The Holocaust Books

Book SynopsisSet against the backdrop of WWII, this achingly beautiful novel in verse for 9–12 year olds based on American history presents the perspectives of Claire, a Midwestern girl who longs to finish high school and become a nurse as she worries for her soldier brother, and Karl, a German POW who’s processing the war as he works on Claire’s family farm.Trade ReviewEnemies in the Orchard is a fast-paced, lyrical novel perfect for upper middle-grade readers that offers a new perspective into what it means to be an enemy and how we see and can also forgive others. * Jenni L. Walsh, author of I Am Defiance *Enemies in the Orchard is simply unputdownable. Rarely have I read a book that uses alternating points of view to such great effect. Claire and Karl are fully complex and compelling characters. The apple orchards are described in such detail, they become a character in and of themselves. As I read, I could see, smell, and taste apple butter, apple cider, apple pie. The story, based on the author's own family history, is meticulously researched, and the poetry is simply gorgeous. Full of vivid imagery, profound symbolism, and stunning metaphor, this magnificent historic novel in verse about a little-known aspect of World War II has the word 'award-winner' written all over it. It deserves as wide an audience as possible. * Lesléa Newman, author, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard and Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story *Enemies in the Orchard is unflinching in its portrayal of loss and grief during wartime. Its narrative is surprising, its characters complex, and its focus on forgiveness and love, and the meaning of the good and full life, is honest and heady. Plan to read this in one sitting--that's how gripping this story is. * Gary Schmidt, Newbery Honor-winning author *A compelling and beautiful journey of history, truth, and courage, with connective and heart-stirring imagery, Enemies in the Orchard is a novel in verse that readers of all ages will hold in their hearts. * Chris Baron, author of All of Me, The Magical Imperfect, and The Gray *A stellar example of utilizing point of view to great effect and the power of listening to new perspectives. A great classroom conversation starter on discerning what is true and seeing humans in a world often full of misinformation. * Meg Eden Kuyatt, author of Good Different *Beautifully crafted verse that moves the reader swiftly through a strong story, and a topic from our history that has much to say to us today. An exciting launch of a new author. * Marion Dane Bauer, Newbery Honor–winning author *Claire, a 13-year-old daughter of apple farmers in Michigan, and Karl, a Nazi prisoner of war, find themselves in an unlikely friendship--with hints of more--when their lives intersect at Claire's family orchard. This novel-in-verse is based on a true story of a group of German POWs who were transported to the Midwest to help with labor shortages due to the large quantity of Americans fighting in the war. Through dual perspectives, VanderLugt aims to humanize the characters and show that Karl, who was a member of the Hitler Youth, recognizes the horrors of war and the way he was indoctrinated; he is portrayed as a sympathetic character. Pacing and character development flow well in this story and hold readers' interest. WWII fiction crowds historical fiction collections, though not many focus on the experiences of German soldiers on American soil. This book sheds some light on this part of history. VERDICT Recommended for purchase for upper elementary and middle school collections only where WWII fiction is in very high demand. * Monisha Blair, School Library Journal *Dana VanderLugt brings to life the human side of the Second World War as it played out in the lives of two young people in the orchard country of West Michigan. Imaginative, closely observed, timely, and hopeful. * Gregory Sumner, historian and author of Michigan POW Camps in WWII *Dana VanderLugt's Enemies in the Orchard is a poignant peek at a buried piece of World War II history. This debut novel, rich in emotion, is centered around the universal story of friendship. I could not put it down. Readers, don't get too comfortable with the palpable setting and beautiful poetry, because this story is full of unexpected and gut-wrenching twists that will remind you there are no winners when it comes to war. * Skila Brown, author of Caminar and To Stay Alive *In a Michigan apple orchard in 1944, a German soldier and an American girl reflect on wartime life. Claire DeBoer, a careworn 13-year-old Dutch American girl, bears countless responsibilities on her family's farm and dreams of one day becoming a nurse. Karl Hartmann, a teenage German prisoner of war, arrives in Michigan to do agricultural work through a federal program. The book opens with atmospheric poems introducing each protagonist, effectively using George Ella Lyon's 'Where I'm From' format. This reflective verse novel alternates their perspectives as it explores their intersecting lives. Claire's brother is fighting in Europe, so the dissonance of enemy soldiers on her farm feels like a cruel joke. Karl is awakening to the immensity of Nazi atrocities and anti-American propaganda, though some of his more nationalistic fellow prisoners are determined to make him suffer. Calm and dread intertwine: The soothing harvest-time rhythms intermingle with the ever-present threat of tremendous loss. Karl and Claire, having lost their youths to a global conflict, discover a tenuous friendship...VanderLugt's reflections on war's personal toll and the tensions of having enemy troops working in America offer opportunities for readers to consider matters from many angles. An author's note describes her inspiration--the German POWs who worked in her own grandfather's fruit orchards during the war. An emotionally layered vision of a difficult moment in history. * Kirkus Reviews, August 2023 (Verse historical fiction. 10-14) *Perfectly conjuring the time and place, Enemies in the Orchard is a stunning debut populated by characters who will stay with you forever. Claire, in particular, is the kind of endearing, complex character who will have you rooting for her until the last page. Written in mesmerizing and propulsive verse, this timely story will make readers think deeply about empathy, community, and the ways we are more similar than we are different, no matter where we are from. I loved every word.' * Silas House, coauthor of Same Sun Here *Seldom do we discover a book both timely and timeless. Dana VanderLugt's incomparable Enemies in the Orchard is not only such a work, but also evidence of the improbable--the formulation of friendship between those commonly perceived not only as incompatible but as given enemies. I think of Huck and Jim: timely/timeless. Thanks to VanderLugt's courageous heart and luminous writing, we will never forget the understanding forged across the ubiquity of hate by thirteen-year-old Claire--who has lost her rambunctious early teens to working the family orchards--and Karl, a young prisoner of war hired to help, who reveals the inconceivable: a German soldier who holds a humane heart. We follow unexpected kindnesses, misunderstandings, and heartaches, while we daily walk and work with them. Timely? One has to be living in isolation not to recognize such. Timeless? How can kindness ever outwear its need? Based on a true story, VanderLugt's ability to combine exhausting research with an abundantly empathic imagination is astonishing. In the words of Claire: 'Germans .../ will soon invade Daddy's trees,' and of Karl: 'I want to .../ show this woman and child/ my empty hands.' Be prepared to 'Never forget.' * Jack Ridl, author of Practicing to Walk Like a Heron, co-recipient of the Best Poetry Book by Foreword Reviews, and All At Once, to be published in 2024 *The power of a novel in verse lies in its economy of words, a lyrical telling of a story distilled to its very essence, and Dana VanderLugt has done this masterfully in her Enemies in the Orchard. Told in two voices on opposing sides of the page--that of Claire, an impressionable, young teen girl working in her family's orchard on the home front, and that of Karl, a young German POW soldier forced to fight in a war he's not sure about--the novel covers a lesser-known aspect of WWII. Enemies in the Orchard, with its budding friendship amid the harsh realities and truths of war, is a story not only for middle-grade readers, but one for readers of all ages. * Edith Hemingway, author of Road to Tater Hill and That Smudge of Smoke *Via contemplative first-person narratives and occasional adapted news articles, VanderLugt intimately limns each character's experiences alongside those of a sympathetically drawn secondary cast ... Rich in atmospheric and emotional detail. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisDrawing on a blend of archival sources including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and published recollections, this book focuses on the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald, and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.Trade ReviewIt is not a book for the faint of heart... however, I feel it is a must-read for anyone interested in the Holocaust, and particularly, those who question its occurrence. Examiner.com This is the most powerful book I've read in decades. -- John Greenya The Washington Times The author excels at telling the story without sensationalizing the emotional turmoil the soldiers faced. He illustrates his scholarly integrity by including in his narrative the reprisal killings against Germans perpetrated by emotionally distraught GIs. Choice McManus [captures] the shock, anger, dismay, and other emotions of the soldiers who discovered what had been going on in the so-called 'Thousand Year Reich.' Journal of America's Military Past McManus skillfully uses oral histories as a counterweight to other sources... Michigan War Studies Review McManus has produced a fine brief survey of the American liberation of the Nazi concentration camps that is truly a compelling read. European History QuarterlyTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsPrologue1. Encountering Ohrdruf2. The Smell of Death Was Thick in the Air"3. Treating Buchenwald4. Dachau5. "My Heart Was Going a Mile a Minute"6. DachauEpilogueNotesSuggested Further ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisDuring World War II, Nazi doctor Josef Mengele subjected some 3,000 twins to medical experiments of unspeakable horror; only 160 survived. In this remarkable narrative, the life of Auschwitz's Angel of Death is told in counterpoint to the lives of the survivors, who until now have kept silent about their heinous death-camp ordeals.

