The children of Auschwitz: this is the darkest spot in the ocean of
suffering that was the Holocaust. They were deported to the
concentration camp with their families, with most being murdered in
the gas chambers upon their arrival, or were born there under
unimaginable circumstances. While 232,000 children and juveniles were
deported to Auschwitz, only 750 were liberated in the death camp at
the end of January 1945. Most of them were under 15 years of age.
Alwin Meyer's masterwork is the culmination of decades of research and
interviews with the children and their descendants, sensitively
reconstructing their stories before, during and after Auschwitz.
The camp would remain with them throughout their lives: on their
forearms, as a tattooed number, and in their minds, in the memory of
heart-rending separation from parents and siblings, medical
experiments, abject confusion, ceaseless hunger and a perpetual
longing for home and security. Once the purported liberation came,
there was no blueprint for piecing together personal biographies after
the unthinkable had happened. Many of the children, often orphaned,
had forgotten their names or ages, and had only fragmented
understandings of where they came from. While some struggled to
reconnect to the parents from whom they had been separated, others had
known nothing other than the camp. Some children grew up without the
ability to trust and to play. Survival is not yet life - it is an
in-between stage which requires individuals to learn how to live. The
liberated children had to learn how to be young again in order to grow
into adults like others did.
This remarkable book tells the stories of the most vulnerable victims
of the Nazis’ systematic attempt to extinguish innocent lives, and
rescues their voices from historical oblivion. It is a unique
testimony to the horrific suffering endured by millions in
humanity’s darkest hour.
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The Children of Auschwitz
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781509545520
Publisert
2022
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Polity
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter