Please recommend Holocaust books - 1st person accounts only

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the world's best mom

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 7:05 pm

Rena's Promise, by Rena Kornreich Gelissen with Heather Dune Macadam is an amazing book that describes Auschwitz and other camps in great detail. Rena was on the first Jewish transport to Auschwitz and she and her sister were probably the only 2 people who survived from there. They came close to death many times. They spent such a long time in the camps that it seems endless as you read about it.

Night, by Elie Weisel is also excellent. It describes Auschwitz well, and has an exceptionally good description of the death march. However, he stopped believing in Hashem during the war, and his book has a lot of questions about where Hashem was during the war. Later in his life he announced that there really is a Hashem after all, but his book raises questions.

amother

Yolk

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 7:14 pm

The Choice is written in a raw, open style. It isn’t your typical Holocaust memoir as it juxtaposes her own experiences with her life after the war, as well as her clients etc. I read it more than once.

H2O

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 7:51 pm

Go My Son
By Chaim Shapiro

DVOM

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 7:52 pm

I have lived a thousand years by Livia Bitton-Jackson

Night by Eli Weisel (In my opinion the best memoir ever written)

Maus by Art Speigelman (a graphic novel of the Holocaust. Jews are drawn as mice. I know it sounds weird, but it's so powerful. I read the entire collection in one sitting).

To See you again by Betty Schimmel (I don't know why I loved this book so much. Maybe because the author doesn't white-wash her own feelings and motivations. Selfish, reckless, petty, angry, the author is a real human teenager during the war, not a saint.)

amother

Sunflower

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 8:10 pm

Baalam's Prophecy by Naftalie Lau Lavie (the older brother of Rabbi Lau). You really get a good idea of exactly how people's lives were suddenly upended, as he was literally on his way to his first day of high school when the war broke out. (Obviously, he never ended up attending high school.) Also, he was arrested and was on one of the earliest transports to Auschwitz in 1940 at the age of 15 when it was still a prison camp for political opponents and not yet a death camp. His parents were able to get him smuggled out at the time. Later, he ended up in Buchenwald (with his little brother, whom he managed to save). It really is a fascinating read and was reprinted a couple of years ago.

(Just an FYI, the CIS books mentioned here are a bit more sanitized than others, without the really graphic details, like Night, for example.)
If you want to read a more condensed version by Elie Weisel, you can read his later in life memoir All Rivers Run to the Sea.
Also, since so many people mentioned Alone in the Forest, it's been republished very recently. I read a review in the NYT maybe a couple of months ago

amother

Scarlet

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 8:25 pm

I've read practically all the books mentioned do far. I'll list a few that stand out to me.
1. As many mentioned "To Vanquish the Dragon" by Pearl Benish. (She is related to me, so since I knew her personally, it was extra meaningful.) It is very descriptive and, compared to other frum holocaust books, not very censored. She also describes life before the war in a very relatable way. You get an understanding they she and her friends were normal typical teens just like teens today. It's also about friendships and comradary and how the BY girls help each other and others.
2. Bilaam's Prophecy by Naphtali Lau-Lavie (older brother of R' Yisroel Lau-chief rabbi of Israel). I read R' Lau's book beforehand, and the contrast and different perspective is very interesting. As R' Lau was such a young child, his memories aren't as detailed and coming from a young child's perspective. Overall, it's a more hopeful and uplifting book. Bilaam's Prophecy on the other hand, is a raw and gut wrenching look into a teenage boy who is suddenly responsible for his very young brother. He does not hold back any of his feelings. Including his initial anger at his mother for suddenly saddling him with his brother, feeling that she was condemning him to death. He also discusses his struggles post liberation with faith and anger towards Hashem very frankly and honestly. And how he and other teen survivors would discuss and argue about it. (The group included Elie Wiesel). He also talked about his relationship with the Gerrer Rebbe's and others.

