5 comments about Mark it with a Stone.

1. This great book about a Jewish man named Joseph Horn who grew up as the Holocaust was happening, is most defiantly a must read book. Since he is only a child when the Holocaust first starts, he witnesses horrible deaths of almost more than six thousand Jewish people by the German Nazis. He is one of the few Jewish people who survived through the whole Holocaust. Throughout the book he loses his family, friends and dearest companions to the Holocaust. Determined to see his family again he fights to survive the Holocaust. Joseph also operates and explains how the Jews were treated and what they had to do in the holding camps and ghettos to survive.
   
   Throughout the book Joseph goes into great detail about how he feels and the abuse he goes through. What he describes really makes stop and think about what is being told. Very emotional feeling is put into the story and it can draw you into it so much that you can picture what has happened. The moments of happiness he received while he was in the Holocaust would be dreadful for anyone now. Have a piece of bread and a bowl of terrible soup to eat once a day. Still in the end he fights through it and survives.
   
   Really the only problem any reader might come by is the German language and explanations. Some German words are explained as other are not. Same as the names of the camps, some named are explained why they are named a cretin word and some are not. Understanding the words that are explained is not difficult but can be hard to remember or relate to. The words or actions not explained can become confusing but not totally frustrating. Overall this is only a small problem in the book.
   
   I think this book is a very good book for most readers. I would not recommend it to younger ones but the ones who would understand the reading. At first it may start out slow but once you get into it, you begin to wonder if you want to go on. Since the book draws you in so much you want to go on, you can't help it. Well that's what happened to me. Being a small book is also a good thing for me since it goes quickly and keeps me active into the book. Mark It With A Stone is one of the few books that made me think, feel and question a lot of emotional and mental thoughts.



2. Joseph Horn's memoir, Mark it with a Stone, is a sharply etched portrayal of the Holocaust as seen for seven years from inside a series of boxcars and concentration camp factories where workers who broke down were systematically broken down. Rich in irony, Horn's visual imagery of what is was like to be a Holocaust victim makes the whole terrible processing of humans seem almost normal despite his vivid accounts of near-starvation, random murders, beatings, and human callousness beyond beliefs. Horn survived several years as a slave of the Nazis, he believes, so he could tell the world what happened as he saw it. Mark it with a Stone accomplishes that goal using visual descriptions that are absolutely convincing and avoiding the lurid hyperbole that turn up in the average Holocaust story. It's all like a description of a day at school punctuated by chronic overwork, wretched food, and occasional murder. The reader, emotionally attached to the hardships of each and every Jewish person, not only feels he or she is actually there but also emerges as a survivor of the book. Because "Mark it with a Stone" presents itself in such an emotionally attaching and vivid manor, high school or advanced middle school students would find it accessible while adults would read it in a single sitting.



3. After reading the powerful first hand account,Mark It with A Stone, by Joseph Horn, think of how lucky you are to have a family, food, and a roof over your head. This autobiography takes you along Joseph Horn's journey through Europe and many different concentration camps. He faced death several times and there were times when he'd rather have been dead than alive and suffering. When all the Jews were liberated, he moved to the States. He had to learn how to start over and make a living with few friends and no direct family living. I can assure you that you will not forget such an experience like this one and will learn to teach others of this unfortunate disaster. Knowledge was one concept Horn kept, and hopefully we can all gain more knowledge and use it wisely just like Joseph did, not too long ago! Horn's most interesting aspect was definitely his courage. When you're facing danger, it's hard to act quickly and maturely. Yet, Joseph Horn did this without a problem. Courage is a characterisitic that does not come easily to most people, but Horn demonstrates this several times. To go through the death defying situations that Horn went through, it is evident that courage is needed. Horn was very lucky and benefited from having this important quality that he took with him through life. I highly recommend this book to all young adults and their parents. It's a great book that should be shared with people all around the country. It is very powerful and can be very graphic, so if you're not good at handling these details, then maybe it's not such a good idea. But, we could all learn a lot from Joseph Horn and his story. Regardless of religion, race, or ethnic background, this book should be read by all. If there were only more people with Joseph's courage, strength, wisdom, and compassion, the world would be a better place.



