WOW! I never was exposed to real life events from the death camps of WWII
922161
Again Joel C. Rosenberg takes real life human events and then takes his skilled storytelling style and writes truth veiled as fiction. I want to encourage to read this book. For all of us who grew up after WWII we only knew small parts of the story.. and younger the person is the less than have been told or or how watered down to make it politically correct so "someone" will not be offended.

Powerful and well written. Thank you Joel for introducing your readers into a years worth of research interviewing survivors so that what we read would be as accurate as possible.
3256089
Great book!  I am in awe of the lives these kids endured - I was unaware of this part of our history!
235598
The numbers in the book are staggering. To have the darkness that was hidden come to life is mind numbing. Such intense cruelties as I have never heard before. I knew about the mass shootings in Russia. I did not know there were so many. Nor did I know of the depraved inhumanity they suffered before being shot. The torment and torture were beyond the ability to truly take in. All I could do was keep reading. An incredible book, a historic book. Do not read unless one is prepared to be slapped in the face with desperate inhumanity. I will never understand how the Jewish people were able to forgive. And I will never understand how a nation as advanced as Germany allowed this to happen. Their claim that they did not know rings more hollow then it ever has before. I am not German and I will never want to be. Horrific, evil, perpetrators and collaborates and the world did nothing until it was all but too late.
2992595
I didn't know much about  life during  the Holocaust in France. I cried during the entire last chapter.
3571186
Wow!! Though I was never there, thank the Lord, the depiction of how things were was very accurate to some of the things I 've read. My heart goes out to the survivors of that fateful time. May God Bless those who have seen and have come under inhumane treatment. Very well written, and very  attention  getting.
3158719
I don't usually write reviews but felt impelled here. This was a Holocaust novel that read like modern WWII fiction or mystery. The story line was predictable but contained totally unlikely scenarios and twists. Maybe since I just finished reading Neal Basconb's The Winter Fortress, a fascinating non-fiction work about the Allied attempts to sabotage the Nazi heavy water production, I never felt any significant empathy with the characters.  There was nothing about them that made me feel connected other than their religion.  It did not have the intrigue of an Alan Furst novel. That being said, it was a mildly engaging rapid read as long as one doesn't expect too much. I think the bibliography may be the best part of the book, however.
4940556
An absorbing World War II tale, History that I had no idea was happening... None of this is taught in American history books!
2892310
Each year I try to read a new book written about events that took place during WWII. This is the first time I'd read anything about what happened to people who lived in Lithuania when the Soviets invaded. So many innocent people suffered at the hands of evil dictators during this era, that's it's almost unimaginable. Sepetys's historical fiction account of Lithuanians being forced into slave labor because they were doctors, lawyers, teachers,servicemen,writers, artists, librarians, musicians, or business owners is a grim reminder of how hate leads to dehumanization of others. She has me interested in reading some non-fiction accounts now.
2657604
I have read books about ww2 but never from the point of view of london and how the people living there were

Were challenged.
3177061
But I am glad I made it through ! I learned many new things about this horrible time that I didn't know. Since I was born in 1945 in Minnesota,and was never really a history buff throughout my high school years..the real stories in this book blue my mind,with so many atrosities. So well written. How someone could have done really shows man's inhumanity to man.
3320129
I opened this one Christmas, and thought, here's one that I'll never get to.

That is until I actually opened it and started reading. Like many "journalistic" histories this book does jump around a bit, and there were sections I "blip-read", but this is the first book I have read on this area and subject where I felt like the author had enough personal experience to talk about historical events and make it appear alive-- and deadly.

What an experience reading this book has been. I have been skeptical of Western intervention in the Middle East, and I knew a lot of nasty stuff was going on. I still got nauseous reading about Mossadeq in Iran and the Armenian genocide (which is to this day still in the headlines).

This book is also a strong argument for publishing fat books in two volumes.
2201353
This is one book that I would highly recommend to any interested in WWII. I've read "The Forgotten Soldier" years ago and thought that no other could compare to it's graphic detail. I was wrong. Sepp Allerberger's  horrendous tale on the eastern front is so graphic and so compelling that I couldn't put it down. When I reached the end of the book, I was left wanting more of the same kind of genre. Sadly, I've yet to find this kind of personal account of war's horror. Allerberger tells it like it was!