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Book SynopsisTadeusz Borowski's concentration camp stories were based on his own experiences surviving Auschwitz and Dachau. In spare, brutal prose he describes a world where where the will to survive overrides compassion and prisoners eat, work and sleep a few yards from where others are murdered; where the difference between human beings is reduced to a second bowl of soup, an extra blanket or the luxury of a pair of shoes with thick soles; and where the line between normality and abnormality vanishes. Published in Poland after the Second World War, these stories constitute a masterwork of world literature.

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Book SynopsisThe story of a small town near Auschwitz and of its local Nazi administrator. An ordinary functionary and family man without whose help, and those of thousands like him, the murderous plans of the Nazi elite could never have been fully realized.Trade ReviewIn many ways, A Small Town near Auschwitz is about seeing and not seeing, of integrating and not integrating. The book itself illuminates more than it hides, includes more than it omits. It is the work of a sensitive professional historian examining a matter of urgent personal interest: how could someone close to her family have perpetrated one of the great crimes of the century? Catherine Epstein, American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsPreface ; 1. Legacies of Violence ; 2. Bedzin before 1939 ; 3. Border Crossings ; 4. The Making of a Nazi Landrat ; 5. An Early Question of Violence ; 6. 'Only administration' ; 7. Means of Survival ; 8. Escalation, 1941-42 ; 9. Towards Extermination ; 10. The Deportations of August 1942 ; 11. Ghettoization for the 'Final Solution' ; 12. Final Thresholds ; 13. Afterwards and After-words ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisA lavishly illustrated retrospective in celebration of 100 years since Judith Kerr's birth, author of The Tiger Who Came to Tea and many other iconic books.Judith Kerr was one of the best-loved authors and illustrators to ever put pencil to paper. The books she created, including The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Mog the Forgetful Cat, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and many many more, have become classics of children's literature, loved by generations of readers.But what of the life behind the iconic characters? Judith's own story is riveting, from her early childhood in Berlin, dramatically cut short by the family having to flee the rising Nazi Party, to her time at the BBC in the 1950s and her long and happy marriage to the celebrated screenwriter Nigel Kneale, creator of British television's first major hit, The Quatermass Experiment.The joy of this very special book is in hearing this story from Judith herself, accompanied by a treasure trove of illustrations and memorabilia. All combine Trade Review“… captures the colourful innocence of the 1950s and 1960s, with its harlequin tights, squat stoves and fathers in hats…Kerr’s world is one in which the small and lost come to be treasured.” – The Times “176 large, beautiful pages of nostalgia for anyone who has been a child in the past half century.” – The Independent

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Book SynopsisThe Diary of Samuel Golfard and the Holocaust in Galiciaexamines the contents and context of a rare diary written by a Jewish man from Nazi-occupied Poland. Serving as both a record and an artifact of Samuel Golfard's life, the diary details his attempt to make sense of and resist the event that ultimately destroyed him. Wendy Lower integrates photographs, newspaper articles, documents, and testimonies to create a more complete picture of Golfard's experiences and writings. She also traces the diary's own journey after Golfard's death, from 1943 Poland to the present day.Trade ReviewThis volume combines a powerfully emotional personal narrative with concise and cohesive historical analysis in a way that other source-based books do not. Moreover, it is of great use to both scholars and students. While specialists and historians will surely find Golfard’s testimony textually rich, multi-dimensional, and challenging, the educational value of this volume is substantial. The book is short enough for students to digest easily, and perhaps more important, the historical background and editorial comments make the text a stand-alone work containing all one needs to truly engage with Samuel Golfard’s diary. Lower has produced an accessible yet historically complex commentary on a very special testimony—one that scholars and educators alike will certainly want on their shelves. * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *Golfard's diary is remarkable. It is searing, moving, emotional, yet also analytically sophisticated. The published diary will make a substantial contribution to several fields of study, including the history of Jewish responses during the Shoah, the perpetration of genocide, and Holocaust literature. Lower has done a beautiful job of framing the diary entries so that the reader gains a broader perspective of the unfolding history. This book is a most welcome contribution to the existing body of published source materials, illuminating a lesser-known dimension of the Holocaust that is at the forefront of recent research being conducted in the field. -- Alexandra Garbarini, Williams CollegeIt is a miracle that this diary survived and has now become an invaluable source on the Holocaust in a small town in western Ukraine. It provides a glimpse into the state of mind of those destined for annihilation on the very eve of their destruction. The diarist is insightful and thoughtful. The introduction and commentary provided by Wendy Lower are nuanced and intelligent. One will learn a lot about the Holocaust from reading this book. -- John Paul Himka, University of AlbertaTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Editor’s Note Part I: Introduction to Samuel Golfard's Diary –Reading Jewish Diaries of the Holocaust –The Golfard Diary as a Source of Holocaust History in Poland and Ukraine –The Local Setting of Golfard’s Diary: Peremyshliany (Ukrainian), Przemyślany (Polish), Peremyshlany (German) –Peremyshliany before the Nazi Occupation –The German Occupation of Peremyshliany, 1941–1944 Part II: Samuel Golfard's Diary, January to April 1943 Part III: Related Documents –Wartime Documents –Postwar Documents –Jacob Litman’s Testimonies –Rescue in Peremyshliany : The Example of Tadeusz Jankiewicz and His Family List of Documents Place Names Mentioned in the Diary Bibliography Chronology of Events Related to the Diary Biographies Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThe story of one woman''s journey from a cultured life in pre-war Europe, through the devastation of Hitler''s regime, to her commitment of helping the world understand the Holocaust.

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Book SynopsisThe Holocaust is usually understood as a European story. Yet, this pivotal episode unfolded across North Africa and reverberated through politics, literature, memoir, and memory—Muslim as well as Jewish—in the post-war years. The Holocaust and North Africa offers the first English-language study of the unfolding events in North Africa, pushing at the boundaries of Holocaust Studies and North African Studies, and suggesting, powerfully, that neither is complete without the other. The essays in this volume reconstruct the implementation of race laws and forced labor across the Maghreb during World War II and consider the Holocaust as a North African local affair, which took diverse form from town to town and city to city. They explore how the Holocaust ruptured Muslim–Jewish relations, setting the stage for an entirely new post-war reality. Commentaries by leading scholars of Holocaust history complete the picture, reflecting on why the history of the Holocaust and North Africa has been so widely ignored—and what we have to gain by understanding it in all its nuances. Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.Trade Review"This fascinating and original volume profoundly challenges inherited understandings of the Holocaust as a purely European phenomenon. Offering far-ranging original research, the contributors illustrate how one of modernity's defining horrors played out in North Africa. In so doing, they convincingly show that Vichy's race laws, anti-Semitic agitation, and deportations represented ruptures—but also continuities—with North Africa's colonial order."—Joshua Schreier, Vassar College"The Holocaust and North Africa extends the geographical and historical horizons of Holocaust studies. It challenges a Eurocentric focus, exploring the diverse persecution experiences and memories of Jews in North and West Africa, and raises interesting questions about the interdependencies of Nazi, Vichy, and fascist policies with colonial practices."—Wolf Gruner, Founding Director, USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research"As the contributors to this volume demonstrate, it is important to understand how ordinary Muslims comprehended what was happening to their Jewish neighbors, to their country, and to themselves under Nazi and Vichy oversight. Even more importantly, we must understand the experience of the North African Jews themselves. Boum and Stein's book is a good start."—Lawrench Rosen, Jewish Review of Books"This collection of fifteen essays and commentaries by noted scholars constitutes an invaluable contribution to the growing body of literature on the Holocaust, North Africa, and the Middle East....The wealth of new sources both primary and secondary that they have uncovered bodes well for the expansion of our knowledge and understanding of the Shoah in its connections with North Africa."—Francis R. Nicosia, Holocaust and Genocide Studies"[This] is an important and timely book....a unique and welcome addition to our understandings of the mid-twentieth century Maghreb, the death throes of European colonization, the Shoah, and the ways in which these sites, events, and memories continue to shape the Mediterranean region today."—Nicholas Ostrum, EuropeNow"[A] rich and illuminating volume, which, in my view, fully achieves its aims. The essays enrich our understanding of how the Holocaust unfolded in North Africa, most notably by unveiling the deep entanglement between colonialism and fascism....[The Holocaust and North Africa] shows the fruitfulness of a joint work of reflection, scrutiny, and interpretation."—Piera Rossetto, Quest"[A] exceptionally valuable volume focusing on an area of study far too long in the shadows....The Holocaust and North Africa is an absorbing work that will undoubtedly whet the appetite of many a student of the Holocaust, eager to know more about what happened to Jews in that part of the world during the war years."—Diane Cypkin, Martyrdom & Resistance"The underlying agenda of The Holocaust and North Africa is to encourage further, in-depth research in this hitherto neglected area of study. Even at this relatively late stage of Holocaust historiography, there are archives and testimonies waiting to be examined and deciphered. As shown in these essays, comparative research does not imply the drawing of similarities between situations, but rather a deeper understanding of the complex mosaic of the Holocaust—confined neither to Europe nor to European Jews."—Denis Charbit, Studies in Contemporary JewryTable of ContentsIntroduction —Aomar Boum and Sarah Abrevaya Stein 1. Between Metropole and French North Africa: Vichy's Anti-Semitic Legislation and Colonialism's Racial Hierarchies —Daniel J. Schroeter 2. The Persecution of Jews in Libya Between 1938 and 1945: An Italian Affair? —Jens Hoppe 3. The Implementation of Anti-Jewish Laws in French West Africa: A Reflection of Vichy Anti-Semitic Obsession —Ruth Ginio 4. "Other Places of Confinement": Bedeau Internment Camp for Algerian Jewish Soldiers —Susan Slyomovics 5. Blessing of the Bled: Rural Moroccan Jewry During World War II —Aomar Boum and Mohammed Hatimi 6. la recherche de Vichy: The Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives and the Implementation of the Statut des Juifs in Tunisia —Daniel Lee 7. Eyewitness Djelfa: Daily Life in a Saharan Vichy Labor Camp —Aomar Boum 8. The Ethics and Aesthetics of Restraint: Judeo-Tunisian Narratives of Occupation —Lia Brozgal 9. Fissures and Fusions: Moroccan Jewish Communists and World War II —Alma Heckman 10. Recentering the Holocaust (Again) —Omer Bartov 11. Paradigms and Differences —Susan Rubin Suleiman 12. Sephardim and Holocaust Historiography —Susan Gilson Miller 13. Stages in Jewish Historiography and Collective Memory —Haim Saadoun 14. A Memory That Is Not One —Michael Rothberg 15. Holocaust and North Africa —Todd Presner

