4.5 out of 5 stars
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In a Nutshell: account of Moshe Kessler, a Hungarian Jew, in the Nazi death camps and afterwards ; it is written in the first person, as told to the author.
While reading this I wondered why so many of us choose to read survivor accounts of the Holocaust. I think I do so because the 'how' fascinates me so much - how ordinary people would turn a blind eye to, or even join in with, the ill treatment of another group. How a few psychopaths could persuade thousands of soldiers to commit such atrocities. I've recently read most of a book on this subject, Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning, if you're interested in this aspect. Do all people have this potential evil within, a fire waiting to be lit? I don't believe so, but...
Moshe Kessler had an idyllic childhood within his large, extended family. Many, many have asked, over the years, why the Jews allowed their persecution to take place, seemingly without protest. Moshe answers this question in detail; here is an excerpt I marked:
'You must understand that our future in those days was completely uncertain, for better or worse. Our daily routine had gradually changed in the past two years, with each new directive or restriction by the Hungarian regime. We thought this was just another period of temporary worsening of conditions, and we would soon return to our homes. Information about what to expect next was concealed in a way that dispelled our suspicions.'
Moshe was only 13 when he and his family were taken to Auschwitz. He escaped the gas chamber on the advice of a veteran prisoner, who told him to join the 'other queue' and say he was 16. This nameless prisoner was one of many who saved his life over the terrible fifteen months he survived there; another was Antonin Kalina, a true angel who was active in Buchenwald camp underground (Moshe was driven on a 'death march' from one camp to another), who established Block 66 for the children, and initiated many procedures to keep them alive.
The author (a friend of the family in later years), writing as Moshe, describes much about the emotional repercussions, and the slow easing back into 'normal' life after the Americans liberated Buchenwald; many years passed before he found any sort of contentment.
My only complaint about the book is the bad editing; there are occasional grammar errors, and duplication of facts, as though the process was a bit on the sketchy side. This was only mildly irritating; it's definitely worth reading.
