Is it solely about her parentage and heritage?

11. Why does Anna keep her past silent? Is this fair to Trudy? Would you stay silent in her place?

12. Why does Rainer read a statement during his interview? What motivates his anger toward Trudy?

13. Why does Trudy get involved with Rainer? Would their relationship survive without past traumas?

14. What do Trudy's interview subjects reveal about German memory of the war?

15. Why does Blum end the novel with ambiguity? Do you see hope for Trudy and Anna?