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xxstefaniereadsxx's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
This is about the Ovitz family, including the seven of them who were dwarfs. I feel weird using that word, but for the sake of the title. They were quite successful and traveled around and performed, singing and other things. It was so sad to see them all be deported to Auschwitz. Several accounts of this family were taken into the writing of this book, including the account from the one surviving member of the family, Perla. I really enjoyed learning about this family. This was a good book.
elsiebrady's review
3.0
Well researched. 7 dwarfs would be amazing to meet anywhere, but in Auschwitz even more so. The horrors of the world!!
mirel's review
5.0
An interesting and quick read. The book explores the Ovitz family history before, during and after World War 2. The family consisted of ten children, 7 of them little people, who attracted Mengele's attention in Auschwitz, and although they were subjected to medical experiments, the family managed to survive intact, along with two other families whom they claimed were related to them. The story is well researched.
dannireadsallthetime's review
3.0
This wasn’t quite what I expected. I felt this story was more focused on Joseph Mengele more than the family of Dwarves. I mean, I am interested in Mengele, but I picked this up to know about the Dwarf family as I have never heard of them before. I just felt this was lacking and the focus was wrong. What I did learn of the family was interesting, and as a family they were incredibly lucky to have survived the concentration camp.
neenstar's review
5.0
"Through think and thin, never separate"
What a fantastic read !
While looking for another title, I picked this up thinking I'd read the odd excerpt.
It was so well written and so interesting, I couldn't put it down (read non stop till 4am till finished!).
It's so much more than an account of how a family of little people survived the Holocaust.
It starts out with an account of the Ovitz family pre-war, accompanied by a fascinating history on others in history globally, who have had dwarfism by birth or as a secondary condition. The limited career choices and their veneration in certain cultures and eras.
This first part of the book was so enlightening.
This book left me with a sort of 'Life of Pi' wondering. There are instances in the book which detail happenings at Auschwitz Birkenhau which are told so differently by the different hells people had to endure. Who's story is the most believable ? Why would some lie ?
At first you're confused, but then you come to understand the insanity of their hell, the rage, the jealousy and their strong rooted belief system would alter what and how they (all inmates) relay their story to the world.
This book is more fascinating than truely gruesome. (Unless of course, you are young and this is your introduction to the Holocaust).
Moreover it's an account of pre-war life, then the many 'types' of inmates, their dealings with Mengele and how they are interconnected, and then life post-war and it's desolation.
6,000,000 innocents.
What a fantastic read !
While looking for another title, I picked this up thinking I'd read the odd excerpt.
It was so well written and so interesting, I couldn't put it down (read non stop till 4am till finished!).
It's so much more than an account of how a family of little people survived the Holocaust.
It starts out with an account of the Ovitz family pre-war, accompanied by a fascinating history on others in history globally, who have had dwarfism by birth or as a secondary condition. The limited career choices and their veneration in certain cultures and eras.
This first part of the book was so enlightening.
This book left me with a sort of 'Life of Pi' wondering. There are instances in the book which detail happenings at Auschwitz Birkenhau which are told so differently by the different hells people had to endure. Who's story is the most believable ? Why would some lie ?
At first you're confused, but then you come to understand the insanity of their hell, the rage, the jealousy and their strong rooted belief system would alter what and how they (all inmates) relay their story to the world.
This book is more fascinating than truely gruesome. (Unless of course, you are young and this is your introduction to the Holocaust).
Moreover it's an account of pre-war life, then the many 'types' of inmates, their dealings with Mengele and how they are interconnected, and then life post-war and it's desolation.
6,000,000 innocents.
katrinaburch's review
4.0
wow... what an amazing story. I had never hear of them before a quick mention on, I think, NPR. I couldn't believe had never hear of them before. The only reason I didn't give it five stars (my rating on my book blog will be a 4.8) is because there random stories of people who were also "Mengele's Pets" and it really had nothing to do with the Ovitz family. Otherwise, it was a good book
mzjai117's review
3.0
When I first purchased the book I thought it would be intriguing and a difference from what I had been previously reading. It was very much so but it wasn't a book that was so good to the point where I couldn't put it down. It was very interesting however and eye opening to the atrocities and first hand accounts of Auschwitz. If the family had not been dwarfs they would have definitely perished. It was slightly irritating when one person said one thing in the book but another person said that it did't happen. There was too much bickering and arguing about what happened to the family in the nazi death camp. Otherwise it was a great story and I hadn't read any other account personally besides Anne Franc when I was younger regarding the Holocost.
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