why did The Author choose these settings to write his book on

The settings reflect the Holocaust as touchstone. During the time of the Nazi Holocaust, millions of Jews were brutally tortured and murdered in concentration camps across German-speaking Europe. This novel uses that historical event as a touchstone for addressing the complicated political question of immigration from nations with political instability. The question is complicated by the fact that the country to whom the refugees turn are often insulated by privilege from the horrors the refugees are fleeing. The Holocaust is used as a case study in showing that sometimes, emigration means life or death.