Erika's Story

Erika is a woman who falls into conversation with the author and her husband when they are returning from a trip to Jerusalem. She tells the tale of how she, as an infant, was rounded up with her family from an unnamed Jewish ghetto during the war and packed into a train bound for a concentration camp. Alone of her family, she is saved by acts of desperation and compassion. No other events occur in the story, which is told in double spaced lines of spare prose over ten pages of print, punctuated with emblematic stars of David. The minimalist storytelling and text layout are accompanied by Innocenti's grim, photo-realistic depictions of pre-massacre transportation scenes. These are in stark black and white, but the story is framed by colour pictures of contemporary life, emphasising Erika's gratitude for her survival. This is a physically striking and distinctive book, its text and pictures blending to tell a story of the utmost simplicity and significance.