The boys Book

This is a story that should be told and remembered - the story of the few children/teenagers who survived Hitler's forced labor and concentration/extermination camps. It starts with the incredibly rich life that was the pre-war European Jewish community, continues thru the break-up and total annihilation of those communities - many of which no longer have a single Jew living in them, or in some cases even exist - then chronicles "the boys" and their families as they survive first the war and then their post-war transport to England and subsequent recovery. These are brutal, horrific stories, told in such a matter-of-fact way that they become even more powerful.

It's not that they're heroes exactly. It's more like, after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they managed first to be lucky enough to physically survive, and second to be strong enough emotionally to refuse to allow their experiences to destroy them. Surprisingly tho of course their feelings about the Nazis are self-evident, they draw contrasts between the Nazis and Germans in general.

So it's a book you should read, so you can understand better what happened, and so their story isn't forgotten. But it isn't going to be a book you read quickly. Nor is it a book you will enjoy.