4. After reading the powerful first hand account,Mark It with A Stone, by Joseph Horn, think of how lucky you are to have a family, food, and a roof over your head. This autobiography takes you along Joseph Horn's journey through Europe and many different concentration camps. He faced death several times and there were times when he'd rather have been dead than alive and suffering. When all the Jews were liberated, he moved to the States. He had to learn how to start over and make a living with few friends and no direct family living. I can assure you that you will not forget such an experience like this one and will learn to teach others of this unfortunate disaster. Knowledge was one concept Horn kept, and hopefully we can all gain more knowledge and use it wisely just like Joseph did, not too long ago! Horn's most interesting aspect was definitely his courage. When you're facing danger, it's hard to act quickly and maturely. Yet, Joseph Horn did this without a problem. Courage is a characterisitic that does not come easily to most people, but Horn demonstrates this several times. To go through the death defying situations that Horn went through, it is evident that courage is needed. Horn was very lucky and benefited from having this important quality that he took with him through life. I highly recommend this book to all young adults and their parents. It's a great book that should be shared with people all around the country. It is very powerful and can be very graphic, so if you're not good at handling these details, then maybe it's not such a good idea. But, we could all learn a lot from Joseph Horn and his story. Regardless of religion, race, or ethnic background, this book should be read by all. If there were only more people with Joseph's courage, strength, wisdom, and compassion, the world would be a better place.



5. It is just unbelievable how many times the author survived death. This is an excellent book for everyone interested in the truth about the Holocaust. Joseph Horn tells everything straightout, nothing but the truth. After reading it, you'll be left thinking about it for a very long time, and wondering how he, or anybody, could survive such an ordeal. An extraordinary book.

5 comments about And No More Sorrow.

1. As a retired teacher, I think that, 'And No More Sorrow' is a must read for every 5th through 12th grader. Adults also should take note of this true story. Students and adults will feel a surge of gratitude.
   
   Sonja, the main character in 'And No More Sorrow,' teaches the reader that ultimately it's friends, love and family that motivate and guide us through our most challenging moments.
   
   These words come to mind: inspiring, brave and forgiving, not unlike the story of Anne Frank, who grew up a few blocks from Sonja.
   
   Well done.



2. I read "And No More Sorrow" in 2 days which I don't take the time to do often. It was so compelling that I hated to put it down, painful as it was to read about the horrific conditions of the Jews in Holland during WWII. It's been years since I saw "Playing for Keeps" and "Schindler's List, both which haunted me so that I swore it'd be a very long time, if ever, before I would expose myself to read about fellow children of God being treated in such inhuman ways! This is not the only example of man's inhumanity to man. I think of "Life and Death in Shanghai" and "The Rape of Nanking" as other horrific examples. How could humans possibly treat other human beings this way? Thank you so much for sharing your mother's story of survival, Liliane. I pray that it has been a healing experience for both of you. Glenna Lee



3. Easy to read. A time of history that we must not forget. If you are a person who enjoys movies such as "Life Is Beautiful" you will love this book.



4. I thought I knew something about the Holocaust, but this book has shown me that I really understood very little. In such a personal way it has involved me and taught me so much. A must for every history student and anyone who would like to understand a little bit better.



5. I could not put this book down. I have nothing to gain by saying this except that it will make our world a better place.

1 comments about Oskar Schindler and His List: The Man, the Book, the Film, the Holocaust and Its Survivors.

1. The book kept me interested but it wasnt edge of the seat action but i would definately recommend it

5 comments about BREAKING THE SILENCE...: Reminiscences of a Hidden Child.

1. Schwarzbart's poignant memoir is an ode to his parents and the 'strangers' who helped him survive. THe memoir stresses the love he bears his mother and father, and the great love they beswtowed on him. This book is a MUST read.



2. In this moving book, Paul Schwarzbart tells of his childhood as a Jewish boy trapped in the horrors of the Holocaust. It is a lively narrative, surprisingly full of vivid memories. Schwarzbart has not forgotten a thing. He was an intelligent child who imprinted in him every detail of every situation.
   Like many others, he tells us of the cruelty of absurdity: his father, a Jewish Austrian refugee in Belgium is arrested at the onset of the war because, as an Austrian, he has become an enemy of Belgium. What seems to be a haven becomes dangerous territory overnight. Like many others, he tells of the despair and bottomless pain of separation from a parent. He tells of the unbearable injustices and crimes committed against the Jews.
   But there is something different in this book. Schwarzbart talks about gratitude. His book is full of reminiscences of gratitude. First and foremost, is the gratitude for his mother and her superb strengths during the endless hardship of the war years. There is gratitude toward all the teachers, school staff and director, simple people who had the courage to rescue young children.
   This book is full of love and hope. In the middle of dire darkness, multiple sparks of light appear to sustain and affirm life. They are all the brave people that Paul Schwarzbart is honoring in his book.



