It was an awesome view of the Holocaust
586799
It was an awesome view of the Holocaust. I used it in my classroom. The kids really enjoyed it.
4569063
I really liked how this book showed the persecution of all people not only the Jews. In almost all other books I've read about WW2 they talk about the persecution of the Jews. This book made the Holocaust more real to me. It gave me a better perception of what the Nazis were really doing and to some extent why. I think we need to recognize the other groups that suffered also. To me this book is a monument to their suffering.
2773633
starts out a bit slow but once they get into the concentration camps it is so engaging and horrific.  After all of the WW2/Holocaust movies I've seen this still was so shocking.  Especially interesting was the aftermath on the families and how the horrors of war were passed onto the next generation.  A must read for sure!
992076
I really loved learning more about the Holocaust through the story of a young girl.
4786819
I was very moved by this movie, and I agree with another reviewer that it wasn't "exploitative". The Holocaust was the background.. the setting. The characters weren't backdrops to the story of the Holocaust, but rather the situation they were in simply emphasized the beauty within the main characters.
The lives of the characters were terribly affected by the Holocaust, of course, but the experience of the Holocaust did not MAKE the characters. It demonstrated their wonderful integrity, particularly in the characters played by Begninni and Braschi.
It is a refreshing look at the horrible experience of the Holocaust -- from the viewpoint of a person who DOES maintain his integrity and refuses to be beaten down, even to the moment of death. It was a story of the spirit winning over all attempts to destroy it.
I think it's important to not forget what happened, but the way this movie was put together was uplifting, too.
I don't normally watch movies that deal with real tragic material, because it can be just too upsetting to me, especially when children are involved. (I have six kids, and somehow this has altered my "sentimentality factor".) I can say that this movie is safe to watch! There is grief, but it's bearable, and I smiled at the end.
Definitely worth buying!
2003020
This is a moving and engrossing holocaust narrative, remarkably told through the eyes of a child. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down.
99190
This book provides a very uplifting viewpoint of the Holocaust. While there are a lot of books on this topic, the outlook is actually uplifting while still addressing the horrors of this man's experience. I highly recommend picking this up. Great book and writing!
3538802
My mother saw fit to introduce me to the Holocaust when I was 11.  Of course, I'd heard the word before that.  I'd had a really rough sketchy idea of what it meant.  I'm still reeling for accidentally coming across some black and white footage of dead and disrespected bodies when I was much, much younger.  But I was 11  when my Mom decided to give me some perspective.  Powerful perspective.  She gave me a copy of the Diary of Anne Frank.  She followed it with Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place.  I remember trying to understand.  Finding people I wished I could have known and trying, trying, trying to understand.  I stumbled across this book in the farthest corner of my middle school library.  I haven't seen it since.  But I still remember it, remember it more strongly than most other books I've read.
4471354
I've watched a lot of documentaries about the holocaust, and the ones that I like the best are ones from perspectives that maybe haven't been heard of before. I never knew there was even a swimming pool at any of the camps, but I guess the soldiers lived there too. This is a very intimate look at one or two camps by 4 women from different backgrounds. And their experiences were very different and very similar in so many different ways. I'm always amazed when I see one of these and the people recounting such a horrible experience aren't bitter and can somehow find the good memories in all that evil. These women, though all went thru hell, were able to move forward by mostly remembering the good without forgetting the bad - it's remarkable and inspiring.
660227
After reading this informative and intense book, Id have to say my most memorable moment reading it was when Frans is meeting with the two woman who beckoned for his help. This is after Frans doctor asked him to meet with them and Frans was unsure what the reason would be. When he speaks with the two woman they ask him to take care of the girl because she has no family and has nowhere to go. Frans isn't even entirely aware of the danger Jews were in at the moment, nor did he know what possible dangers it could cause for his family in the future. All he thought was my friend needs me to do him this favor, I will do it. To me this small action at the beginning of the book showed a kind of kindness and generosity that is hard to find in today's world. To think of the other who helped, the small but still evident amount of people with similar stories to Frans is astonishing. If someone you know asks for your help, you do so. This quote in particular helped me understand the story more. It gave great insight into Frans character. It helped make his future actions easier to understand as well. Unlike many novel on the Holocaust, it gives an viewpoint from what it was like for families and the communities trying to help persecuted Jews.
This book absolutely amazing they need to make a movie about it and star me as either a young Frans or one of the young Jews they helped and took in as family.
4730229
I enjoyed reading the book, and I think you will to. Especially if you are someone like me who didn't know too much about the holocaust and what actually happened, how people were treated etc. The book gave great visuals and great explanations on how they were treated as is shares the events that took place. The book was a little sad at times the thing that they had and were forced to do and go through. The book follows the life of a boy named Elie, and it talks about the things he went through and the things he lost. It was a good book, recommended.
508964
I liked this book because it was written in first person so I felt like I was there.  There were not long chapters so it was easy read. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Holocaust and what it was like from the eyes of a child. Best book on subject I have read.
3818027
I was hooked from the first page!  We've all read about the Holocaust but this was a unique insider's view that was devastating and triumphant.  I gave it 4 stars since I felt the ending was a bit hurried.  I'm sorry I finished the book since I so enjoyed the characters and reading their exploits to just stay alive. I would recommend this to all for a different prospective, and I would recommend all of Rosenberg's books.
4581539
This made the whole Jewish experience in Warsaw so real it was hard for me to justify how blessed my life has been. I felt as if I was part of the underground it was so real. Awesome hope for the wonderful good in mankind and sadness for the horrendous evil we can inflict on those we choose to see as less than us.
2312019
Norbert Friedman recounted his experiences in such a way that I could not put his book down until I had read every page.  His description of family life before forced incarceration and the hopelessness and fear felt by Jews in Europe was revealed most skillfully.  He survived the Holocaust because of the sun rays of humanity shone by other individuals who gave the glimmer of hope and faith in the most hopeless and inhumane period of history.  (Mr. Friedman said of Reb Mayer Katz- "God's rays of sunlight", he showed me - "shining through the midnight of mankind.")
2611594
Probably not for everyone, but if you are really into learning about the Holocaust (like I am), this is a very interesting movie.
4011772
When I originally watched Berlin Calling I thought it would be just another story about nazi Germany and the horrors of the hollocaust that I've seen 100's of times, but instead, this was an intensely personal journey. A very new, and amazing story perspective. The film not only highlights a focused trip for Kastle Wasserman into a dark past in search of answers, it also shows how Germany, and its people, are trying to both remember, and at the same time, move past this horrible period. It is emotionally engaging and informative in a way always lacking in other movies about the victims of the hollocaust.