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immarit's review
5.0
Wow. I never new about the Cap Arcona and all the Jews and prisoners that were murdered by the British.. I really respect Szlamek Pivnik for returning to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bedzin. I don't think I could've done that. Also that last sentence of the book.. That was the moment I cried.
balancinghistorybooks's review
4.0
My sister purchased this as a gift for me when she visited Auschwitz back in August. It is a Holocaust account which I hadn’t heard of before; I do not remember seeing any information about it upon its release, and have come across no reviews on Goodreads or blogs regarding the thoughts of its previous readers. Regardless, as a History nerd, the premise appealed to me immediately, and I only waited for a couple of weeks before reading it.
Pivnik’s account is thorough, and all the more heartbreaking for it. Usually with collaborative memoirs like this, I do not usually find that the prose style is quite up to scratch, but here it was refined, and read beautifully. The prose style is fluid, and very much suits the piece. Survivor is brutal in places; I expected this to be the case, but some of Pivnik’s descriptions were far more chilling than I had anticipated.
Pivnik’s bravery is paramount to his account; he survived conditions which millions did not. The very fact that he writes so humbly of his own efforts is extraordinary. It was astounding to discover how much he went through, and yet still came out of the other side eager to live and contribute. Survivor is an incredible memoir, which is sure to appeal to those who enjoy reading historical accounts of the Second World War. There is so much to think about whilst reading, and so much to get choked up about too. Survivor is an incredibly important book, and one which I wish I had heard about sooner.
Pivnik’s account is thorough, and all the more heartbreaking for it. Usually with collaborative memoirs like this, I do not usually find that the prose style is quite up to scratch, but here it was refined, and read beautifully. The prose style is fluid, and very much suits the piece. Survivor is brutal in places; I expected this to be the case, but some of Pivnik’s descriptions were far more chilling than I had anticipated.
Pivnik’s bravery is paramount to his account; he survived conditions which millions did not. The very fact that he writes so humbly of his own efforts is extraordinary. It was astounding to discover how much he went through, and yet still came out of the other side eager to live and contribute. Survivor is an incredible memoir, which is sure to appeal to those who enjoy reading historical accounts of the Second World War. There is so much to think about whilst reading, and so much to get choked up about too. Survivor is an incredibly important book, and one which I wish I had heard about sooner.
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