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of World War II, the Nazi genocide of European Jews has come to stand for ""the unspeakable,"" posing crucial challenges to the representation of suffering. This book argues against the ""unspeakable"" as any kind of inherent quality of such an event. It shows how, when, and why the term ""unspeakable"" is used.

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Book SynopsisPink Triangle Legacies traces the transformation of the pink triangle from a Nazi concentration camp badge and emblem of discrimination into a widespread, recognizable symbol of queer activism, pride, and community. W. Jake Newsome provides an overview of the Nazis'' targeted violence against LGBTQ+ people and details queer survivors'' fraught and ongoing fight for the acknowledgement, compensation, and memorialization of LGBTQ+ victims. Within this context, a new generation of queer activists has used the pink trianglea reminder of Germany''s fascist pastas the visual marker of gay liberation, seeking to end queer people''s status as second-class citizens by asserting their right to express their identity openly. The reclamation of the pink triangle occurred first in West Germany, but soon activists in the United States adopted this chapter from German history as their own. As gay activists on opposite sides of the Atlantic grafted pink triangle memoriesTrade ReviewFor those interested in the "problems" of queer history, this book is an excellent introduction to the issues associated with confronting queer historical memory. * The Gay & Lesbian Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: "Beaten to Death, Silenced to Death" 1. "They are Enemies of the State!": The Fate of LGBTQ+ People in Nazi Germany 2. "For Homosexuals, the Third Reich Hasn't Ended Yet": Paragraph 175 and the Nazi Past in West Germany 3. "The Only Acceptable Gay Liberation Logo": The Reclamation of the Pink Triangle in West Germany 4. "It's a Scar, but In Your Heart": The Pink Triangle in American Gay Activism 5. "Remembrances of Things Once Hidden": Piecing Together the Pink Triangle Past on Stage and on Page 6. "We Died There, Too": Commemoration and the Construction of a Transatlantic Gay Identity Epilogue: "Remembering Must Also Have Consequences"

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Book SynopsisAs Adolf Eichmann sent hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz gas chambers, the Jews of Budapest needed the eyewitness testimony of Auschwitz escapees Ceslav Mordowicz and Arnost Rosinto save them.The clock was ticking on the Nazi plan to annihilate the last group of the Hungarian Jewry. But after nearly suffocating in an underground bunker, Auschwitz prisoners Ceslav Mordowicz and Arnost Rosin escaped and told Jewish leaders what they had seen. Their testimony in early June, 1944, corroborated earlier hard-to-believe reports of mass killing in Auschwitz by lethal gas and provided eyewitness accounts of record daily arrivals of Hungarian Jews meeting the same fate. It was the spark needed to stir a call for action to pressure Hungary’s premier to defy Hitler—just hours before more than 200,000 Budapest Jews were to be deported.

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Book SynopsisWithin Western culture, World War Two continues to exercise an extraordinary fascination for generations unborn when it took place. The obvious explanation is that it was the greatest and most terrible event in human history. Within the vast compass of the struggle, some individuals scaled summits of courage and nobility, while others plumbed depths of evil, in a fashion that compels the awe of posterity. Among citizens of modern democracies to whom serious hardship and collective peril are unknown, the tribulations which hundreds of millions endured between 1939 and 1945 are almost beyond comprehension. Hastings tells the story of the war in a clear and compelling narrative, ranging across a vast canvas from the agony of Poland in 1939 and the horrors of the Soviet front to the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan in August 1945. This is a book which shows vividly what war meant for individuals from allied soldiers, sailors and airmen, to SS killers, to civilians caught up in the war like British housewives who endured the Blitz and the citizens of Leningrad who suffered through a siege of almost unimaginable horror.

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Book SynopsisThe powerful, poignant true story of a group of child survivors of concentration camps, by the author of the bestselling THE HOLOCAUST. 'A masterpiece of decency, courage and joy ... superb' DAILY TELEGRAPHTrade ReviewImpossible to put down ... This is a book about coming out of hell, about great evil, about the triumph of the human spirit, and about the great goodness on the part of those who helped. One is left with hope, and admiration * THE TIMES *A masterpiece of decency, courage and joy ... superb * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Martin Gilbert is to be congratulated on producing a masterly and deeply moving tribute to those who had the courage and luck to survive * LITERARY REVIEW *A story of human resilience, fortitude and victory that restores the readers' hope for mankind * SUNDAY TIMES *This is the story of human beings sucked into a vortex of destruction in which family, identity, religion and culture were all ripped away. A sense of near-miraculous calm descends when the Boys finally arrive in Britain, when human fortitude finally prevails over absolute evil -- David Cesarani * TLS *He doesn't hide the dark side of the stories: he does stress the resilience of their humanity. It's amazing and true * NEW STATESMAN *A series of testimonials to endurance and resourcefulness * DAILY TELEGRAPH *This is an important book ... [an] appalling and wonderful account of efficiently administered savagery, and how a few of its victims with extraordinary courage, resilience and luck, managed to salvage their humanity * SPECTATOR *Assembled by one of the period's premier historians ... A uniquely effective addition to Holocaust literature * KIRKUS *Martin Gilbert has given us yet another indispensable work * TLS *A moving mosaic comprising the voices of the young refugees, setting this against eye-witness accounts of the European experience ... The scope is vast. Research at its best * TIME OUT *It is only when you read individual stories like these that you can come anywhere near grasping the full enormity of the events * FINANCIAL TIMES *

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Book SynopsisThe international bestselling story of one British soldier's brave choice to exchange places with a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz.Trade ReviewThis is a most important book, and a timely reminder of the dangers that face any society once intolerance and racism take hold. * Sir Martin Gilbert *This memoir is an important contribution to a terrible chapter in history. * Daily Express *Denis is a hero in time of terror, a man of limitless moral and physical courage. * Henry Kamm, New York Times correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner *'This is the most amazing Holocaust memoir it's been my good fortune to read...this is a beautiful, uplifting book about a real ben adom, a mensch, who saw evil and, instead of averting his eyes, did what he could to help the victims'. * Washington Jewish Week *an excellent memoir of survival. * Publishers Weekly *A unique war story from a brave man. * Kirkus *This is the incredible story of British soldier Denis Avey who broke into Auschwitz to uncover the horrors that were concealed there by the Nazis...This is a brutal account of what he experienced. There are some who doubt his story but don't let that ruin this extraordinary book. * Press Association *THE MAN WHO BROKE INTO AUSCHWITZ will take your breath away. * La revista de Ana Rosa (Spain) *What starts as an act of reportage then becomes a moving and ultimately triumphant story of survival. * Belfast Telegraph *'Exceptional'. * Morgenpost (Germany) *An astonishing heroic tale of a steady character. * Jüdische Zeitung (Germany) *'An admirable story'. * Periodista digital (Spain) *'A remarkable story'. * De Telegraaf (Holland) *A 'strange, brave and bracing story'. * Canberra Times *

