Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This volume of Maus picks up with Vladek and Anja’s story as they arrive at Auschwitz. They are separated – she goes to the women’s camp at Birkenau and he is in the labor camp at Auschwitz. Vladek proves to be very adept at manipulating the systm (within limits of course) and he is able to make contact with Anja intermittently.

In early 1945, the Red Army approached the camps, and the Germans evacuated the camps, which led to forced marches until the prisoners reached Germany, and then they were put on trains to Dachau. Eventually American forces liberated Vladek, but he had lost track of Anja. They had agreed to meet again in their home town in Poland, which they do. They wanted to go to the United States, but the visa restrictions did not permit it at this time, so they went to Sweden for a few years, before eventually emigrating to the US.

That is one part of the story. The other part is the struggle of Art, the son, and his wife to deal with the aging Vladek. He is not easy to deal with to say the least!

It’s a good book and it’s a compelling story. I highly recommend both volumes of Maus.