Moving and historically grounded: the survival story of a young "speedster" in Nazi-era Berlin
Berlin 1942: there is a pounding on the door and Jewish art student Henriette knows that she is to be the last of her family to be transported to the East and uses the few moments she has left to go into hiding. She is now a "streaker", making her way underground without an address and without a name. When she meets Benjamin, a fellow student she once disliked, the two become friends and their determination to survive welds them together. Again and again, their unsteady lives tear them apart and bring them back together until they realise their feelings for each other. But their little bit of happiness is threatened by the countless informers - and by Thorsten Reinhard, the Gestapo man who was in love with Henriette years before and has his very own reasons for wanting to keep her quiet.
Around 1,800 Jews survived the Nazi era in the Berlin underground. They were called "Flitzer". With Der Glashund (The Glass Dog), Iris Conrad memorialises them and their saviours a monument.
"Time and again, the persecuted were accused of not having defended themselves. It is often overlooked how many did. My novel tells the story of young Berliners who stood up to the hatred with courage, creativity and even a spark of gallows humour - and found a helping hand or two along the way. Not everyone made it - but some did." - Iris Conrad
