Reviewed By:

Jack Magnus

Review Rating:

5 Stars

Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite

Save Me Twice: Based on a True Story is an historical fiction novel written by E. A. Dustin. It was a sound everyone instinctively feared — the repeated pounding on a door late at night and the harsh demands for entrance. Karl listened as his mother anxiously asked who was knocking, and knew that the answer would be the one they all dreaded — the SS. Karl wondered why they would be there at this hour, at their house. He and his brother had been faithful attendees at the required Hitler Jugend meetings. They had not done anything to attract this visit. He was stunned to hear that the soldiers had indeed come for him and his brother, Hans, even more so when he recognized the voice of one of the soldiers; it was Albert, a childhood playmate who had been to their house many times before. Karl didn’t understand why they would be calling up young adults now, in 1944, when the war was nearly over. He and Hans were part of a last-ditch effort to shore up the border between Germany and the east. All boys aged 12 years and up were being conscripted, and their time had come.

E. A. Dustin historical fiction novel, Save Me Twice: Based on a True Story, is an engrossing story based on her father’s own wartime experiences. She includes excerpts of his hand-written accounts throughout the story that serve to remind the reader that, yes, this did happen — and here is a survivor’s account. I’ve long been a student of the Second World War and the Holocaust, and have read a number of historical accounts, but each one seems to bring me new insights into a tragedy that must never be forgotten. Save Me Twice is no exception. While I was familiar with accounts of German adults conscripted into the war, I had no direct knowledge of the experiences of those young people who were forced into action. I found Karl’s descriptions of Mauthausen chilling and unforgettable, and his final uncertain train ride in a cattle car was powerful and evocative. Save Me Twice: Based on a True Story is most highly recommended.