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sducharme's review against another edition
5.0
There's a ton of information packed into this book, but it's so readable and engaging. The history of Hungary during WWII is complicated and confusing (I still don't have it all straight after living in Budapest for seven years) but Borden's uncluttered narrative, focusing on the human drama of Wallenberg's heroic effort to save thousands of Jews, makes it all feel very accessible.
The text is written in narrow short paragraphs, almost like free verse, and frequent captioned photos break up the text, too.
The text is written in narrow short paragraphs, almost like free verse, and frequent captioned photos break up the text, too.
abigailbat's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting biography, almost written in verse, and including tons of archival photos. This is the story of a little-known man who saved thousands of Jews in Hungary by basically bullshitting the Nazis. A diplomat from Sweden, he created thousands of passes for Jews with connections to Sweden proclaiming them under Royal Swedish protection and saving them from the Nazis. The cover misled me a little bit because I was expecting to read about a teenage hero when in reality Wallenberg was in his 20s and 30s during the war, but that makes his efforts no less exceptional. I would hand this to teens and tweens interested in Holocaust figures like Anne Frank and Oskar Schindler.
nerfherder86's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent biography of the diplomat who saved thousands of Jewish lives in Budapest during World War II. I had heard of him before but I had no idea of the extent of his efforts, and this book does an excellent job of explaining the circumstances of the Jews' plight during the siege of Budapest, and how the Swedish and other neutral national diplomats worked to save them. The book tells of Raoul's childhood and upbringing and how he learned five languages and was a world traveler by the time the war started, all skills that helped place him in the ideal position to work with government officials of many countries when he was needed. A fascinating story, told in a suspenseful manner. (I was really hoping for a happy ending!) Book is wonderfully designed, with the text designed in short phrases for lots of white space, like verse, and good use of color design elements among all the black and white photos and scans of Schutzpasses, etc. illustrating the book.
backonthealex's review against another edition
5.0
In January, I was very pleased to learn that Louise Borden and her book His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg had been named winner of the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers by the Association of Jewish Libraries. The Sydney Taylor Book Awards are given annually to those outstanding works that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
Born into a relatively well-to-do family of bankers in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912, Raoul Wallenberg was always excited and curious about everything and his endeavors were encouraged and supported by his family. At age 11, he traveled alone from Sweden to Turkey on the Orient Express to visit his grandfather, Gustaf Wallenberg, Sweden's minister to Turkey. And at age 19, he left Sweden to attend college at the University of Michigan, majoring in Engineering. When he returned to Europe, Raoul spent time travelling and as he did, he began to hear stories from Jews who has escaped Hitler's Germany, stories about new laws, beatings and even murder inflicted on Jews by the Nazi government.
Raoul had taken a job and was an excellent salesman, helped by his ability to speak different languages. But pretty soon the world was at war. As he watched country after country fall to Nazi occupation, he worried about Sweden's neutrality. Denmark and Norway, close neighbor, had already fallen to the Nazis. When roundups and deportations were announced in Denmark in 1943, Sweden gave permission for Danish Jews to enter the country, saved by the many Danish fisherman willing to sail them there. Swedish freedom and neutrality remained intact.
Hungary was also a country with a large Jewish population, but it was not a neutral and in 1944, it, too, became a Nazi occupied country. Roundups and deportations of Hungarian Jews began and many went to the Swedish embassy seeking visas to Sweden. But the War Refugee Board in America wanted a neutral Swede to organize some relief for the Jews in Hungary. Raoul Wallenberg, with his many languages and skill as a salesman, was just the person they needed.
Wallenberg devised a legal looking Protection Pass or Schutzpass that were like Swedish passports and protected the bearer from deportation. Wallenberg even created a single Schutzpass that protected whole families. But the Schutzpass, which probably saved around 20,000 people, was only one way Wallenberg worked to help Hungarian Jews.
Ironically, the man who worked tirelessly to save Jews, was picked up by the Soviet military in Hungary and on January 17, 1945, he was last seen being driven away in a Soviet car, and was never to be heard from again.
The details of Wallenberg's life and the work he did saving Jews in Hungary are all nicely detailed in-depth in Borden's free verse biography of this incredible man. His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg is beautifully put together, divided into 15 sections, each one chronicling a period of Wallenberg's life with a wealth of supporting photographs and other documents that give a comprehensive picture of his life as he grows and changes and even goes beyond his disappearance up to the present. As you will discover when you read the Author's Note at the back, Borden had the privilege of working closely with his family over many years and so had much more personal insight into the real child and man that was Raoul Wallenberg than biographers are generally privy to. And that shows throughout the book.
But His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg is more than just a biography, it is a shining example of one man who rose to the challenge at a very bleak time in history and who made a difference in the world, saving so many Hungarian Jews from certain death. Borden has written a book that is a fine addition to the whole body of Holocaust literature and anyone interested in the Jewish experience at that time.
