The Orphan's Tale

While The Orphan’s Tale is a work of fiction, it is informed by historical events unearthed by author Pam Jenoff. With a master’s degree in history and professional background as a US diplomat in Poland handling Holocaust-related issues, Jenoff grounds her narrative in extensive research. In the author’s note, she explains that the novel was inspired by two stories she discovered in the archives of Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial. The first was the account of the “Unknown Children,” a boxcar filled with infants being transported to a concentration camp, a real crime that shapes Noa’s harrowing discovery at the start of the novel (343). The second was the true story of the Circus Althoff, a German circus that sheltered Jews during the war.

The novel’s depiction of the Circus Neuhoff is partly modeled on the actions of Adolf Althoff, named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1995 for his heroism. Althoff’s circus hid the family of Jewish performer Irene Danner, an aerialist whose story informs the character of Astrid. Jenoff states that she intentionally brought these two historical accounts together to create her fictional narrative (344). Understanding this authorial process reveals that the novel’s framework of rescue and refuge are not sensationalized inventions but rooted in documented wartime acts, whether criminal or courageous.