The books I mentioned are more graphic than others. If you feel you need to ease into it, read first books of survivors who were not in the camps. Maybe hiding, or partisans.

amother

Sunflower

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 8:34 pm

I guess because I grew up in the 80s, and kids weren't shielded from graphic Holocaust books even at a young age (and most of what was available then were published by secular publishing companies and they did not spare on the graphic details) I really wouldn't describe any of the frum books mentioned here as graphic, tbh....
CIS was pretty groundbreaking for the time, I believe they started publishing their Holocaust Diaries in the early 90s. I think they wanted their books to be read by younger readers, so they were sparing on the graphic details. (I guess by then parents were more wary. I remember getting physically sick at the age of 8 after reading an especially graphic book my mom left lying around from the public library.)
Interestingly, I recently read that Night was turned down by the original French publishing company back in the 50s until he rewrite it and toned it down....

Sunnydays

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 8:37 pm

Reality wrote:

Out of the depths by Chief Rabbi Lau. Rabbi Lau's brother also wrote a book, Bilaam's Curse. It's on my to read list.

I've read almost all the abridged versions of the holocaust diaries published by CIS. I wish I could find the full versions. They Called Me Frau Anna and Alone in the Forest are standout books in the series.

They have a few of the full versions of the holocaust diaries on https://www.amazingjewishbooks.com

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 8:58 pm

A world after this.

It gave me a whole different view than the typical holocaust books. I found it fascinating.

qwerty4

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 9:15 pm

Another vote for the Redhead of Auschwitz. Exquisitely written and simultaneously heartrending and uplifting.

amother

Begonia

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 9:18 pm

Surprised no one mentioned this one:

Behind the walls by Miriam Cohen
(Story of a young girl that survived. Was hidden in a convent)

EMEN

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 10:15 pm

Beyond the Tracks - Ruth Mermelstein

amother

Moccasin

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 10:32 pm

Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust

amother

Hyssop

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 10:33 pm

Man’s search for meaning - victor Frankl
The choice- Edith Egar
Treblinka
Night

#BestBubby

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 10:56 pm

I read Holocaust Books and my grown DD only reads them on Tisha B'Av.

DD asked me why I read them.

I said: Because History repeats. I want to learn how to survive so I can protect my family
when the next Holocaust happens. Of course, it is up to HASHEM who survives but I feel
I need to learn.

What I learned is: Don't do what "everybody" does.

Everybody went on the trains. Few survived.

Many of those who survived managed to escape the concentration camps by going into hiding,
living in the forest or passing as a gentile.

People called those who refused to "follow orders" and get on the trains like everybody else
"crazy". Today they say "conspiracy theorist". But those were the ones who survived.

Batsheva1

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 10:57 pm

Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levy
5 Chimneys by Olga Lengyel

StrongMomma

Thu, Apr 28 2022, 11:27 pm

Miracles, I’m sorry I can’t recall the full name of the author- Freida something.
It’s an incredible story, and I loved reading it.
It’s written in a very engaging style.

#BestBubby

Fri, Apr 29 2022, 12:30 am

Slingshot of Hell - very chilling story of man who survived Mauthesen Camp - the one with the
rock quarry.

amother

Gray

Fri, Apr 29 2022, 12:31 am

Not so graphic but a most incredible story:
Nine out of Ten by Dr. Moshe Katz with Nachman Seltzer

"At war's end, the piteous, battered remnants of a once-proud Hungarian Jewry began making their way back to their hometowns in search of fellow survivors. The Katz family was no different. Or were they? Nine out of ten siblings from one family - an almost unheard of survival rate - escaped death to be reunited. This is their story - and what a story it was! Resourcefulness, courage and amazing acts of heroism showing kindness to their fellow Jews, at the risk of their own lives; flight, imprisonment, deportation and escape; hope, despair, prayer, and faith; these are some of the elements that combine to create a Holocaust saga unlike any you've ever heard before - until now!"

amother

Moccasin

Fri, Apr 29 2022, 12:36 am

All But My Life

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