3. Most autobiographies about the Holocaust are full of hopelessness and despair. This one is a true celebration of the human spirit. In 1940, Paul was 7 years old, living with his family in Brussels, when his father was arrested and interned simply for being a Jew. During the ensuing German occupation, for him and his family, life became a new routine of quiet desperation until there was a knock on the door. His mother opened the door to an unknown man who told her that if she wanted to save her son's life, she must let him hide him from the Nazi's, but she must not ask him where Paul was being taken. A neighboring couple offered to let the boy use their surname, and with a new identity, Paul embarked on an overnight train to a distant town where he entered a Catholic boys' school as Paul Exsteen. In this school of 125 boys between the ages of 5 and 14, Paul quickly absorbed this new role as a Catholic, learning the Catechism, going to confession and eventually becoming an alter boy, always under the constant fear that he would be discovered. There were mornings of waking to searches by German soldiers, but Paul's hidden identity was never discovered. Only 45 years later does he learn that 60 of the 125 boys in the school were hidden Jewish children, each sponsored by someone who would have probably been tortured or worse if their involvement had been discovered.
   Eventually, Paul was reunited with his mother and they finally made it to the United States, an impossibility but for the kind assistance of many people at each step of their progress.
   This book is a bittersweet recollection of the Holocaust - the horror of it and the endless sacrifice of people who quietly and with steadfast dedication helped those who might have otherwise been victims of this violent period of history.



4. Paul Schwarzbart writes a poignant love story, a story of love of life, of love of family, of survival in a most treacherous time.
   
   We all "know" the story of the holocaust; but do we really? Paul was a five year old at its beginning. He lived it; he survived it all while suffering the greatest of loss and receiving unbounded love. He brings to the printed page a detailed and vibrant recollection of a gifted child denied his childhood, protected, guided and hidden by strangers of a different faith risking their own lives.
   
   Paul's story lives as a reminder of a world we must never allow to again exist. No other child should ever be subjected to the irrational trauma depicted in Paul's narrative.



5. This is my very best first autobiography, an ode to my dear parents and the righteous gentiles who helped save my life. It is a tale of light and hope amid darkness, which I share directly with my readers in my very own voice. The book is superbly illustrated with photographs of the principals.

3 comments about When the World Closed Its Doors: Struggling to Escape Nazi-occupied Europe.

1. I couldn't put this book down. I have read quite a few books on the Holocaust and watched the major movies, but I never really felt the connection with an ordinary person living an ordinary life being thrust into extraordinary circumstances like this book has done. While reading, I was imagining myself being awakened by bombs on my wedding night and forced to make the unbelievably difficult decisions made by Ida, Morris and their families in Antwerp, Belgium. I also never really "got" that the US had rejected Jewish immigrants to the degree described in this book. I don't recall ever seeing a movie that addresses this issue and think that one needs to be made. I don't recall the US ever apologizing either...it seems like this is a piece of the Holocaust story that has been overlooked: that of the refugees who tried to get out and the countries that refused to help.
   
   The monoprints made by Ida in the 1980's as a first step to telling her story are also quite extraordinary; now I'm curious about monoprinting and wish I could see someone actually doing it. It's hard to imagine how one could get so much detail with the process!
   
   It could not have been easy to recall such horrible memories for Ida Piller-Greenspan and Susan Branting does an able job at moving the narrative along and maintaining the sense of urgency that Ida and Morris must have felt during their year+ ordeal. I am deeply grateful for this account. I believe these stories of ordinary individuals are priceless reminders of that horrible time and, as Peter Rose writes in his introduction, each provides a "small part in the overall catastrophe."