Raoul Wallenberg was named Righteous Among The Nations by Yad Vashem in 1963 in Israel.
Come back tomorrow for an interview with Louise Borden.
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was purchased for my personal library
Born into a relatively well-to-do family of bankers in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912, Raoul Wallenberg was always excited and curious about everything and his endeavors were encouraged and supported by his family. At age 11, he traveled alone from Sweden to Turkey on the Orient Express to visit his grandfather, Gustaf Wallenberg, Sweden's minister to Turkey. And at age 19, he left Sweden to attend college at the University of Michigan, majoring in Engineering. When he returned to Europe, Raoul spent time travelling and as he did, he began to hear stories from Jews who has escaped Hitler's Germany, stories about new laws, beatings and even murder inflicted on Jews by the Nazi government.
Raoul had taken a job and was an excellent salesman, helped by his ability to speak different languages. But pretty soon the world was at war. As he watched country after country fall to Nazi occupation, he worried about Sweden's neutrality. Denmark and Norway, close neighbor, had already fallen to the Nazis. When roundups and deportations were announced in Denmark in 1943, Sweden gave permission for Danish Jews to enter the country, saved by the many Danish fisherman willing to sail them there. Swedish freedom and neutrality remained intact.
Hungary was also a country with a large Jewish population, but it was not a neutral and in 1944, it, too, became a Nazi occupied country. Roundups and deportations of Hungarian Jews began and many went to the Swedish embassy seeking visas to Sweden. But the War Refugee Board in America wanted a neutral Swede to organize some relief for the Jews in Hungary. Raoul Wallenberg, with his many languages and skill as a salesman, was just the person they needed.
Wallenberg devised a legal looking Protection Pass or Schutzpass that were like Swedish passports and protected the bearer from deportation. Wallenberg even created a single Schutzpass that protected whole families. But the Schutzpass, which probably saved around 20,000 people, was only one way Wallenberg worked to help Hungarian Jews.
Ironically, the man who worked tirelessly to save Jews, was picked up by the Soviet military in Hungary and on January 17, 1945, he was last seen being driven away in a Soviet car, and was never to be heard from again.
The details of Wallenberg's life and the work he did saving Jews in Hungary are all nicely detailed in-depth in Borden's free verse biography of this incredible man. His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg is beautifully put together, divided into 15 sections, each one chronicling a period of Wallenberg's life with a wealth of supporting photographs and other documents that give a comprehensive picture of his life as he grows and changes and even goes beyond his disappearance up to the present. As you will discover when you read the Author's Note at the back, Borden had the privilege of working closely with his family over many years and so had much more personal insight into the real child and man that was Raoul Wallenberg than biographers are generally privy to. And that shows throughout the book.
But His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg is more than just a biography, it is a shining example of one man who rose to the challenge at a very bleak time in history and who made a difference in the world, saving so many Hungarian Jews from certain death. Borden has written a book that is a fine addition to the whole body of Holocaust literature and anyone interested in the Jewish experience at that time.
Raoul Wallenberg was named Righteous Among The Nations by Yad Vashem in 1963 in Israel.
Come back tomorrow for an interview with Louise Borden.
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was purchased for my personal library
martha_schwalbe's review against another edition
4.0
As I read this non-fiction book, I kept thinking about the children sledding down the hill with their jackets filled with money as the Nazis looked on. Wallenberg did much to rescue the Jews living in Hungary. This story, written in prose, tells his story.
martha_schwalbe's review
4.0
As I read this non-fiction book, I kept thinking about the children sledding down the hill with their jackets filled with money as the Nazis looked on. Wallenberg did much to rescue the Jews living in Hungary. This story, written in prose, tells his story.
chitownjr's review
4.0
Concise poetic language combined with historic and contemporary photographs, documents, and maps brings Raoul Wallenberg’s story to life. I knew him as a man who’d done great things during World War II and whose fate was a mystery but sadly I really didn’t know anything about his life. I felt ashamed to recognize this gap in my knowledge of WWII history and glad to learn more about him.
Borden’s book felt like a striking departure from your ordinary biography. It didn’t have the same seat-of-your-pants appeal of Sheinkin’s Bomb but was still a compelling story about Wallenberg’s life. I thought the book was very well laid out with lots of images and lots of white space. What was especially interesting though was her use of language. She pared down her words to express what was important to further the story and still create a vivid picture of Wallenberg’s life. For example, she said “There wasn’t an open seat left on the 5:21 p.m. train to Vienna.” She could have just said Wallenberg left on the 5:21 pm train to Vienna. Her poetic use of words brought the story to life.
