In the Land of Armadillos
In the Land of Armadillos is a collection of short stories set during the Holocaust of World War II, written by Helen Maryles Shankman, and published by Scribner in 2016. Author biography. Helen Maryles Shankman, currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children. But her original plan was to move to New York and attend art school there. Shortly after, she realized that her true passion wasn't art, but writing. She has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, was a finalist in Narrative Magazine's Story Contest, and earned an Honorable  Mention in Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers Competition. Her stories have appeared in: "The Kenyon Review, Cream City Review, Gargoyle, Grift, 2 Bridges Review, Danse Macabre," and "JewishFiction.net." Shankman was a finalist in "Narrative Magazine's" Winter Story Contest and earned an Honorable Mention in "Glimmer Train's" Short Story Award for New Writers competition. Main characters. Toby: Jewish painter who has lost all spirit and will to live after witnessing the slaughter of his brethren and finding out his sister has died. His passions for life and art have both fallen to the level of  trivialities during the war. Max Haas: German SS officer. He is fully aware of the lives he takes, yet he only admits to experiencing slight emotions when he kills others. He doesn't truly seem attached to anyone with the exception of Tobias Rey. Willy Reinhart: German officer who had compassion for Jews. He is known all throughout Poland for protecting "his Jews." Reinhart has many Jewish friends: Haskel Soroka, the saddlemaker, becomes one of Reinhart's most trusted confidants. Fraulein Rozycki: Toby's lover before the war. Adela:Max's maid who Toby has a crush on. Messiah:Also  known as Shua Tzedek. He is said to be the Messiah of the Jewish people. However when he finally appears to help his oppressed people, he says that he has quit. Later on Shua helps Jewish people escape from SS officers by flying up into the air and throwing thunderbolts at the SS officers. Reina: Jewish girl that Pavel is forced to look after. Also, the daughter of Haskel Soroka. She becomes friends with Pavel's dog Cezar, whom she names Fallada after a story that includes a talking horse. Pavel: Russian potato farmer who hates Jews. His abhorrence of  the Jewish leads him to frequently sell out anyone he suspects of being a Jew in hopes that they will be arrested. However he is forcibly changed, when he is put in charge of caring for a little Jewish girl. His iron heart is crushed when he is made the victim by the very people he was helping. Pavel is tough on the outside, but very caring on the inside. Hersh and Shayna: Brother and sister who help a lost man. In charge of the mill and wheat farm after their father died during the first week of fighting in  the war. Yossel: lost man that gets helped by Hersh and Shayna. He thinks that he is a golem and Shayna is his rabbi. His real name is supposedly David Truno who is a man who miraculously survived a mass shooting. Lukas Reinhart: Lukas is the grandson of Reinhart. His family is ashamed about Willy Reinhart's actions, so Lukas doesn't know much about his grandfather. He wishes to make up for these actions when he meets Julia and learn more about his grandfather Julia Soroka: The granddaughter of the saddlemaker Haskel Soroka. She is hesitant about meeting with  Lukas because of the relationship between their grandparents (Nazi officer and Polish Jew). Stefan: The old man that was telling the priest his story in "They Were Like Family To Me". He is caught while hunting in the forest by some German soldiers and accidentally sells out the Singer family when he shows the German soldiers the tracks in the snow. The Singer Family: Jewish friends of Stefan. They vanished from the ghetto they were placed in and were thought to have maybe either vanished into the forests or to live with friends or farmers. Zosha: Zosha was like a  sister to Zev. She saw Zev last before he ran away. Zev: Zev was like a brother to Zosha. He struggled in school and would get into fights. He decides to run away and join the resistance (The Partizans). Cezar: Pavel's dog. Befriends Reina when she comes and stays with them. Cezar can talk and tells Reina where and when to hide from the SS soldiers who show up at their house. Plot synopsis of each short story. In the Land Of Armadillos. The story of Maximilian Haas, a German SS commander, and Tobias Rey, a hired Jewish painter . Haas is the icy-hearted, self-proclaimed "General of the Jews" who wonders why he is able to kill so many without feeling anything. However when he encounters Tobias Rey, the illustrator of the book In the Land of Armadillos, he is somehow motivated to keep the depressed and faded painter alive. However, in this bloodstained world, Haas is ultimately unable to keep the poor man from being shot. For the first time, Max Haas, slaughterer of hundreds, feels the overwhelming sorrow of loss. The Partizans. A short fantastical tale of Zasha and Zev. Zasha watches as her childhood friend  runs from home to escape his parents. She meets him again later years later to discover he has joined a resistance force. Soon after their reunion, Zasha is caught and readied to be executed. Zev and the resistance fighters arrive to save the captured in the form of animals (Zev himself is appears in the form of a wolf). Before Zev can save her though, Zasha is shot fatally in the throat. The Messiah. The family and village of the narrator eagerly await the coming of a messiah to deliver their people to the promised land. Amazingly enough, a "messiah