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bookgirl1209's review against another edition
5.0
I read a lot of Holocaust based literature - both fiction and non-fiction. I often go in spurts when it seems like I read a whole string of them. This is because I read something in one book that makes me want to do some research which then leads me to another book and so on and so on.
That is how I found this book.
It is an extremely emotional accounting by Chil Raichman who spent a year or so in the Treblinka death camp. Treblinka was a little different than Auschwitz or some of the other concentration camps in that its sole purpose was extermination. NO one lasted very long there. The majority of the people arriving on transports went directly to the gas chambers only a few here and there kept alive to replace the barbers or dentist who themselves were then murdered.
Raichman's anger and desperation come through in every page - the way he very rarely gives ANY of the German guard's a name, instead just referring to them as "the murderer", the way he so earnestly watches so he can learn what to do to avoid beatings and death.
I think this memoir rates up there with Elie Wiesel's Night.
lottie1803's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
laurabethrobinson2816's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Really jaw dropping and essential first person Holocaust literature. Intensely disturbing. But important.
figgyflake's review against another edition
5.0
This book broke my heart. I had to constantly remind myself that this wasn't fiction as the details just seemed to horrible to be real. I even found myself reading certain passages out loud to make sure I was reading correctly. Chil is one of the extremely lucky few that was able to tell his story and find kind people to help him his escape.
melimish's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely should be required reading. Heartbreaking and maddening story of the holocaust and a lone survivor.
crashderby's review against another edition
3.0
“It is the writers duty to tell the terrible truth and it is a readers civic duty to learn this truth. To turn away, to close one's eyes and walk past, is to insult the memory of those who have perished.”
Words pulled from the prologue of the book - I couldn’t catch the name responsible.. but its an unfortunate truth and a timeless lesson.
This was a fairly short memoir covering the years 1942-1943. It doesn’t get anywhere near the level of emotional turmoil that Anne Frank’s Diary puts you through, but it’s still history and an account during arguably the most horrible time in the 20th century.
Words pulled from the prologue of the book - I couldn’t catch the name responsible.. but its an unfortunate truth and a timeless lesson.
This was a fairly short memoir covering the years 1942-1943. It doesn’t get anywhere near the level of emotional turmoil that Anne Frank’s Diary puts you through, but it’s still history and an account during arguably the most horrible time in the 20th century.