2. A great story with very expressive and well chosen prints by the author which encourage the dark but ultimately uplifting tale.
   As it's quite a short book the end comes a little to soon for my liking, but I hope that the author will consider making a mid-quel
   to add to the story. Fingers crossed...:-)



3. I was disappointed in this book as I did not find it particularly well written plus I felt it left a lot unsaid about the author's family and how they managed when they came to America. I realize the book was narrow in scope as it covered only the time of their flight to freedom but it still felt me feeling hanging. I wanted to know more.

4 comments about Last Walk in Naryshkin Park.

1. I think when writing a book of this type there is always a tendency to exagerate facts and figures in order to make it more dramatic and sell more copies. One case in point: the author says that the 3,000 figure for Jews killed in Zagare is more likely 7,000. Where does she get this figure? According to census records, in 1938 Zagare had 5445 residents, not all Jews. In 1942 it had 2,936 residents, mostly non-Jews. So about 2,509 were killed, not 7,000, perhaps not even 3,000. This of course does not make the crime any less horrendous. But let's stick to facts, please.



2. This is an interesting account, part personal and part historical of the plight of the Jewish people of Lithuania, focusing primarily, but not restricted to, the Second World War. The author begins by providing a brief history of her family, which serves to personalize the tragedy to come. The town her parents were from originally is the main subject of the book, and although a small town, appears representative of other towns where the same thing happened. The title of the book alludes to the park in the town where a great number of the towns` Jewish people are buried, after being killed by other townspeople during German occupation. This is not a casual read, although that`s more to do with the subject matter, rather than the writing style. It will make you sad and perhaps angry, and there is no happy ending, perhaps just an understanding that we can learn from our mistakes. The latter part of the book follows the author as she heads to Lithuania for her first ever trip there, (she lived in South Africa as a child), and her experiences when visiting the park, as well as meeting the only Jew now living in the town. A moving and involving book.



3. Congratulations Rose Zwi's book Last Walk in Naryshkin Park is the Winner of the Sliver APPA Award, category General Literature, in Beijing, China for the translation from English to Mandarin of Last Walk in Naryshkin Park



4. Rosa Zwi traces her roots back to a small town in Lithuania. Her family had fled Zagare to escape the rising anti-Sematism in Lithuania in the years leading up to WW11. Most of the family that remained were trapped in Lithuania, and were murdered by local Lithuanians and/or Nazis. The book is invaluable in telling the story of Jews from the town of Zagare, almost all of whom were murdered. There is no-one left to tell me the story of my own relatives from Zagare who are likely to be in the mass graves in Naryshkin Park. Thank you Rosa Zwi for sharing your journey back in time. The book is well written and easy to read.

5 comments about Hiding Places: A Father and His Sons Retrace Their Family's Escape from the Holocaust.

1. I was first drawn to this book by a haunting picture of two little girls on the book cover. I was impatient to learn their significance. I had to wait. In the opening of this story, the author relates his fear of the Not-sees (Nazi) as told to him throughout his youth by his mother who escaped Europe.
   
   However, in an effort to come to grips with being Jewish and to learn the truth about what his family endured during World War II, an American divorced father and his two sons begin a quest to retrace the steps of an uncle who endured the Holocaust. Using a tattered journal's clues they searched for his hiding places and learned more than they expected about the war and its victims. Only after finding where and how the twins died did the author understand his great-uncles, other family members, and his mother. During the trip he also realizes what it means to be a father.

   I could not appreciate the cover of this book until I learned the fate of the Jewish twin sisters and others who suffered.




2. An inspiring, thoughtful and funny book. A father is retracing his family's escape route fifty years later. While teaching his two sons history, family lore, geography and much about human courage and frailty, the author learns much about family bonds, love and loyalty from his sons. The boys add common sense to a voyage with a lot of bagage and helps the author resolve some difficult family issues. The book is serious and entertaining at the same time. You laugh and cry with the author and wish the book would not end. An obvious Father's Day gift -or for any sensitive person you may want to give some reading pleasure!



3. Daniel Rose grew up in Connecticut, in a lobster fishing town. He always felt different because of his Jewishness even though his family was assimilated. Later, after a fractured marriage, he wanted his young sons, aged 7 and 12 to really understand their heritage, especially in terms of the Holocaust, and so he took them to Europe to discover their roots. They looked up relatives who had survived the horror and still lived in Belgium, and from there they set out on a journey to retrace the actual events of the life one of their relatives, an ancient eccentric old man who gave them his diary as a roadmap.