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Book SynopsisA gripping account of the infamous Nazi doctor from a former US Justice Department official tasked with uncovering his fate.Trade Review"It must be the most thorough-going account of Mengele's life available to date, a calm and professional read, but one that inevitably makes you want to look away." -- The Spectator"What specifically distinguishes Marwell’s account from previous studies concerns his personal involvement in the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations (O.S.I.) and the search for and identification of Mengele." -- The International New York Times"Gripping... sober and meticulous." -- David Margolick - The Wall Street Journal"Marwell’s life has much new to tell us, both about Mengele himself and, more significant, about the social and scientific milieu that allowed him to flourish." -- Adam Gopnik - The New Yorker"Compelling... At once a compact biography of the notorious war criminal, a detailed account of Mengele’s flight to South America, and an absorbing narrative of the quest to bring him to justice." -- Patricia Heberer Rice - Science

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Book SynopsisThe Stunning and Emotional Autobiography of an Auschwitz Survivor April 7, 1944—This date marks the successful escape of two Slovak prisoners from one of the most heavily-guarded and notorious concentration camps of Nazi Germany. The escapees, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, fled over one hundred miles to be the first to give the graphic and detailed descriptions of the atrocities of Auschwitz. Originally published in the early 1960s, I Escaped from Auschwitz is the striking autobiography of none other than Rudolf Vrba himself. Vrba details his life leading up to, during, and after his escape from his 21-month internment in Auschwitz. Vrba and Wetzler manage to evade Nazi authorities looking for them and make contact with the Jewish council in Zilina, Slovakia, informing them about the truth of the “unknown destination” of Jewish deportees all across Europe. This first-hand report alerted Western authorities, such as Pope Pius XII, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, to the reality of Nazi annihilation camps—information that until then had only been recognized as nasty rumors.I Escaped from Auschwitz is a close-up look at the horror faced by the Jewish people in Auschwitz and across Europe during World War II. This newly edited translation of Vrba’s memoir will leave readers reeling at the terrors faced by those during the Holocaust. Despite the profound emotions brought about by this narrative, readers will also find an astounding story of heroism and courage in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances.Trade Review"With remarkable specificity gained from camp jobs that gave him unusual access to various corners of Auschwitz, including the gas chambers, Vrba told the unknown truth about it." —The New York Times"One of the most harrowing and profound stories of human struggle ever written. . . . This deeply personal story helped me understand how a regime conspired to commit murder on an industrial scale and the almost impossible struggle people faced to survive." —Sydney Morning Herald "Among attempts to break down the wall of silence around the Auschwitz secrets, historians have no doubt that the escape of Vrba and his fellow prisoner, Alfred Wetzler, was by far the most important." —Guardian "Vrba’s photographic memory enabled him to retain much of the geography and the placement of the facilities as he went about his work." —Los Angeles Times "Details Vrba’s experience in a concentration camp as well as his harrowing escape." —Deadline

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Book Synopsis“Smoke from nearby factories shrouds a countryside as flat as a table, a countryside stretching off to infinity. Covering it are the ashes of millions of dead. Scattered throughout are fine pieces of bone that ovens were not able to burn. When the wind comes, ashes rise to the heavens, bone fragments remain on the ground. And rain falls on the ashes, and rain turns them to good fertile soil, as befits the ashes of martyrs. And who can find the ashes of those from my native land, of whom there were 77,297? I gather some ashes with my hand, for only a hand can touch them, and I pour them into a linen sack, just as those who once left for a foreign country would gather their native soil so as never to forget, so as always to return to it.” ​ So begins Jiří Weil’s unforgettable prose poem, Lamentation for 77, 297 Victims, his literary monument to the Czech Jews killed during the Holocaust. A Czech-Jewish writer who worked at Prague’s Jewish Museum both during and after the Nazi Occupation—he survived the Holocaust by faking his own death and hiding out until the war had ended—Weil wrote Lamentation while he served as the museum’s senior librarian in the 1950s. This remarkable literary experiment presents a number of innovative approaches to writing about a horror many would deem indescribable, combining a narrative account of the Shoah with newspaper-style reportage on a handful of the lives ended by the Holocaust and quotes from the Hebrew Bible to create a specific and powerful portrait of loss and remembrance. Translated by David Lightfoot, Lamentation for 77,297 Victims is a startling and singular introduction to a writer whose works have been acclaimed by Philip Roth, Michiko Kakutani, and Siri Hustvedt.

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Book SynopsisThe number of French Jews killed during the Holocaust has been massively underestimated. Claire Zalc explains why: the Vichy regime terminated the legal standing of thousands of naturalized Jewish citizens, erasing them from the record. Their official disappearance is a lesson about the precariousness of naturalized status, then and now.Trade ReviewIn Denaturalized, Claire Zalc combines the precision of the scholar with the passion of a storyteller…This is a deftly written book. Zalc combines in an accessible style (smoothly translated by Catherine Porter) the stories of people trapped within a bureaucracy that was as obsessed, perhaps, with clearing files as with hunting Jews. In other words, Zalc reminds us how cruel the banality of indifference could be. * Wall Street Journal *Claire Zalc’s book is an important and original contribution to the history of Occupied France. It examines one of the key organisms of xenophobic persecution and discrimination set up by France’s collaborating Vichy regime: the Commission for the Review of Naturalizations. Since the archives of that body have disappeared her work is a brilliant piece of historical detective work which situates the work of the Commission within the wider anti-Semitic policies of the Vichy regime. Her book not only analyzes the workings of an institution but recovers the stories of individuals whose lives were destroyed by it. -- Julian Jackson, author of De GaulleSome 15,000 newly naturalized people were stripped of their French citizenship by the Vichy administration during the Nazi occupation of France; many of the Jews among them were then deported to their deaths. Here, Claire Zalc ingeniously unravels the mechanism of ‘denaturalization’ and gives us vivid portraits of both perpetrators and victims. -- Robert O. Paxton, author of The Anatomy of FascismDuring World War II the experience of denaturalization was akin to a death sentence for many Jews. Some were already at Auschwitz when their citizenship was revoked. For others this change in legal status sealed their fate. Zalc’s eye-opening book invites us to consider the true nature and fragility of national identity. At a time when a global crisis is forcing many of us to return to our country of origin, this is a book of great civic and political relevance. -- Annette Wieviorka, author of The Era of the WitnessZalc delivers an insightful and distressing look at efforts to revoke citizenship in Nazi-occupied France…This is an enlightening portrait of how the tools of bureaucracy can be bent to evil ends. * Publishers Weekly *Her detailed investigation provides unique insights into how bureaucracies in authoritarian regimes produce and reproduce violence…Drawing on the Vichy government’s archives, Zalc follows the life stories of some of those who were naturalized as French during the interwar years, only to be stripped of their citizenship and deported under wartime France’s collaborationist regime…Zalc’s work provides direct evidence of how state power—and sometimes state violence—functions through the routine processes of registration, categorization, and counting. -- Laura van Waas and Natalie Brinham * Project Syndicate *An immensely successful volume, Denaturalized will make an important addition to the reading lists of scholars of modern France and the Holocaust, as well as those interested in the methods of studying democracies and citizenship, police surveillance, and the relationship between immigrants and the state. -- Robin Buller * H-Net Reviews *Denaturalized is a landmark study of the internal workings of the Vichy state and an important contribution to the literature on France and the Holocaust…Deserves a wide readership. -- Herrick Chapman * Journal of Modern History *

