Fue un relato sumamente difícil de leer. El libro lo compré en el mismo campo de concentración de Sachsenhausen, después de haber hecho un tour del caFue un relato sumamente difícil de leer. El libro lo compré en el mismo campo de concentración de Sachsenhausen, después de haber hecho un tour del campo que fue emocionante y penoso. Le pedí al guía nuestro que me recomendara algun libro que profundizase la experiencia que habíamos tenido y me recomendó este libro que pude adquirir en la librería de Sachsenhausen.
Esta no es ni novela, ni autobiografía. Es más bien una entrevista hecha por dos periodistas que llevaron a Pedro Martín a contar su historia con mucho detalle y con explicaciones a través de numerosos notas al pie de la página que sirvieron mucho para aclarar conceptos desconocidos.
Pedro a los 17 años fue atrapado en Francia y llevado al campo de concentración donde pasó mas de dos años y de hecho, por poco muere. Cuenta su historia claramente y con mucha profundidad.
Any book that has me googling for additional information gets my approval, and this book, based on fact, does exactly that.
The story finds3 1/2 stars
Any book that has me googling for additional information gets my approval, and this book, based on fact, does exactly that.
The story finds us in Paris, France, where Odile, a young girl, finds work at the American Library. WWII is on the brink, but everyday life goes on, within the library and at home. Odile struggles to become her own person as so many young adults do and also to fit in and become a librarian. Parallel to this story, thousands of miles and a world away in the 1980s, is Lily, a young girl also struggling to find her way, to become her own person, putting up with school bullying, a new stepmother, boys, jealousy, girlfriends, and figure herself out.
During the war, the library stays open and the staff does everything within its means to help not only their members but soldiers, to make sure they have the opportunity to read books. When the Nazis forbid Jews to enter the library (or parks or other public areas), the librarians sneak books to them risking their lives.
And life goes on even through the issues of the occupation. For a non-jew in Paris, the war was difficult, but not necessarily harrowing. Odile finds love, finds a best friend, finds meaning to her work, encounters tremendous family difficulties, and then loses some of what she has found. Not due to the war but due to human foibles and missteps.
In 1980s Montana, Lily grows up and also stumbles through stages of youth, helped along the path by the next-door elderly recluse, Odile.
The book was charming, but I found it lacked depth. The ending was disappointing as (without spoilers) there were events that were left hanging and the decisions made were, to me, not credible.
This was a book club pick. I've read so many WWII books that this is not one I would have picked on my own, but learning about the American Library - something I knew nothing about, was well worth the experience of reading this book. ...more
At the heart of this book, a book of fiction, based on 3 years of interviews with a Holocaust survivor - is a love story. A story of a young man and wAt the heart of this book, a book of fiction, based on 3 years of interviews with a Holocaust survivor - is a love story. A story of a young man and woman who defied the odds of a prolonged stay at Auschwitz and Birkenau, fell in love and were able to survive the horrors and atrocities imposed on them.
Lale was randomly chosen to imprint a number on the arms of incoming prisoners. He tattoos Gita's arm and is smitten. In a world of misery, shaven heads, hunger, death and darkness, the two find ways to come together and hang in there.
I don't know how many books I've read on the Holocaust, most of them non-fiction. This one, while not necessarily lyrical, moved me. The descriptions of the conditions were excellent and brought to life (and death) the general conditions of Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps.
There has been quite a bit of push back on the book stating that it is not quite accurate. I realize that the Lale was elderly when he was interviewed and his memory could be faulty. There are rumbles that his train didn't go through this city, but went through that city. Does it matter in the scheme of things? I don't think so. What mattered to me is what he felt while he was on that train, with money in his pocket, a suitcase with some clothes and a couple of books his mother gave him. What matters is the denigration of a slop bucket spilling onto the men in the cattle car and fights breaking out as they all tried to get away from the feces and smell of urine. While Lale might not have remembered certain details correctly, he remembered what he felt. That something took place in Block 11 and not in Block 18? Incidental.
The book got 5 stars from me because it made me feel the pain, the horror and cruelty of the men and women who took part in the savagery that we call the Holocaust. And because Lale and Gita came out on top.
