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At first,
you find it hard to believe people were hated for their religion. Cast out
of their homes, turned-on by people who they thought were their friends.
Sent to death-camps where they gassed you, and you thought you were having a
shower. Tortured to death. Shot down with hundreds of others at a time.
Labor camps. Being put to work burying dead bodies. Putting up with severe
malnutrition and illness. Having to watch others, who are too weak to go on
around you, drop to the ground, then shot for that. Knowing that any minute,
hour or day could be your last. Yes, hard to believe, but it’s even harder
when you are only eight years old.
The book, Survivors, was passionately, and inspiringly written. These
true stories of nine children that lived through the Holocaust, grasped me
and showed me their fear, showed me their simple wishes to be allowed to
read and learn at schools. It showed me how the Jewish had to put up with
people hating them, thanks to Hitler’s plan of anti-Semitism. They had to
walk about town cautiously, so as not to be shot, beaten up or taken away to
a death-camp never to return. If you did not have the Star of David on you,
mark of a Jew, it was punishable by death. Helping the Jewish hide was also
dealt with that way. The harsh reality of these stories took me by surprise,
and more than ever it made me fall in love with the nine different stories
and people of ages that were hardly under ten when the Nazis started their
tirade.
I could literally feel my own stomach twist, when a family member died or
when they thought they were going to die. I could feel my spirits soar when
they lived, or were set free. I could see the dead bodies, and smell the
rank cabins and hiding places. I could hear the terrible screams. I could
hardly believe that these people were only children! I was mortified when I
saw what was done to them, and only for their beliefs! I could hardly
contain my anger throughout the book. It was so well written, that I only
recommend this for thirteen years and up. The brutality may be too much for
anyone younger.
Five stars. Need I say more? This book showed me a lot more of what it was
like for the Jewish, and I wish I could have done something. It sort of puts
a small ache in your heart to know that millions died at the hands of the
Nazi armies.
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