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Book SynopsisBoris Pahor spent the last fourteen months of World War II as a prisoner and medic in the Nazi camps at Bergen-Belsen, Harzungen, Dachau and Natzweiler-Struthof. Twenty years later, as he visited the preserved remains of a camp, his experiences came back to him: the emaciated prisoners; the ragged, zebra-striped uniforms; the infirmary reeking of dysentery and death.Necropolis is Pahor's stirring account of providing medical aid to prisoners in the face of the utter brutality of the camps - and coming to terms with the guilt of surviving when millions did not. It is a classic account of the Holocaust and a powerful act of remembrance.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary book . . . The raw intensity of Pahor's writing takes the reader deep into the world of the camps. It stands equal to Primo Levi's If This Is A Man * * Sunday Times * *A superb English translation . . . [Pahor's] determination to provide the most truthful account possible brings him to question continually, and to examine every complication and contradiction. This is a testimony all of us would do well to discover * * Los Angeles Review of Books * *A harrowing book . . . described with hallucinatory precision and exceptionally subtle analysis * * Le Monde * *Deserves a place alongside Primo Levi and Imre Kertesz's masterpieces of Holocaust literature * * La Repubblica * *Extraordinarily poetic * * Mirror * *

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Book SynopsisAn Honorary Citizen of the U.S.A., and designated as one of the Righteous among the Nations by Israel, Raoul Wallenberg's heroism in Budapest at the height of the Holocaust saved countless lives, and ultimately cost him his own.A series of unlikely coincidences led to the appointment of Wallenberg, by trade a poultry importer, as Sweden's Special Envoy to Budapest in 1944. With remarkable bravery, Wallenberg created a system of protective passports, and sheltered thousands of desperate Jews in buildings he claimed were Swedish libraries and research institutes.As the war drew to a close, his invaluable work almost complete, Wallenberg voluntarily went to meet with the Soviet troops who were relieving the city. Arrested as a spy, Wallenberg disappeared into the depths of the Soviet system, never to be seen again.For this seminal biography, Ingrid Carlberg has carried out unprecedented research into all elements of Wallenberg's life, narrating with vigour and insight the story of a heroic life, and navigating with wisdom and sensitivity the truth about his disappearance and death.Translated from the Swedish by Ebba SegerbergTrade ReviewA truly fascinating, subtle and revelatory portrait of this enigmatic character and perhaps the closest any historian has got to the real man and the truth of his fate -- Simon Sebag MontefioreIngrid Carlberg's superb biography will doubtless be regarded as the standard work on Wallenberg. Richly detailed and thoroughly researched ... an atmospheric read that brings to life an extraordinary story of resistance and bravery during Europe's darkest hours. -- Adam Lebor * Literary Review *Authoritative and comprehensive -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *A fresh and forensic portrait of Raoul Wallenberg ... Carlberg has unearthed a staggering amount of detail -- Monica Porter * Jewish Chronicle *Absorbing, masterful ... a riveting biography of a remarkable man * Kirkus Review *Ingrid Carlberg has writtenwhat must be the definitive biography ofWallenberg -- Glyn Ford * Tribune *

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Book SynopsisAs the horror of Nazism tightened its grip on Germany, Jews found themselves trapped and desperate. For many, their only hope of salvation came in the form of a small, bespectacled British man: Frank Foley. Working as a Berlin Passport Control Officer, Foley helped thousands of Jews to flee the country with visas and false passports, personally entering the camps to get Jews out, and sheltering those on the run from the Gestapo in his own apartment. Described by a Jewish leader as 'the Pimpernel of the Jews', Foley was an unsung hero of the Holocaust.But why is this extraordinary man virtually unknown, even in Britain? The reason is simple: Foley was MI6 head of station in Berlin, bound to secrecy by the code of his profession.Michael Smith's work uncovering the remarkable truth led to the recognition of Frank Foley as Righteous Among Nations, the highest honour the Jewish state can bestow upon a Gentile. Foley is a story of courage and quiet heroism in the face of great evil - a reminder of the impact that one brave individual can have on the lives of many.Trade Review'One of the great heroic figures of the Holocaust, equal at least to Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg.' - Jerusalem Post; 'A fascinating book. Smith writes well: coolly and unexaggeratedly, sensibly and authoritatively' - Alan Judd, Daily Telegraph; 'Gripping. An outstanding book. The last word on the Final Solution' - Phillip Knightley, Mail on Sunday; 'Crisp and informative. Very effectively conveys the atmosphere of cumulative danger experienced by Jews in Germany under the Nazis.' - The Times; 'A reminder that goodness can triumph over evil.' - Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An unforgettable look at genocide as seen by its perpetrators. Johann Niemann's albums document his career from SS man at Grafeneck, burning the bodies of people deemed "unworthy of life," to Deputy Commandant of Sobibor, where he directed the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews. The photos show him as he wanted to see himself – impeccably groomed, relaxed, and powerful – but the superb interpretative chapters reveal the systemic and colossal brutality of which he was both a product and a proponent."—Doris L. Bergen, Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies, University of Toronto; author of War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust"From "Euthanasia" to Sobibor presents an amazingly extensive collection of recently-discovered photographs that had been collected by SS-officer Johann Niemann, whose rose from obscurity to become the Deputy Commandant of Sobibor and was executed in the October 1943 prisoner uprising and breakout. These photographs illustrate a lethal career that saw Niemann serve in four "euthanasia" centers created by the Nazi regime to murder the German handicapped as well as in the death camps of Belzec and Sobibor. Alongside the photographs are chapters that summarize cutting-edge scholarship on a number of relevant topics but especially on the German personnel who staffed these camps and the East European auxiliaries who guarded them."—Christopher R. Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"This remarkable and meticulously researched volume presents one of the most significant private perpetrator photo collections to survive. For unraveling the horrible conundrum of human participation in genocide, the collection is an essential source, both revealing and impenetrable in one."—Mark Roseman, Distinguished Professor of History, Pat M Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies, Indiana UniversityTable of ContentsForeword, by Bildungswerk Stanisław HantzPreface, by Jetje ManheimAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsMap1. The Niemann Photographs: A Unique Collection from the Holocaust, by Martin Cüppers2. Johann Gerhard Niemann: From Völlen to Sobibor, Part 1, by Karin Graf and Florian RossPhotos from the Niemann Collection, up to 19423. Johann Gerhard Niemann: From Völlen to Sobibor, Part 2, by Karin Graf and Florian RossPhotos from the Niemann collection, from the Period of Operation T44. Realizing the Unthinkable: Operation T4, Operation Reinhard, and their Actors, by Martin Cüppers5. Belzec: The First Operation Reinhard Killing Center, by Florian Ross and Steffen HänschenNiemann's Photos from Belzec6. The Sobibor Death Camp, by Steffen Hänschen, Annett Gerhardt, Andreas Kahrs, Anne Lepper, and Martin CüppersNiemann's photos from Sobibo7. The Trawnikis: Auxiliaries to the Holocaust, by Martin Cüppers8. Reward for Genocide: A Trip to Berlin for Perpetrators from Operation Reinhard, by Martin Cüppers and Steffen HänschenThe Berlin Album and Additional Travel Pictures9. The Revolt at Sobibor and the End of the Death Camp, by Anne Lepper, Andreas Kahrs, Annett Gerhardt, and Steffen Hänschen10. Henriette Niemann: Wife and Mother, Confidante and Profiteer, by Anne Lepper and Martin CüppersHenriette Niemann in the Photo Collection11. Living with the Memory: Meetings with Semion Rozenfeld, by Anne LepperPhotos with Semion Rozenfeld and a Map of Sobibor Drawn by HimAppendix 1: The Brandenburg AlbumAppendix 2: Documents from the Niemann CollectionAppendix 3: Short Biographies of Survivors of the Sobibor CampAppendix 4: Short Biographies of German PerpetratorsSources and BibliographyIndex

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Book Synopsis**A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**'He had the dream again last night... He taps the gloves of his unbeaten Polish opponent. There are rumours that the loser will be sent to the gas chamber.'In 1943, the Dutch champion boxer, Leen Sanders, was sent to Auschwitz. His wife and children were put to death while he was sent 'to the left' with the others who were fit enough for labour. Recognised by an SS officer, he was earmarked for a 'privileged' post in the kitchens in exchange for weekly boxing matches for the entertainment of the Nazi guards. From there, he enacted his resistance to their limitless cruelty.With great risk and danger to his own life, Leen stole, concealed and smuggled food and clothing from SS nursing units for years to alleviate the unbearable suffering of the prisoners in need. He also regularly supplied extra food to the Dutch women in Dr. Mengele's experiment, Block 10. To his fellow Jews in the camp, he acted as a rescuer, leader and role model, defending them even on their bitter death march to Dachau towards the end of the war.A story of astonishing resilience and compassion, The Fighter of Auschwitz is a testament to the endurance of humanity in the face of extraordinary evil.

