holocaust

Rated Phoenix 8/10

"The Liberation of the Camps: The End of the Holocaust and Its Aftermath" by Dan Stone. My rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Published in 2015.

Book description: A moving, deeply researched account of survivors’ experiences of liberation from Nazi death camps and the long, difficult years that followed. Decades have passed since the tortured inmates of Hitler’s concentration and extermination camps were liberated. When the horror of the atrocities came fully to light, it was easy for others to imagine the joyful relief of freed prisoners. Yet for those who had survived the unimaginable, the experience of liberation was a slow, grueling journey back to life. In this unprecedented inquiry into the days, months, and years following the arrival of Allied forces at the Nazi camps, the author/historian draws on archival sources and eyewitness testimonies to reveal the complex challenges liberated victims faced and the daunting tasks their liberators undertook to help them reclaim their shattered lives.

This is a well written and detailed history and portrait of these times. I highly recommend this book.

#nonfiction #history #Holocaust #WWII #freedom #Nazis #Jews #books #reading @bookstodon

"Winter in the Morning: A Young Girl's Escape from the Warsaw Ghetto" by Janina Bauman. My rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Published in 2026.

Book description: Janina Bauman was a year older than Anne Frank when the Second World War broke out. When Hitler's decree forced her family into the Warsaw Ghetto, bright, lively Janina suddenly found herself in a cramped flat hiding with other Jewish families. At first, the curfews and casual cruelty meted out by the German occupiers could not dim her passion for books, boys and romance. Then came the raids, and Janina with her sister and mother, had to keep on the move, hiding in the ruins of the ghetto to avoid being one of thousands rounded up every day and deported to the camps. Their escape to the 'Aryan' side was followed by two years in hiding, taking shelter with those willing to help them and living in constant fear of betrayal, told through her teenage diaries.

I expected this book to be similar to "A Diary of a Young Girl, but this story is much different in perspective, and I loved it every bit as much, and the story does not end there, but continues on after the war. I highly recommend this book.

#nonfiction #memoir #history #Holocaust #WWII #persecution #jews #Books #reading @bookstodon