Light and Shadows - Paperback

by Karen Batshaw (Author)

Rich in historical detail, Light and Shadows will transport you to Greece in the 20th century, and the mostly unknown events that occurred in that part of the world. This is a story of love and courage between two people who meet as young children. Their closeness only grows as they become adults. Because they are of different religions they know that marriage between them is not possible. The story begins with the massacre of the Ottoman Greeks and the Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey. The other unknown event is the brutal occupation of northeast Greece by the Bulgarian Occupiers during the second world war. At first the Bulgarians tried to force out the Greek Orthodox, to make room for Bulgarian settlers. They tried to wipe out any vestige of the Greek culture and language. The last phase of their occupation was the transport of the Greek Jews to Treblinka which resulted in their total annihilation. Light and Shadows, the second in the historical fiction series of Greece in the 20th century reveals the untold story of the joys and tragedies that befall the Greek people. It is the story of courage and defiance against overwhelming odds. For those who have read Hidden in Plain Sight the first in this series, Light and Shadows presents Rebecca, a Jewish woman very different than Anna. Rebecca chooses a radically different path for herself after the war. Light and Shadows also introduces Andreas a Greek Orthodox man who suffers from PTSD after witnessing his family's death as a young boy during the Turkish genocide of the Ottoman Greeks.Light and Shadows begins in 1922 Smyrna, a beautiful cosmopolitan city in Turkey. The Serafis family disregards the rumors of the approaching Turkish cavalry, due to the presence of 27 war ships belonging to the Great Powers that are anchored in their harbor. Surely they will be safe with that protection. Unfortunately the economic interests of the Great Powers particularly their dependence on oil causes them to turn their backs on the Christians living in Smyrna, resulting in a brutal massacre. In 1941, the Solomons, a Jewish family has lived in Greece for centuries. The Axis divide Greece between its allies. The town of Kavala is given to the Bulgarians. Rebecca, the youngest daughter has never married because her family did not have enough means to provide a dowry for her. She and her family have no idea of the fate that awaits them at the hands of the Bulgarians who are aligned with the Nazis.Light and Shadows tells the story of the two children Andreas and Rebecca who meet after Andreas have been orphaned. Rebecca rescues him, finding a family who agrees to raise him as their son. As so begins a life long friendship between the two children which lasts until adulthood and the take over of Greece by the Axis Powers in World War II. The path of their lives intertwine during the war, and they each find a unique way to live with the tragedies in their pasts.