This economy of language also makes the book well suited to a younger audience of readers who could have been put off by the subject matter. Her ability to use primary sources and interesting facts means kids have a chance to explore the story without being put off by lengthy passages and boring facts. The design underscores this with its use of numerous images and lots of white space.
Borden follows the chronology of Wallenberg’s life and bolsters her authority with a table of contents, extensive bibliography, photo credits, index, acknowledgement and author’s note. I liked the photos of the author with some of the principals in the story. This brings history to life and connects it to the present day. Borden’s inclusion of a list of video recordings about Wallenberg was a smart move. For this younger generation, watching is often preferable to reading and her list provides a way to get more information.
The book was divided into sections which broke up the text into manageable chunks of information. This is especially helpful for younger readers.
One thing I wondered about, however, was exactly how Wallenberg came to feel so acutely protective of Jews. Was it because he saw how Nazi Germany was scapegoating them and saw it as a basic human rights issue or did he have Jewish friends who sensitized him to their plight? Was and is Sweden one of those rare countries in which anti-Semitism is missing? I couldn’t help but wonder.
This book shows how images of primary sources such as photos of the Schutz-Pass can be used to personalize the story and remind us that it was the lives of real people at stake during the war. At first I wondered why so many Schutz-Passes were included but when I really started looking at the people’s faces in the photos, I realized how it humanized the story.
I also thought it was pretty amazing that Wallenberg’s niece grew up to marry Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations. The Wallenberg family must be a pretty incredible bunch!
This book is an excellent addition to a school or public library, and most likely suited for kids in fourth or fifth grade and up. My only concern is, how exactly do you get kids to read non-fiction? Whenever I visit my local library, I see lots of kids going through the shelves of non-fiction but very few in the non-fiction area. I think lots of kids see the non-fiction part of the public library as a place where you get books for school reports and projects, not for pleasurable reading. As the books in this week’s selection show, contemporary non-fiction can provide just as much joy as works of fiction.
Borden’s book felt like a striking departure from your ordinary biography. It didn’t have the same seat-of-your-pants appeal of Sheinkin’s Bomb but was still a compelling story about Wallenberg’s life. I thought the book was very well laid out with lots of images and lots of white space. What was especially interesting though was her use of language. She pared down her words to express what was important to further the story and still create a vivid picture of Wallenberg’s life. For example, she said “There wasn’t an open seat left on the 5:21 p.m. train to Vienna.” She could have just said Wallenberg left on the 5:21 pm train to Vienna. Her poetic use of words brought the story to life.
This economy of language also makes the book well suited to a younger audience of readers who could have been put off by the subject matter. Her ability to use primary sources and interesting facts means kids have a chance to explore the story without being put off by lengthy passages and boring facts. The design underscores this with its use of numerous images and lots of white space.
Borden follows the chronology of Wallenberg’s life and bolsters her authority with a table of contents, extensive bibliography, photo credits, index, acknowledgement and author’s note. I liked the photos of the author with some of the principals in the story. This brings history to life and connects it to the present day. Borden’s inclusion of a list of video recordings about Wallenberg was a smart move. For this younger generation, watching is often preferable to reading and her list provides a way to get more information.
The book was divided into sections which broke up the text into manageable chunks of information. This is especially helpful for younger readers.
One thing I wondered about, however, was exactly how Wallenberg came to feel so acutely protective of Jews. Was it because he saw how Nazi Germany was scapegoating them and saw it as a basic human rights issue or did he have Jewish friends who sensitized him to their plight? Was and is Sweden one of those rare countries in which anti-Semitism is missing? I couldn’t help but wonder.
This book shows how images of primary sources such as photos of the Schutz-Pass can be used to personalize the story and remind us that it was the lives of real people at stake during the war. At first I wondered why so many Schutz-Passes were included but when I really started looking at the people’s faces in the photos, I realized how it humanized the story.
I also thought it was pretty amazing that Wallenberg’s niece grew up to marry Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations. The Wallenberg family must be a pretty incredible bunch!
This book is an excellent addition to a school or public library, and most likely suited for kids in fourth or fifth grade and up. My only concern is, how exactly do you get kids to read non-fiction? Whenever I visit my local library, I see lots of kids going through the shelves of non-fiction but very few in the non-fiction area. I think lots of kids see the non-fiction part of the public library as a place where you get books for school reports and projects, not for pleasurable reading. As the books in this week’s selection show, contemporary non-fiction can provide just as much joy as works of fiction.
samuraijenn's review
3.0
This book was a great introduction to the life and bravery of Raoul Wllenberg. However, because of the scant amount of text, it was just that, and nothing else. I would have loved to have seen more details in the writing to make the story pull me in more, but I did love that there were so many photos and illustrations to accompany the story. Overall, it's a good read, but I feel like I need to read another book to get a grasp on the whole story.
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