I was surprised when I received the book because it was so short, but, wow, what impact it has. I would love to read his account unedited or maybe an expanded edition. Allerberger has a way of making the readers feel as though they're in the thick of things.
158027
In this year of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau I have read a number of books about the Holocaust. Most of them have been from the point of view of the Jewish victims, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel by Rhoda DEttore. Knowing that it featured the perspective of the Germans prior to and during the 1939-45 war, specifically certain members of the Nazi Party, I slightly dreaded that it would take me into areas I would prefer not to read. However, by the end of the first chapter I was thoroughly engaged with what turned out to be a gripping and at times inspiring story. This author certainly knows how to spin a tale. The characters were for the most part completely credible, and the action didn't let up for a moment. Although its a period in history I know something about there was a lot of new information here for me. Im not sure all of it was accurate, but it was germane to the plot and perhaps some poetic license can be forgiven. It was also a real insight into how it might have been possible for so many ordinary German people to be initially beguiled by Adolf Hitler and to remain in apparent or perhaps convenient ignorance about the fate of the Jews. I kept seeing chilling parallels with much of what goes on in our modern world, and for this I was grateful to the author. I like books that make me think as well as entertain, and this ticked both those boxes for me. I was surprised by the ending, and even more surprised by my reaction to it. Without giving anything away of the plot, I will confess that I sobbed for about five minutes, shocked by how moved I had been by the entire story. Well done, Ms DEttore. You are a great storyteller.
574167
I was amazed as I had never read a novel about the Italian staging of WW2. It was based on a true story...but I wished that they had delineated the historically accurate part of the book as apposed the fiction.
2576938
I thought I knew the story of WWII pretty well until I read this book.  I was surprised by many things I had never heard.  By the time I finished I no longer had any misgivings about Truman's decision to drop the bombs.
360374
This book was heartily recommended to me by a fellow traveler on an airplane to Minneapolis, of all places!!  I eagerly anticipated its arrival and read it in an afternoon--stretched into late evening.  Once I'd read the part describing the funeral in Minnesota, I really couldn't believe much about the rest of the book.  I know it's a work of fiction, but if the facts with which I am familiar are so far out in left field, why should I think the rest of the book is based on the fact that it purports to be based on the Holocaust?  Minnesota people are, to a fault, polite.  The book did have a lot of promise and was well written, but the writer has an over-active imagination...or neglected to do even the most basic of research.  I could probably write an equally good Holocaust novel, and I'm a baby boomer from Canada!!
3761443
Abraham Levy was once a happy blue eyed child, spending time with his beloved family, running on the beaches of Tel-Aviv and creating hopes for his future. Life was good. In the late 1930s, as he entered his pre-teen years, a time when you are expected to gradually begin evolving into becoming a responsible and productive adult, Abraham had an expedited crash course in the most horrific and haunting ways ever imaginable as he headed back to Poland with his cherished loved ones.

Everyone knows about the terrible crimes committed against the Jewish people during WWII. No need for me to describe those events in detail, especially when Abraham gives a first-hand account of the gruesome and heart wrenching scenes and episodes of inhumanity. Beatings, starvation, death and despair are counteracted by hope, bravery, courage and the fight to make his mother proud.

This heartbreaking story was written with the blood, sweat, tears and raw emotions of a young blue-eyed Holocaust Survivor as the scenes that are forever burned into his memory spill out onto paper years later. Abraham entered that horrid experience as a young boy and in a way, became frozen in time. Even as an elderly man in body, it is obvious he is still that young child in spirit, looking for a place to hide from the memories and pain inflicted physically and even worse, mentally, while longing for his mothers warm embrace and to see his familys faces one more time.

I am compelled to extend a huge thank you to Abraham Levy for his bravery, not only during those disgusting years of our history, but also the absolute courage it took to share his story with all of us. It is impossible for me to try and imagine what it must have been like. How could I? As tearfully descriptive as his real life events are revealed, there is just no way I could begin to picture going through something like that, let alone survive and move forward in life. If I try to envision my children being ripped from my arms, never knowing their fate, my brain slams the door, locks it and tosses the key to that image immediately. My mother passed in an extremely cruel manner from cancer and it was my duty (and honor) to be by her side every step of the way. It was the most difficult time of my life. But, to have lost her in the manner that Abraham had to endure? Again, my mind does not even know how to comprehend such a visualization and is left speechless. And those are just two situations out of so many Abraham was faced with over years of torture.

I am actually at a loss for words on how to describe how it makes me feel down to my core. I am not sure if such words even exist. Do not get me wrong or misinterpret, I am very grateful and truly honored that Abraham entrusted mankind to read his story. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see a factual glimpse into the Holocaust and to learn about one boys determination and bravery.

Abraham, I know you made your mother proud.

I received this product in exchange for my honest opinion based upon my personal experiences.