There is an interview with their son, Gary in the back of the book, as well as pictures of Lale and Gita and notes from the author.
I had lent this book out before finishing it and finally got it back; finished it in a day. I heard the author speak at our genealogy society and so II had lent this book out before finishing it and finally got it back; finished it in a day. I heard the author speak at our genealogy society and so I knew part of her story and was familiar with the subject of the book - but the book was fascinating. Maria, the author, was born in a relocation camp in Dachau, Germany - the same place that was used as a concentration camp just months earlier. Her mother moved to Denver after the war and Maria never knew who her father was. It was a subject best left alone in her home. But she overheard a tidbit of information which gnawed at her enough to begin the quest for family and identity. Over 4 decades through Europe, Russia and the US, she uses her skills as an FBI investigator to seek out her father. Along the way she learns both the good and the bad, the uplifting and the sad parts of her history. ...more
"But history will record that in a period when the forces of tyranny were mobilizing for the extermination of liberty and democracy everywhere, when a
"But history will record that in a period when the forces of tyranny were mobilizing for the extermination of liberty and democracy everywhere, when a mistaken policy of 'appeasement' was stocking the arsenals of despotism, and when in many high social, and some political, circles, fascism was a fad and democracy anathema, he [Ambassador Dodd] stood foursquare for our democratic way of life, fought the good fight and kept the faith, and when death touched him his flag was flying high." Ambassador Charles Bowers
After several candidates for Ambassador of Germany turned down the offer, William Dodd, a university professor of history accepts and moves to Berlin with his family. He arrives in 1933, the year Hitler becomes Chancellor and darkness descends over germany. Dodd, however, was not part of the "Pretty Good Club," a group of well to do, well-heeled Americans in the foreign service. Dodd is mild mannered, quiet, thoughtful and frugal - a complete opposite of most men in the foreign service and therefore an outsider.
As Dodd observes the ever more sadistic occurrences of Hitler's goons in Germany and sends back reports to the United States, many of his opinions are given little to no weight, as he is an outsider to the club of the priveledged. His views are considered exaggerated. One must wonder what would have happened had but an arrogant, loud Ambassador been a spectator of the years leading up to the worst degradation of civilization known to man? Would that person have been charmed by Goebbals and Goering (as Dodd was not)?
The narrative is told from diaries both of Dodd and his very social, divorcee daughter Martha. Dodd, thoughtful, pensive, introspective and Martha - carefree, impulsive, superficial. Both interacted with the hierarchy of the Nazis, including Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Rohm, Diels and Goering, often coming away with opposing views.
One might wonder why the US and the rest of the world didn't take action against this gang of sadistic thugs before they were too emboldened. This book, in so many words, at the very least, explains how the US had its head in the sand and did nothing - which is all that is necessary to allow evil to occur.
"My hunch is that you have lots of chances to say or think 'didn't I say so beforehand?" Messersmith ...more
Twice I stayed up until the wee hours of the night listening to the excellent narration of this book. This memoir is the story of Edith, a young, jewiTwice I stayed up until the wee hours of the night listening to the excellent narration of this book. This memoir is the story of Edith, a young, jewish, law student who could easily pass for Aryan. And pass indeed she did. She had to after being in a forced labor camp and being listed for transport, Edith disappeared into the underground and became a "U-Boat" hiding in plain side of the German Gestapo.
As the title suggests, she married a Nazi officer and so began years of lies, of learning to keep her intellect on hold, of watching her back and fearing for her life. Edith did not see atrocities, did not witness the horrific murders which so many others, less fortunate perhaps, witnessed. Was not herself, tortured, raped or victimized - but she did have an insider's view of what went on.
She candidly tells us with seemingly little pretension, what it was like to be a part of Nazi Germany. The narration sounds more like someone sitting in the living room telling the story. The prose is not profound - however, the book certainly is....more
Excellent novel of the Holocaust told from the perspective of a reluctant SS officer stationed at Auschwitz who tries to make a difference. Very diffeExcellent novel of the Holocaust told from the perspective of a reluctant SS officer stationed at Auschwitz who tries to make a difference. Very different and at times almost too graphic. Anka is a character who will haunt me forever....more
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