   In addition, in alternating chapters, we learn of Mr. Rose's Connecticut boyhood. Not only does he describe the events, but he's able to recapture every nuance of feeling that must have been difficult to dredge up from memory. He makes fun of his orthodox relatives, he battles the school bully, but most of all, he keeps coming back to the recurrent theme of the book --his hiding places.

   Foremost though, is his relationship with his own sons, and the unique loving relationship between the three of them. Some of the things that they were exposed to on the trip were not pleasant, but they all came through it enriched by the experience. This was a difficult subject to write about, but somehow Mr. Rose managed to do it with humor. While I didn't laugh out loud, I found myself smiling throughout.

   There's a lot of detail in the book, each one adding further insight into each of the characters. It's more than just description; the reader really feels the emotion. There's mystery here too as well as unsolved questions. And there sure is a lot to think about. Afterwards, I couldn't get the book out of my mind and I don't know if I ever will. I must thank Mr. Rose for writing it. Highly recommended.




4. Hiding Places by Daniel Asa Rose is many stories in one. It's the story of a young boy growing up and how he perceives his differences and ways he tries to blend in or hide. It's the story of a father and two sons trying to forge a relationship with each other after divorce, and it's about one family's experience of hiding to survive the horrors of the Holocaust.

   The book is honest and forthright. Daniel Asa Rose has opened up a window into his feelings about growing up Jewish in a predominantly WASP Connecticut town. This reader was able to relate, not so much to the hiding borne out of cultural and religious differences, but to the hiding that kids do because they feel that no one else has the same thoughts. Daniel Asa Rose gives a voice to those childhood thoughts that most of us have kept silent.

   The author reveals himself to be a caring father, one who misses his sons greatly after his divorce and seeks to find a way to create a whole family out of the three of them. He doesn't spend much time talking about how painful the divorce itself was to him, but this shows through in the writing. This is not something seen from a male perspective too often. There are sure to be other fathers out there who will resonate with this aspect of the book.

   Lastly, Daniel Asa Rose creates a portrait of his relative, J.P. Morgan (not THE J.P. Morgan) and his particular experience of survival during the Holocaust. At times, it is painful to read, but because it is the story of a singular person, it takes on greater significance than observing the Holocaust as a whole. J.P.'s survival and the tracking of his hiding places by Rose and his sons is nothing short of miraculous. But wouldn't most of those who survived the Holocaust describe their experience as such?

   It's tempting to condemn this father for exposing his sons to the horrors of the Holocaust at the tender ages of seven and twelve. Without debating the issue too much, the final verdict is really up to his sons, Alex and Marshall--after all, it's a family thing.




5. This book touches the reader on many levels, and you may be drawn in to the writer's childhood experience as an outsider striving to find ways to fit in, while marveling at his opportunity to retrace an ancestor's flight from terror, and transfixed by the relationships that are recalled (and are still forming) in this book.

   For many of us, the holocaust is more fully appreciated in personal terms than in the abstract. This book doesn't just fetch the truth from the past, it carries memory forward. For a generation twice removed, and more fully assimiliated, Hiding Places is both an intriguing real life story and an inspiring lesson in how the past still echoes.

No comments about And Yet I Still Have Dreams : A Story of Certain Loneliness.

5 comments about Otto, the Boy at the Window: Peter Otto Abele's True Story of Escape from the Holocaust and New Life in America.

1. One of the books you find difficult to put down until you finished the entire book. A story of a small boy looking out of a window at a world of the holocaust with all its horror and who is able to escape, survive and prosper in this land despite a difficult family relationship except for his love for his brother. The story of how he became a successful business man and a loving, caring family man despite his relationship with his parents should be reading material for all young people.



2. A soulful personal account of the Holocaust, loss of freedom and property, and relocation to America by a true survivor. Initiated through his child-eyed visions of Nazi dominance in his Austrian homeland, Mr. Abeles' brings us full circle to his tremendous success and triumph as an American citizen and businessman. An outstanding testament to the power of the American dream, and the immigration opportunities that our forefathers intended....



3. Even though some parents don't know how or can't display their love in traditional ways, Peter Abeles' story shows that the love is still there. How much he and his brother loved each other was emphasized by the lack of expression by his parents. The beautiful part is how Peter learned how to express his love with the help of his wife Bonnie. Unfortunately, these lessons were learned after his parents' death. Everybody can learn from Peter's story.