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Book SynopsisThe No. 1 international bestseller, with a foreword by His Holiness Pope Francis, who made headlines in 2021 when he kissed Lidia's Auschwitz identification tattoo.The unforgettable, moving true story of the little girl who survived Auschwitz's 'Angel of Death', Dr Mengele. Lidia was just three years old when she arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau with her mother, a member of the partisan resistance from Belarus. The bewildered little girl was picked out by Dr Josef Mengele for his sadistic experiments and sent to the infamous children’s block, where every day was a fight for survival. In eighteen months of hell she came close to death more than once.Her mother, who risked her life to visit Lidia, gave her strength. But when the camp was liberated, her mother was gone, presumed dead. Lidia, by now deeply traumatised, was adopted by a Polish woman. But then, in 1962, she discovered that her birth parents were still alive in the USSR, and Lidia was faced with an agonising choice . . .Lidia’s extraordinary story has touched hearts around the world, and she has made it her mission to bear witness to the Holocaust so that the truth may never be forgotten. This is a powerful and ultimately hopeful account by a remarkable woman who refuses to hate those who hurt her. She says, ‘Hate only brings more hate. Love, on the other hand, has the power to redeem.’'Unforgettable' - Daily MailPreviously published as The Little Girl Who Could Not Cry.Trade ReviewUnforgettable * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisA new wave of aspiring neo-Nazi terrorists has arisenincluding the infamous Atomwaffen Division. And they have a bible: James Mason's Siege, which praises terrorism, serial killers, and Charles Manson. Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism, based on years of archival work and interviews, documents for the first time the origins of Siege.First, it shows how Mason's vision arose from debates by 1970s neo-Nazis who splintered off the American Nazi Party/National Socialist White People''s Party and spun off a terrorist faction. Second, it unveils how four 1980s countercultural figuresmusicians Boyd Rice and Michael Moynihan, Feral House publisher Adam Parfrey, and Satanist Nikolas Schreckdiscovered, promoted, and published Mason. Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism explores a previously overlooked period and unearths the hidden connections between a countercultural clique and violent neo-Naziswhich together have set the template for

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The degradations of the death camps, and the prospect of his own imminent end, propel Zalmen Gradowski to an act of witness that rises now and then to Biblical heights of eloquence. To read this tragically riven collaborator in the Holocaust is to be shaken to the bone.” * J. M. Coetzee *“Grad­ows­ki aston­ish­es with fresh insights that only a camp insid­er could pos­si­bly have. . . . [C]ogent, frank, and sen­si­tive—well worth a long pondering. In the book’s inci­sive after­word, Pro­fes­sor Arnold I. David­son con­cludes that Grad­ows­ki ​‘left us a writ­ten con­so­la­tion of courage, deter­mi­na­tion, and posthu­mous vic­to­ry. He was and remains a hero’. Indeed, until we learn from this Son­derkom­man­do mem­ber, none of us can think our­selves tru­ly knowl­edge­able about the Shoah.” * Arthur B. Shostak, Jewish Book Council *"Drop whatever you are doing right now and go order the first complete English translation of his manuscripts, newly published as The Last Consolation Vanished. You may never be able to read another Holocaust-related book again.” * Dara Horn, Jewish Review of Books *“These two historically precise and shattering Yiddish-language testimonies by Zalmen Gradowski rank among the most important documents of the twentieth century. An outstanding translation by Monet, and two fine essays accompanied by a superb critical apparatus by editors Davidson and Mesnard bring these documents of murder and resistance to life like no edition before. The outcome is a major achievement in Holocaust historiography.” * Robert Jan van Pelt, author of 'The Case for Auschwitz' *

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Book SynopsisA dazzling multi-generational examination exploring Jewishness in Europe, the Holocaust and the dark spectres of anti-Semitism and populism.Trade Review'What an extraordinary achievement. A story told with passion and adamantine dedication. David Joseph takes the reader with great tenderness on an absolutely heart-breaking journey of discovery.' -- Edmund de Waal CBE, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes'This is a totally gripping book. Deeply moving, utterly engaging and profoundly important.' -- Rob Rinder MBE'Highly recommended. An exceptionally researched family story which shines an uncomfortable light on the grotesque reality of the Holocaust and particularly those who stood by as the horrors unfolded.' -- Laura Marks OBE, Chair of the Trustees, Holocaust Day Memorial Day Trust'Throughout this book, it is impossible to ignore the struggle and persecution that Jewish people have faced in Europe for centuries, and still face today.' -- History of War Magazine, September 2023'Indeed, the struggles of those expelled from Burgenland are at times di cult to read about, but all the more valuable for this since this is a story that must not be forgotten and is a warning to present and future generations.' -- Family Tree Magazine, September 2023

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Book SynopsisThe children of Auschwitz: this is the darkest spot in the ocean of suffering that was the Holocaust. They were deported to the concentration camp with their families, with most being murdered in the gas chambers upon their arrival, or were born there under unimaginable circumstances. While 232,000 children and juveniles were deported to Auschwitz, only 750 were liberated in the death camp at the end of January 1945. Most of them were under 15 years of age. Alwin Meyer's masterwork is the culmination of decades of research and interviews with the children and their descendants, sensitively reconstructing their stories before, during and after Auschwitz. The camp would remain with them throughout their lives: on their forearms, as a tattooed number, and in their minds, in the memory of heart-rending separation from parents and siblings, medical experiments, abject confusion, ceaseless hunger and a perpetual longing for home and security. Once the purported liberation came, there was no blueprint for piecing together personal biographies after the unthinkable had happened. Many of the children, often orphaned, had forgotten their names or ages, and had only fragmented understandings of where they came from. While some struggled to reconnect to the parents from whom they had been separated, others had known nothing other than the camp. Some children grew up without the ability to trust and to play. Survival is not yet life – it is an in-between stage which requires individuals to learn how to live. The liberated children had to learn how to be young again in order to grow into adults like others did. This remarkable book tells the stories of the most vulnerable victims of the Nazis’ systematic attempt to extinguish innocent lives, and rescues their voices from historical oblivion. It is a unique testimony to the horrific suffering endured by millions in humanity’s darkest hour.Trade Review‘Shattering… When you’re writing about Auschwitz, where one million people were murdered, it’s easy for everything to become a blur of numbers. But Meyer turns the statistics back into stories: telling us where the children came from, how they survived, and what happened to them after the war.’ Daily Telegraph‘An important book at a crucial time.’San Antonio Review of Books ‘In a list reminiscent of Schindler’s, every name in the index corresponds to a tale of torture, suffering and loss. Opening the book randomly takes courage, as the risk is to possibly be confronted with paragraphs detailing the murder of newborns by willing nurses, or mothers kicked to death by guards. Only the photos of the surviving children allow the reader time to breathe, although Alwin found there were always moments of hope – even in Auschwitz.’Jewish News ‘This is a compelling book, magnificently researched and fluently written. The testimony of child survivors, on which the book heavily draws, is heart-rending; the sense of loss, and of being lost, that it conveys is haunting. The extraordinary range of primary documentation is matched by the swift passage of many stories, which makes this book an absorbing read – eloquent, powerful and abounding with humanity.’Monica Tempian, Victoria University of Wellington"Reading this book and using other books like it as teaching tools is critical, particularly in our current climate of racism and bigotry. If we are to grow together into a peaceful future, we must first identify the dangers of the past and be certain not to repeat them. This book is a great first step."New York Journal of Books"Meyer has painstakingly detailed these stories as a labor of love so that every Jewish child born in, or survivor of, Auschwitz has a voice. This is their legacy."H-Net Reviews"[Never Forget Your Name] is an invaluable read for readers looking to connect with human stories, and an important tool in the service of, as its title suggests, remembrance."Journal of Contemporary AntisemitismTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface Life Before ‘That’s When My Childhood Ended’ ‘The Hunt For Jews Began’ Gateway to Death ‘As If in A Coffin’ O wi cim – Oshpitzin – Auschwitz Children of Many Languages Small Children, Mothers and Grandmothers ‘Di 600 Inglekh’ And Other Manuscripts Found In Auschwitz Births In Auschwitz ‘Twins! Where Are The Twins?’ ‘To Be Free At Last!’ Transports, Death Marches And Other Camps Dying? What’s That? Alive Again! Who Am I? ‘[…] The Other Train Is Always There Note on the Interviews Notes Index

