The Brothers of Auschwitz Review
My Review
This book was translated for Israeli Author Malka Adler . Based on true accounts of teenage brothers Dov and Yitzhak and their experience during the holocaust in WWII. Living in a remote village in the mountains of Hungary the Jewish family thought they were safe from Nazis and they would not be bothered. What transpires next is only the start of nightmare they could not even begin to imagine. They have one hour to be ready to leave their home and ride on a train for days to reach Auschwitz . I have read many books on this subject but this one will really stay with me and not fade from memory. The descriptions are so painful you can even after all this time you can feel the strong emotions these brothers and their sister went through. The author is the only one the brothers granted an interview to to talk about their harrowing experience and through this book she makes sure their time there is not forgotten. It really brings tears to your eyes wondering how people can be so cruel and vicious to another human being. The book is heartbreakingly raw and harrowing, very well written. Unflinchingly realistic is how it was written and this tragedy never should have been able to happen. My heart aches for all who were affected by this. I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you. All opinions expressed are my own.
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GoodReads Summary
An extraordinary novel of hope and heartbreak, this is a story about a family separated by the Holocaust and their harrowing journey back to each other. My brother’s tears left a delicate, clean line on his face. I stroked his cheek, whispered, it’s really you… Dov and Yitzhak live in a small village in the mountains of Hungary, isolated both from the world and from the horrors of the war. But one day in 1944, everything changes. The Nazis storm the homes of the Jewish villagers and inform them they have one hour. One hour before the train will take them to Auschwitz. Six decades later, from the safety of their living rooms at home in Israel, the brothers finally break their silence to a friend who will never let their stories be forgotten. Told in a poetic style reminiscent of Atwood and Salinger, Malka Adler has penned a visceral yet essential read for those who have found strength, solace and above all, hope, in books like The Choice, The Librarian of Auschwitz and The Tattooist of Auschwitz. This paperback includes an exclusive 14-page P.S. section with an author Q, an Author’s Note and a reading group guide. Praise for The Brothers of Auschwitz ‘I sat down and read this within a few hours, my wife is now reading it and it is bringing tears to her eyes’ Amazon reviewer ‘The story is so incredible and the author writes so beautifully that it is impossible to stay indifferent. I gave the book to my mom and she called me after she finished crying and telling me how much she loved it’ Amazon reviewer ‘It is a book we all must read, read in order to know … It is harsh, enthralling, earth-shattering, rattling – but we must. And nothing less’ Aliza Ziegler, Editor-in-Chief at Proza Books, Yedioth Ahronoth Publishing House ‘Great courage is needed to write as Adler does – without softening, without beautifying, without leaving any room to imagination’ Yehudith Rotem, Haaretz newspaper ‘This is a book we are not allowed not to read’ Leah Roditi, At Magazine
About The Author
Malka Adler was born in a small village near the Sea of Galilee
in northern Israel. She began her work as an author after the age of 50 when she joined a creative writing course and fell in love with the art. So far, Malka has written six books, four of which are about the Holocaust. It was never clear to her why she was drawn to this subject again and again. Only recently perhaps has she begun to understand, after finding out accidentally that most of her father's family together with all the Jews of Komotini in Greece were sent to Treblinka in 1943. Malka was named after one of the aunts who perished at the camp together with her 3 kids. Malka is married, has 3 sons and is a grandmother herself. She obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees in educational counselling at Bar Ilan University and Currently she is a family and couples therapist, writer, and facilitator at several reading clubs.
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