Salon

Amid the recent frenzy of literary prizes, the release of a new book by Lyudmila Ulitskaya went relatively unnoticed. Titled "Daniel Stein, Interpreter," it tells the life story of a Polish Jew who serves as an interpreter in the Gestapo during World War II, and almost single-handedly saves several hundred people from extermination; when the Germans discover his identity, he hides in a Catholic nunnery, gets baptized, becomes a Carmelite monk and -- having survived the war -- leaves for Israel, where he spends the rest of his life in a small Catholic community near Haifa.

Ulitskaya, usually a rather traditional author, has ventured into some new areas. First, the book isn't a straightforward narration: It is a mix of newspaper clippings, journal entries, letters, interviews and other materials. Most, if not all, of these documents are invented; the book is a "mockumentary" of sorts. However, the main character, Brother Daniel, is based on a real-life figure, Oswald Rufeisen, whose life story was very much the same.

The patchwork of Ulitskaya's book is diverse. Among its characters, we find a woman born in the ghetto who tries to shake off the legacy of her communist mother; a former Nazi collaborator hiding in Britain; a Lithuanian Jew turned fanatical Orthodox Christian; and a Russian dissident turned right-wing Jewish radical. Their stories intersect, and Brother Daniel is at the center of it all.

Why is he an interpreter, as the title calls him? His linguistic abilities are obvious, and he does interpet for the Gestapo, but that plays only a small role in the plot. Rather, Ulitskaya stresses that what the world lacks most is understanding. Brother Daniel interprets in all senses of the word: he tries to make people listen to each other and, even more importantly, to themselves. He tries to do the same for entire nations and religions -- for example, by exposing Christianity's Jewish roots (causing discomfort in both camps).

Most characters in this book have an agenda, and they struggle under its weight throughout their lives, making many sacrifices for its sake. Brother Daniel's agendas are small-scale: He applies for Israeli citizenship under the country's Law of Return, and gets denied due to his conversion to Christianity; he tries to keep alive the country's Catholic tradition, and fails -- his small community dissolves after his death. And yet, in his love for the world, he is far more three-dimensional than people with lofty ideas. This, perhaps, is the principal lesson of Ulitskaya's moving book.