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46 reviews for:
Always Remember Your Name: A True Story of Family and Survival in Auschwitz
Andra Bucci, Tatiana Bucci
4.1 AVERAGE
46 reviews for:
Always Remember Your Name: A True Story of Family and Survival in Auschwitz
Andra Bucci, Tatiana Bucci
4.1 AVERAGE
I learnt so much. I am very grateful this story has been translated and I had the opportunity to read it!
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
230,000 children would go through the gates of Auschwitz. About 50 would survive the ordeal. This book is written by two sisters who were sent to Auschwitz when they were 4 and 6, lived in the Kinderblock and survived. Miraculously, so did their mom (who was at a time and Auschwitz and later transfered) and dad (imprisoned in South Africa). They would all eventually reunite.
The story is sparse and to the point. The sisters tell their story as a combined "we" in most cases and in the 3rd person when needed (aka "Tati remembers this different than Andra does...") They are still alive (in their 80s) and making sure their story is told. Survivors of the Holocaust become less and less as the years pass and it is crucial that their stories be passed on and never forgotten.
The story is sparse and to the point. The sisters tell their story as a combined "we" in most cases and in the 3rd person when needed (aka "Tati remembers this different than Andra does...") They are still alive (in their 80s) and making sure their story is told. Survivors of the Holocaust become less and less as the years pass and it is crucial that their stories be passed on and never forgotten.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Andra & Tatiana Bucci, translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein
📎”On March 28, 1944, 6yo Tati & her 4yo sister Andra were roused from their sleep & arrested. Along with their mother, Mira, aunt, & cousin Sergio, they were deported to Auschwitz.
Over 230,000 children were deported to the camp, where Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, performed deadly experiments on them. Only a few dozen children survived, Tati & Andra among them.
Tati, Andra, & Sergio were separated from their mothers upon arrival. But Mira was determined to keep track of her girls. After being tattooed with their inmate numbers, she made them memorize her number & told them to “always remember your name.” In keeping this promise to their mother, the sisters were able to be reunited with their parents when WWII ended.
An unforgettable narrative of the power of sisterhood in the most extreme circumstances, & of how a mother’s love can overcome the most impossible odds, the Bucci sisters' memoir is a timely reminder that separating families is an inexcusable evil.”
While a lot of this story is a bit fuzzy on the details (the girls were VERY young when arrested), it’s still another important & eye-opening story for us to read. Sometimes they even mention that one doesn’t remember something, but the other does.
Also, it is known that many kids didn’t survive being sent to Auschwitz, but they believe they did because the Nazi’s thought they were twins & that Monster Mengele might find use for them.
It was also interesting to hear what happened when the camps were liberated & where they went, before being reunited with their family.
It’s a short book, a quick read, but it will still give you a nice punch to the gut.
📎”On March 28, 1944, 6yo Tati & her 4yo sister Andra were roused from their sleep & arrested. Along with their mother, Mira, aunt, & cousin Sergio, they were deported to Auschwitz.
Over 230,000 children were deported to the camp, where Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, performed deadly experiments on them. Only a few dozen children survived, Tati & Andra among them.
Tati, Andra, & Sergio were separated from their mothers upon arrival. But Mira was determined to keep track of her girls. After being tattooed with their inmate numbers, she made them memorize her number & told them to “always remember your name.” In keeping this promise to their mother, the sisters were able to be reunited with their parents when WWII ended.
An unforgettable narrative of the power of sisterhood in the most extreme circumstances, & of how a mother’s love can overcome the most impossible odds, the Bucci sisters' memoir is a timely reminder that separating families is an inexcusable evil.”
While a lot of this story is a bit fuzzy on the details (the girls were VERY young when arrested), it’s still another important & eye-opening story for us to read. Sometimes they even mention that one doesn’t remember something, but the other does.
Also, it is known that many kids didn’t survive being sent to Auschwitz, but they believe they did because the Nazi’s thought they were twins & that Monster Mengele might find use for them.
It was also interesting to hear what happened when the camps were liberated & where they went, before being reunited with their family.
It’s a short book, a quick read, but it will still give you a nice punch to the gut.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Stories about the Holocaust, or any injustice rooted in fear of the “other,” have always hit different. It’s simply incomprehensible, to me, how people have the capacity to inflict so much pain. The Bucci sisters, after a traumatic childhood experience, are sharing their story with the world. Two Holocaust survivors recount their journey as one. Sisters, that by fate, luck, God, or all three, managed to survive and stick together, through the horrors of this period. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, this story reminds us the importance of remembering, sharing and being unified in love and compassion for one another.
A simple and yet powerful narrative.
A simple and yet powerful narrative.
What a good book, the book is one of the better ones I’ve read on this time period and comes from a very different perspective (to what I’ve read so far), great it’s been translated and is to the point and captures the feeling of how the two sisters felt. I just wish there had been more!!! Thanks to NetGalley for this advanced copy