Moishe Moskowitz struggled with fitting in as a Jew in Kielce, Poland. This was even before the Nazis invaded. Then when they came in 1939, there were more rules and regulations and finally work camps that were then concentration camps. Moishe is separated from his family as the wolves draw closer to take away everything he holds dear. I have read many Holocaust survival stories, but this one is in verse. Each scene a short poem that conveys the different emotions and pains Moishe experienced during this time. The story that brings the title of warm bread does not come until the end, but it reminds us that even in the darkest places, there is hope. Somewhere there are people that care. This short story is worth reading even if you have read several Holocaust stories.
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As I picked up Prisoner B-3087, Mr. Peek recommended another book, a memoir by his wife. She was also a Holocaust survivor. Ruth also survived the Nazi invasion in her home country, Poland, but she did so through hiding. She and her family had to hide in tight spaces to keep out of sight, even hiding in a chest or trunk while someone came to visit the family she was staying with. Though Ruth's story was not as hard to read as Jack's, Ruth also struggled to survive as a young girl, not understanding why she had to stay hidden. The late night conversations her parents had with those they stayed with are particularly heartbreaking. She did not endure as much physical suffering as her future husband, but she still had her own trial to bear. Her story reminds me of Diary of Anne Frank, but you can be assured that she survived, the title itself gives you that hope when her story seems hopeless. She tells her story more straightforward than the novel based on Jack's life. You can see the difference in this memoir as you see the truth that was her life during and right after the war. When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, Yanek Gruener did what he could to hide in a country surrounded by Nazis. This only lasted for a short time before he found himself in a concentration camp, struggling to survive. Based on the true story of Jack Gruener, the reader follows him one horrifying situation to another. This was a hard story to read. I know I take the blessings in my life for granted, and I need stories like this to remind me how easy my life is. Hiding in the floor, running full out, begging from his worst enemy - you understand the price that one paid to survive in one of the worst times in history. Lest we think this only happened with the Nazis, you have only to read stories of Soviet gulags in Between Shades of Gray or Japanese prison camps in World War II in Unbroken to see what happens when we lose our humanity and deceny. We need to read these stories to appreciate what we have and to appreciate each other. |
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June 2021
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