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Book SynopsisOn 27 January 1945 Otto Frank was liberated from Auschwitz by Russian soldiers. At that point not only his journey home started, but also his long quest to find out what had happened to his wife Edith, his daughters Margot and Anne and the four other people with whom he had been in hiding in the Annex at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam: Herman and Auguste van Pels, their son Peter and dentist Fritz Pfeffer. In the months after his liberation Otto Frank would discover that he is the only survivor out of these eight people. After the Annex continues the journey that Otto began. It is the ultimate attempt, based on thorough research in archives and available eye witness accounts, to reconstruct as precisely as possible what happened to the eight people in hiding after their arrest.Trade Review"Author Bas von Benda-Beckmann has pieced together rare accounts from camp survivors who met Anne to build a moving picture of her final days." Daily Mirror "a haunting new book reveals her life in Auschwitz and Belson - and how her indomitable spirit survived to the very end" Daily Mail "Clearly written and superbly researched ... descriptions of the last days of Edith Frank in Auschwitz and of Anne in Bergen-Belsen, desperately ill, naked, wrapped in a blanket, are unbearable." David Herman, The Jewish Chronicle

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Book SynopsisThe Eichmann Trial Reconsidered brings together leading authorities in a transnational, international, and supranational study of Adolf Eichmann, who was captured by the Israelis in Argentina and tried in Jerusalem in 1961. The essays in this important new collection span the disciplines of history, film studies, political science, sociology, psychology, and law. Contributing scholars adopt a wide historical lens, pushing outwards in time and space to examine the historical and legal influence that Adolf Eichmann and his trial held for Israel, West Germany, and the Middle East. In addition to taking up the question of what drove Eichmann, contributors explore the motivation of prosecutors, lawyers, diplomats, and neighbouring countries before, during, and after the trial ended. The Eichmann Trial Reconsidered puts Eichmann at the centre of an exploration of German versus Israeli jurisprudence, national Israeli identities and politics, and the conflict bTrade Review"This excellent collection of essays revisits the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann from disciplinary perspectives ranging from law to history to psychology to film studies." -- Norman J.W. Goda, University of Florida * Central European History *“By offering multifaceted views on the former aspects, the volume does an excellent job in summarizing an ever more complex subject of Holocaust studies.” -- Thomas Kühne * Clark University German Studies Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Rebecca Wittmann Part I: Eichmann on Trial 1. Coming to Terms with the “Banality of Evil”: Implications of the Eichmann Trial for Social Scientific Research on Perpetrator Behavior James E. Waller 2. From History to Story: When the “Architect” of the Holocaust Became his Own “Witness” Fabien Théofilakis 3. Revisiting Eichmann and Zionism: Contexts, Strange Encounters, and their Afterlives Michael Berkowitz Part II: Eichmann and Jurisprudence 4. Prosecuting “Crimes against the Jewish People”: The Eichmann Trial and the History of a Legal Concept Laura Jockusch 5. The Eichmann Trial: Toward a Jurisprudence of Eyewitness Testimonies of Atrocity? Leora Bilsky 6. What Makes a Prosecution an International Landmark Trial? Reflections on the Tensions between Legal Proceedings, Politics, and Historical Facts Ruth Bettina Birn Part III: Eichmann and Geopolitics 7.The Eichmann Trial's Impact Reconsidered Boaz Cohen 8. The Eichmann Trial and the Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel: A Positive or Negative Influence? Dominique Trimbur 9. The Impact of the Eichmann Trial on Relations between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany Roni Stauber 10. The Impact of the Eichmann Affair on Arab Holocaust Discourse Esther Webman Part IV: Representing Eichmann 11. Remaking Eichmann: Memories of Mass Murder and the Transatlantic Student Movements of the 1960s Thomas Pegelow Kaplan 12. From 2-Inch to YouTube: The Audiovisual Documentation and the Broadcast of the Eichmann Trial Liat Benhabib

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Book SynopsisThe superb, bestselling diaries of Victor Klemperer, a Jew in Dresden who survived the war - hailed as one of the 20th century's most important chronicles.'Compulsive reading' LITERARY REVIEW 'Deeply engrossing' SPECTATORTrade ReviewKlemperer's diary deserves to rank alongside that of Anne Frank * SUNDAY TIMES *These diaries constitute one of the most vital historical and human documents of their age. Packed with vivid observation, profound reflection ... they find hope, dignity and even tart humour in the jaws of hell * INDEPENDENT *One of the greatest diarists - perhaps the greatest - in the German language * NEW YORK TIMES *Compulsive reading ... Klemperer's diary also offers a superb window on life in Soviet-occupied Germany in 1945-9 and the early years of the German Democratic Republic * LITERARY REVIEW *Klemperer's acute eye for the corruption of his contemporaries and his sharp ear for the corruption of language make these diaries an inexhaustible mine of information and insight for anybody interested in the German catastrophe ... In the hands of a master, the ephemeral is perennial * DAILY TELEGRAPH *The diary juxtaposes the profound and the mundane, rather like life itself. That is what makes it such a vivid and powerful account of a remarkable life * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY *Deeply engrossing ... he has the supreme gifts of honesty and scepticism ... He doesn't exaggerate, he doesn't fantasize ... one of the supreme chroniclers of the 20th century * SPECTATOR *No other testimony remotely as truthful exists of the locked-in half of Germany. The voice of Victor Klemperer is simply indispensable * EVENING STANDARD *Puts tears and blood into a political era that is otherwise difficult to dramatise and so to imagine * SCOTSMAN *The enhance Victor Klemperer's rare standing as a truth-teller * IRISH TIMES *The triumph of these diaries ... is precisely this: not for one moment does Klemperer lose his essential humanity. The diaries testify to the integrity of private space and truth to self ... This is the epic of a self-confessedly commonplace mortal with extraordinary qualities of intellect, wit and self-knowledge - recording his insights with unswerving fidelity to the truth * GUARDIAN *

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Book SynopsisIn 1943, Charlotte Delbo and 229 other women were deported to a station with no name, which they later learned was Auschwitz. Arrested for resisting the Nazi occupation of Paris, Delbo was sent to the camps, enduring both Auschwitz and RavensbrÜck for twenty-seven months. There, she, her fellow deportees, and millions of others were subjected to slave labor and nearly succumbed to typhus, dysentery, and hunger. She sustained herself by reciting MoliÈre and resolved to someday write a book about herself and her fellow deportees, a stunning work called None of Us Will Return. After the camps, Delbo devoted her life to the art of writing and the duty of witnessing, fiercely advocating for the power of the arts to testify against despotism and tyranny. Ghislaine Dunant's unforgettable biography of Delbo, La vie retrouvÉe (2016), captivated French readers and was awarded the Prix Femina. Now translated into English for the first time, Charlotte Delbo: A Life Reclaimed depicts Delbo's lifelong battles as a working-class woman, as a survivor, as a leftist who broke from the Communist Party, and most of all, as a writer whose words compelled others to see.Trade Review"Deeply researched and deeply empathetic, this is a spectacular biography.” - CHOICE“This splendid biography brings to life a woman of uncommon courage and intellect who needs to be better known and understood in America, in a fine translation by Kathryn Lachman. Detailed and fully documented, A Life Reclaimed is a gripping narrative told with empathy and deep understanding of the issues and traumas faced by so many in the unhappy history of France in the twentieth century.”- David Bellos, author of Georges Perec: A Life in Words; “Five years after its 2016 publication in French, Ghislaine Dunant’s award-winning biography of Auschwitz and RavensbrÜck survivor and writer Charlotte Delbo has found its voice in English in this lyrical, even musical translation by Kathryn Lachman. Delbo’s life and work have long been regarded as essential reading for all students of the Holocaust era, and now this staggeringly beautifully translation of Dunant’s brilliant biography is no less essential, a must-read for all who ask how art and literature shape and have been shaped by the concentration camp universe.”- James Young, author of The Stages of Memory: Reflections on Memorial Art, Loss, and the Spaces Between; “Charlotte Delbo is one of the most important testimonial writers of the Holocaust, alongside Primo Levi. She is also one of the rare witnesses to have focused on the lives of women in Nazi concentration camps. As the first biography of Delbo to appear in English, A Life Reclaimed is likely to become a reference for anyone seeking context for Delbo’s work. The translation is excellent.”- David Caron, author of The Nearness of Others: Searching for Tact and Contact in the Age of HIV ; “The force and focus of Dunant’s biography is its evocation of the lived experience of its subject. Given the extremity, indeed horror, of the central episode of that life, no one should, would, or could suggest that Dunant’s biography allows its readers to share Delbo’s point of view. What it does do, however, is bring us closer to that perspective, and make unmistakable its importance, not just for understanding (if such a thing is possible) one of the most unspeakable episodes of human history, but for responding to the political exigencies of our own times.”- Jim Hicks, executive editor of the Massachusetts Review

