Day After Night, by Anita Diamant is a novel that depicts the fates of women refugees at Atlit detainee camp near Haifa, Israel in 1945. I, personally, did not know the existence of Atlit detainee camp. There are over 200 mainly Jewish detainees being held as illegal immigrants, at the camp. The arrived there, however they could, whether it be by boats, by foot, or by being smuggled in somehow. The novel is based on historical fact. The primary characters are four women from varying backgrounds who have managed to survive the Holocaust.

Suffering is a strong theme within story, and how it is woven into the lives of the four young women in Day After Night. There is Zorah who survived a concentration camp, whose life is so haunted by atrocitites that she has become numb. Shayndel is Polish and a zionist, while Tedi is a Dutch Jew. Then there is Leonie, a beautiful young woman, who is from Paris. Each woman has a unique story to tell.

The camp is run by the British, and has barbed wire surrounding it, and watchtowers with guards watching over the camp in order to keep the prisoners inside. In the prisoners’ minds it is as if they are in a concentration camp. The British don’t look highly upon the detainees, and often treat them as less than human. They are not welcome in the land of milk and honey. It isn’t enough that the detainees have gone through the horrors and horrendous events of the Holocaust. Within the confines of Atlit they are once again trying to survive, once again trying to figure out how to escape the conditions they find themselves in.

The four women are depicted with vivid images, and with a range of emotions, and mindsets, that expand into their daily life at Atlit. Diamant’s use of language is bold, often harsh within its dynamic presentation. Yet, it is often simple, as she depicts how each individual tries to communicate in their new environment. There are no political niceties within the pages, but there are frank glimpses of history, and of mankind’s cruelty, including insensitive and verbal cruelty.

Each woman carries their individual burdens, burdens of the past that that can’t help but eventually cross over into their lives in the present. Some refuse to acknowledge their past, and try to keep incidents, losses and events hidden within compartments inside their mind. Others accept what was given them to carry through life, but try not to let it interfere in the present, so they can work towards a renewed future. There is the anger which often does not take much prompting to be spewed out. And, there is passivity and complacency within the confines of their internment situation.

Within the core of each individual is a desire for a new beginning, a yearning to be able to begin life anew in Israel. Their hopes, dreams and longings are what keep them going, through their humdrum existence in the camp. Life deals them hard knocks that they have to manage with. Diamant has demonstrated their fears, longings, and dreams with a masterful hand. She vividly portrays their adjustments within their imprisonment. Their imprisonment is often self-inflicted, within the camp setting, as they try to adjust to their new surroundings. She brings us a story line that is unique, seen through the eyes of the four women, who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, circumstances in Israel before its Statehood. Politics is a strong undercurrent, running parallel to the stories of the women.

Diamant demonstrates the varied degrees of anti-semitism within the camp situation, as each woman looks for a glimmer of hope that will set them free to live in Israel, in a kibbutz. The British were less than sensitive. There isn’t much joy evoked within the pages, and from one minute to the next, the women can seem to have flat characters, almost robotic. How could there be joy or happiness under the circumstances that the women find themselves in? They are prisoners once again, almost a double binding, as they are behind barbed wire a second time.

At times it seems as if some of the wording is geared towards a high school level. In my opinion this was done intentionally, in order to blend together the detainees who have come from various ends of the earth, along with their native language. Communicating within the camp environment was not easy. Not everyone knew Yiddish, and not everyone could speak Hebrew or speak English. They learned to communicate in simple fashion. The reader must read between the lines. The prose is strong, the concept is compelling, and Anita Diamant writes with a controlled sharpness. She demonstrates a unique Holocaust aftermath, one that we don’t hear too much about.

I recommend Day After Night for its educational and historical value, bringing the reader a new perspective on the after-effects of the Holocaust.
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September 15, 2009 – 26th of Elul, 5769