No One Must Know

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Like Wiseman’s two earlier novels, Place Not Home (1997) and My Canary
Yellow Star (2001), No One Must Know deals with the experiences of
Hungarian Jews.

After surviving the Holocaust, the adult members of the Goldberg
family, who have adopted the more Hungarian-sounding surname of Gal,
immigrate to Canada. They carry a secret that no one must know—a
secret that relates directly to their Jewish heritage.

Set in 1960, the story is told by 13-year-old Alexandra Gal (aka Alex),
who was born in Toronto following the war. When her physician father,
Jonah, is denied practising privileges at Toronto’s major hospitals
because of his being a Jew, Alex’s mother, Agi, is determined that
“no child of mine [will] suffer like we suffered.” Relocating to
Winnipeg, Alex’s parents pass the family off as Catholics, and Alex,
not recalling any connection to Judaism, believes herself to be
Christian. Although Agi repeatedly refuses to answer Alex’s questions
about war happenings, the past intrudes and forces Agi to reveal the
truth when she is tracked down by a fellow Auschwitz concentration camp
survivor.

From Canadian beaches with a Jewish section to racial epithets like
“kike,” numerous examples are provided of the pervasive, subtle, and
blatant anti-Semitism that existed postwar. However, Wiseman is not
didactic in her telling, electing instead to allow Alex to be a typical
girl of her period—one who attends Girl Guide meetings, goes to
catechism classes, and experiences her first romantic interest.
Recommended.