4. The book takes you on a journey with a young boy named Otto. His family's trip from Vienna during the start of the Holocaust to their arrival in America. When Otto looks out the window he sees how everyone else around him live with loving parents. He finds no love in his own family except for Otto's brother Heinz Robert. Otto's success is due to hard work and long hours. This has taken him away from his own family. Eventually, the long hours at work pay off with success and family love and appreciation. A joy to read and to think about your own family's hardships and success. I am gald that my son-in-law (Joe) gave me this book to read.



5. Peter has done a beautiful job in describing the necessity of finding out about your past if you want experience peace in your life today and in the future. Often we don't want to look "back there" but the author shows us much courage and honesty in confronting the demons of his past and the healing that comes as a result.

5 comments about Where Light and Shadow Meet: A Memoir.

1. This is a terrifoc book. It really gives insight into what happened with Oskar Schindler, and his wife. Great addition if you are a fan of Schindler's List, which seems not to credit Emilie fairly fpr all she did as well as Oskar. Awesome. Very informatibe - I could not put it down!



2. The account of the Schindlers is very well known. For this reason, my review intentionally focuses on some little-known information relative to this interesting memoir provided by Oskar Schindler's widow.
   
   Emilie Schindler recounts the challenges her husband faced in keeping his Jewish workers. Yet, all over the Reich, Jews were being spared from death and diverted into forced labor. A few hundred thousand known Jews survived the Nazi period in this manner. This fact contradicts Holocaust-uniqueness proponents, who had argued that ALL Jews were targeted for extermination, and, moreover, that practical matters were invariably shunted aside in the effort to locate and kill every possible Jew. The Schindlers' experience exemplifies the fact that the Germans were willing to spare some Jews provided that they would be useful to the Reich. And, with few exceptions, these Jewish forced laborers were not killed in the final hours of the war. Finally, the Schindlers' experience shows that the Germans WERE willing to let practical matters (namely the need for forced laborers) to get in the way of killing as many Jews as possible.
   
   Emilie Schindler believes that Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, did not commit suicide. She believes that he was kidnapped from his home and forced to swallow poison (p. 95).
   
   It is interesting to note that Oskar Schindler spoke Polish quite well (p. 49). Moreover, he had been involved in anti-Polish intelligence before the war. It also turns out that he was involved in the action of procuring Polish army uniforms for German intelligence (p. 32). These were later used in the German propaganda stunt in which "Polish" soldiers attacked the Germans, giving the latter a pretext for launching their war of aggression against Poland.
   
   Emilie Schindler (p. 43) informs the reader that Polish forces were able to resist the German invaders for only 8 days. This is manifestly incorrect. Regular Polish forces fought both the invading Germans and Russians for 35 days. Then Polish guerilla warfare began and never stopped during the entire German occupation of Poland.
   
   Very few non-Poles realize the fact that, as a final act of cultural genocide, the Germans planned to blow up the cultural cities of Krakow (Cracow) and Czestochowa (Tschenstochau). Emilie Schindler mentions the former (p. 50). Only the speedy arrival of the Red Army (and, not mentioned, Polish guerilla resistance) prevented this from happening. (I myself visited Krakow and saw the holes that the Germans had cut into the foundations of the historical buildings. These holes were to be filled with explosive charges. After the war, the holes were left unfilled as a testimony to German barbarism).
   
   The Schindlers apparently had some sympathy for Poles. Emilie Schindler recounts an experience (pp. 58-59) during which she expressed anger and defiance to an SS man, whose dog had just bitten a Polish woman. In the plant at Brunnlitz, Oskar Schindler had not only Jewish forced laborers, but also Czech and Polish forced laborers. Owing to the shortage of food rations, Oskar Schindler always saw to it that the Jewish forced laborers were given more food, as they were forced to do heavier work (p. 85).



3. As a fan and avid reader of anything relating to WWII and the Holocaust, I was looking forward to reading this book. The only thing I knew about the Schindlers was from seeing the Speilberg movie, so I thought reading about their experience firsthand would be insightful and rewarding. In her introduction, Emilie states that her husband was not a hero and neither was she. This isn't a statement trying to discredit their actions, but rather an attitude that is commonplace among WWII survivors. Any soldier who receives a medal will tell you that he isn't a hero. The heroes are always described as those who gave their lives.
   
