Description
Book SynopsisBased on the true story of Martin Schiller, a child survivor of the Holocaust, this gripping memoir describes the unfolding horror of the Nazi genocide seen through the eyes of a child. Menek (Schiller''s childhood nickname) was six-years-old when the Nazis invaded Poland, and his family fled eastward from their native Tarnobrzeg. He was nine when he and his family were interned as slave laborers at the Skarzysko concentration camp, where his father perished. As the Russian army advanced, Menek and his brother were deported to Buchenwald, where Menek survived with the help of a sympathetic Block Elder (a German political prisoner) who placed him in a barrack for Russian POWs. The story of his journey continues after liberation, with their harrowing escape from postwar Poland; the brothers'' travels through war-ravaged Germany to find their mother; and the anxiety of the DP camps where the family must decide between Israel or America. This memoir covers the now-emblematic features of a
Trade ReviewThis powerful memoir—spanning a young boy's journey into manhood from prewar Poland to the horrors of the Nazi camps, and then to the surreal drama of life in the post DP camps, rings with emotional honesty. It provides a valuable addition to our understanding of both those who perished and survived the Holocaust. -- Michael J. Bazyler, The 1939 Club Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies, Whittier Law School; and author ofHolocaust Justice
This is a short and matter-of-fact book and yet it tells a gripping story—among the last such stories that will be told from direct experience, since the last of the survivors of the Holocaust are dying off. Even readers familiar with these stories may thank Schiller for telling this one in time. -- Chris Powell, Journal Inquirer in Manchester
Martin Schiller has told us the story of what should have been his childhood spent together with his brother in slave labor and concentration camps and the struggle for survival—day in and day out— that enabled four members of his family to survive. His depiction of the last days of Buchenwald is riveting. One glimpses what it was like to be there. The brevity of the work only underscores its power. Like music, one must understand the silence between the words that give voice to the unspoken. With Bread, Butter, and Sugar, he has discharged his obligation to the past and made an important contribution to the future. -- Michael Berenbaum, director, Sigi Ziering Institute, American Jewish University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 An Abbreviated Childhood Chapter 2 The Rapid Ascent to Adulthood Chapter 3 Introduction to Hell Chapter 4 A Muted Welcome Chapter 5 The Train Ride Chapter 6 A Change in Venue Chapter 7 The Circuitous Search Chapter 8 A Search for Remnants Chapter 9 Where Shall I Go? Chapter 10 A Crack in the Door Chapter 11 Journey into the Future Chapter 12 Epilogue