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Book SynopsisClasses and books on the Holocaust often center on the experiences of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders, but rescuers also occupy a prominent space in Holocaust courses and literature even though incidents of rescue were relatively few and rescuers constituted less than 1 percent of the population in Nazi-occupied Europe. As inspiring figures and role models, rescuers challenge us to consider how we would act if we found ourselves in similarly perilous situations of grave moral import. Their stories speak to us and move us. Yet this was not always the case. Seventy years ago these brave men and women, today regarded as the Righteous Among the Nations, went largely unrecognized; indeed, sometimes they were even singled out for abuse from their co-nationals for their selfless actions. Unlikely Heroes traces the evolution of the humanitarian hero, looking at the ways in which historians, politicians, and filmmakers have treated individual rescuers like Raoul WaTrade Review“This volume provides an excellent resource for scholars and teachers on a number of important questions about rescuers: not only what kind of people they were and what motivated them but also what the category of ‘rescuer’ includes and how rescuers have been remembered. It offers new insights into well-known cases of rescue and encourages consideration of lesser-known examples. It also provides an excellent set of resources for teachers to reflect on their own practices.”—Dominic Williams, Montague Burton Fellow in Jewish Studies at the University of Leeds "The global rise of authoritarianism and the persistence of ethnocentrism, prejudice, and xenophobia in the United States and abroad necessitates a renewed focus, not only on factors associated with evil and genocide, but also on understanding the very rare phenomenon of heroism undertaken by the very few morally courageous individuals under life-threatening conditions. The vital aim of this volume is thus increasing both awareness and the incidence of heroism in the twenty-first century and onward."—Stephanie Fagin-Jones, Heroism ScienceTable of ContentsIntroduction Ari Kohen and Gerald J. Steinacher Part 1. Research about Rescue 1. Holocaust Rescuers in Historical and Academic Scholarship Roy G. Koepp 2. The Saved and the Betrayed: Hidden Jews in the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Benjamin Frommer 3. The Final Rescue? Liberation and the Holocaust Mark Celinscak 4. The War Refugee Board: Formulating Rescue from Washington Rebecca Erbelding 5. Raoul Wallenberg: The Making of an American Hero Michael Dick 6. The University in Exile and the Garden of Eden: Alvin Johnson and His Rescue Efforts for European Jews and Intellectuals Gerald J. Steinacher and Brian Barmettler Part 2. Teaching about Rescue 7. From Saints to Sinners: Teaching about the Motivations of Rescuers of Jews through Documentary and Feature Films Lawrence Baron 8. Complicating the Narrative: Oskar Schindler, Schindler’s List, and the Classroom Mark Gudgel 9. Teaching the Lesson of Moral Courage through Writing Liz Feldstern and Amanda Ryan Suggested Further Reading and Films Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1943, German SS officers in charge of Auschwitz-Birkenau ordered that an orchestra should be formed among the female prisoners. Almost fifty women and girls from eleven nations were drafted into a hurriedly assembled band that would play marching music to other inmates, forced labourers who left each morning and returned, exhausted and often broken, at the end of the day. While still living amid the most brutal and dehumanising of circumstances, they were also made to give weekly concerts for Nazi officers, and individual members were sometimes summoned to give solo performances of an officer's favourite piece of music. It was the only entirely female orchestra in any of the Nazi prison camps and, for almost all of the musicians chosen to take part, being in the orchestra was to save their lives. What role could music play in a death camp? What was the effect on those women who owed their survival to their participation in a Nazi propaganda project? And how did it feel to

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Book SynopsisNew paperback edition - 95% of Lithuania's more than 200,000 Jews were exterminated during the Holocaust. Why did this small Baltic state prove to be the most efficient killing field of all?

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Book SynopsisExploring the critical influences shaping the decisions made by Jews in Nazi-occupied eastern Europe, Finkel sheds new light on the dynamics of collective violence and genocide.Trade Review"Winner of the 2018 Alexander L. George Book Award, International Society of Political Psychology""Winner of the 2018 Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies, Association for the Study of Nationalities""Winner of the 2018 Bronislaw Malinowski Social Sciences Award, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences""A political scientist turns fresh eyes on the problem of how European Jews responded to the Holocaust as it was unfolding. . . . Of much interest to students of modern history but also to those engaged in humanitarian relief efforts, refugee relocation, and the like." * Kirkus *"Instances of . . . mass hysteria have been appearing on a weekly basis, revealing an historical illiteracy so vast that it could contain 1,000 books on the Holocaust. If the ignorant could read only one of them . . . Ordinary Jews would be an excellent way to begin their education."---Stefan Kanfer, City Journal"Finkel provides a fresh and often fascinating analysis. . . . He makes a compelling case that the response of Jews was based in no small measure on their experiences before the war."---Glen Altschuler, Jerusalem Post"Finkel's book on an individual’s choice and survival during the Holocaust focuses on how victims from three Jewish ghettos--Minsk, Kraków, and Bialystok--reacted in response to danger from the Nazis and their allies. . . . This study is fascinating in how Finkel weaves personal narratives from the victims with social science foundations in order to reach some macro conclusions. . . . Finkel’s book is provocative and worth reading for scholars looking to understand the victims within these wretched ghettos." * Choice *"As more Holocaust works push through the barrier of the Holocaust as unknowable, restoring Jewish life and agency before, during--and after--the Shoah is essential. Finkel's work makes a solid contribution in this regard without losing sight of the people, actions, policies, and laws most responsible for creating the contexts of such life-or-death ‘choices.’"---Peter Admirand, Reading Religion"[A] most sensitive of investigations . . . Ordinary Jews is an ultimately important contribution toward the many writings on the subject of the Holocaust. Its complexity and deftness lies in Finkel's telling, which, if truth be told, resonates with all the clarity of subdued beauty."---David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews"[A] fine book. . . . This book is very carefully documented with endnotes distinguishing between primary and secondary sources. Finkel himself is of Eastern European Jewish extraction and that colors his study with a very personal and poignant aspect enriching the research but in no way detracting from its scientific approach. His writing is clear and very readable. . . . This book is recommended for all academic Judaica collections and for JCC libraries."---Marion M. Stein, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews"The book’s persuasive theory, distinctive findings, specific real-life examples, and far-reaching policy options is amply rewarding. It models an ever-finer mode of scholarship, fills in major gaps in knowledge, and with its astute challenges to faulty conventional 'wisdom' makes a major contribution to Holocaust studies. Future discussion of survival decision-making in the ghettos will not be complete unless it draws on Finkel’s exemplary work."---Arthur Shostak, European Legacy"Ordinary Jews is an important book for two reasons. First, it offers one of the few sustained efforts to analyze how Jews in different places behaved in response to Nazi rule instead of simply describing how they experienced it. . . . It also notices aggregate patterns of behavior that varied from community to community, and it tries to account for them using methods and insights from the social sciences."---David Engel, Shofar Book Forum"Finkel’s ambitious study brings political science to Holocaust history, enriches our understanding of individual choices by the victims, sheds light on the conditions that influenced their decisions, and establishes patterns by comparative analysis of behavior in three ghettos." * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *"[Ordinary Jews] is not only brave, but opens up new avenues of research about the Holocaust and other processes of mass violence.—Laia Balcells and Daniel Soloman, Comparative Politics"

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Book SynopsisThere isn't any triumph, there isn't any happy ending in the story of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, but there is a resolute affirmation of the continuing strength of the human spirit.At dawn on 12 August 1944, German SS troops arrived in the Tuscan mountain village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema. On arrival, they proceeded to murder up to 560 Italian civilians in the olive groves and chestnut woods of the small hamlet. The victims were women, the elderly and over eighty children. One was a baby barely three weeks old. It was the most high-profile massacre committed by the Nazis in Italy and yet, despite three separate war crimes investigations, the Sant'Anna killers escaped justice. Sixty years later, ten of the SS men who were at Sant'Anna were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia by Italian courts, but they died free. Anatomy of a Massacre tells the full story of what happened at Sant'Anna di Stazzema from Tuscany to Rome and Germany and tries to answer the question: why were the survivors denied justice?

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Book SynopsisTells the stories of ordinary and extraordinary French men and women, arguing that the French reaction to the Holocaust was not as reprehensible as it has been portrayed. This book draws on memoirs, government documents, and personal interviews with survivors. The author is also the winner of the National Jewish Book Award in 1987.Trade Review"A book on the French occupation needs to point out that a lot of Jews were saved and a lot of Frenchmen acted well. Susan Zuccotti . . . accomplishes exactly that."—Forward"Valuable and lucid . . . Susan Zuccotti’s book is admirable in many important ways."—New York Times Book Review

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