   Emilie Schindler begins her very brief memoir with scattered stories, remembrances and incidences from her childhood that are meant to show us at once how inquisitive and stubborn she was, qualities that later served her during WWII. Her memories seem scattered here and there, with no focus, until she meets Oskar Schindler and marries him shortly thereafter. As she talks about their experience working as spies, she also highlights and rehashes Oskar's numerous affairs, some with acquaintances and the approval of mutual acquaintances. From the movie, we know that Oskar was not a faithful husband, but the trouble with Emilie's tirade is that she claims not to be angry at her husband. If she isn't angry, why is nearly a quarter of the memories about her husband's infidelities? And if she was so hurt by his actions, why did she stay with him? She talks about his mysterious and seductive nature that made women pursue him instead of vice versa, but there's no concrete reason to support both her anger at him and her staying with him. Even the words she claims to have uttered at his graveside for filming the Speilberg movie, seem hollow and untrue when viewed with what she has written previously. If she has forgiven him for his infidelities and leaving her, it certainly doesn't show in her scrambled prose. And the final lesson of the prologue that we are to "love one another" is almost laughable after her tirade against her husband.
   
   I'm not trying to say that Emilie Schindler didn't love her husband, or that she doesn't deserve credit for her role in the so-called "Schindler's List", because the truth of the matter is that her and her husband saved over a thousand Jews. And without her help, Oskar Schindler most likely would not have succeeded. However, as inspiring as their story is, and could have been portrayed, this memoir is a bitter rant in disguise.



4. With my interest in World War II and the Holocaust, I eagerly anticipated reading this book as a supplementary material to "Schindler's List" the movie and my other books on the subject. While the book has its moments, it is very uneven. It almost seems that Emilie Schindler wrote this book to spite her husband and take some credit for his work. While I am sure she deserves more credit than she receives, the tone of the book almost seems bitter.

   The book is short in length, almost too short for a memoir. Emilie Schindler gives a summary of her life at each stage. I felt that she had so much more to say at times, but held back. Particularly, the events involving protecting Jews during the Holocaust is far too brief. Mrs. Schindler spends more time talking about irresponsible behavior and infidelity in her marriage than I cared to read. Since the book was released shortly after the movie was released, it seems she is trying to discredit her husband.

   Emilie Schindler does give some valuable insights into her life and her late husband's life that may not have been written before. For example, little has been written of their plight after the war. Before this book, little has been said about how Oskar left his wife after the living with her in Argentina for several years. Also, Mrs. Schindler points out some of the flaws in the movie "Schindler's List" while still acknowledging it was a good film.

   What ruined this book for me was the bitter tone Emilie Schindler sets. I would rather focus on Oskar Schindler's great work than his flaws.




5. Through print and screen we have learnt how Oskar Schindler, that Sudenten charmer, saved the lives of his Jewish workers in occupied Poland and Czechoslovakia during World War II. What was less recognised is the role in Oskar's activities of his wife, Emilie. She appears of course in Kenneally and Spielberg, but she is a small bit actor, confined to the margins. Now, finally, we hear from Emilie.

   In a series of reminiscences, she tells us of her Catholic upbringing in Bohemia and her first meeting with Oskar. Entranced by his "mysterious, undefinable nature", marriage followed soon after. The coupling was not always a happy one though and Emilie says she was aware of her husband's extra-marital wanderings from the early days. Still, she stayed with him. Like other women, she couldn't pull herself away from what she described as Oscar's natural seductiveness.

   Emilie's views on Oscar are insightful but the real story is her part in Oskar's acts of deliverance. Most noteworthy was her leadership and devotion to the surviving Jews of Goleschau, who arrived unannounced, emaciated, near death in frozen cattle cars in the middle of the night. In what was already a hellish situation, her quick thinking saved many at a time when Oskar was away on some business trip.

   Some will be disappointed by this book's brevity and the narrative is a little disjointed in parts. But we now know more about Oskar's long-suffering wife and her part in the drama. It's well known that in 1967 Yad Vashem recognised Oskar as one of the Righteous Among the Nations. It is less publicised that in 1993 it correctly extended this recognition to Emilie. In the concluding lines to her story she invites us to toast her, as well as her husband. It's now time we did.