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A review by foxonabook
The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I loved this. It was well-researched and brilliantly written.
There are plenty of books about the atrocities of the Holocaust, but what sets this apart is that real people and their humanity are at the centre of the story. We aren’t presented with endless facts, figures and statistics. Instead, we follow the story of an Austrian family and each member’s journey of survival or early death. Facts, figures and statistics do feature in the book but they’re there to provide context or to put things into perspective.
This isn’t a light read by any means. This story highlights the worst of what humankind is capable of, but it also sheds light on the brave, compassionate acts of defiance performed by everyday people. It inspires hope and admiration, and, more importantly, acts as a mirror for our current global political landscape.
I was hooked from start to finish, and I could have easily listened to this for a lot longer. I think this should become mandatory reading for everyone because it’s stories like this one that will hopefully ensure that history does not repeat itself.
There are plenty of books about the atrocities of the Holocaust, but what sets this apart is that real people and their humanity are at the centre of the story. We aren’t presented with endless facts, figures and statistics. Instead, we follow the story of an Austrian family and each member’s journey of survival or early death. Facts, figures and statistics do feature in the book but they’re there to provide context or to put things into perspective.
This isn’t a light read by any means. This story highlights the worst of what humankind is capable of, but it also sheds light on the brave, compassionate acts of defiance performed by everyday people. It inspires hope and admiration, and, more importantly, acts as a mirror for our current global political landscape.
I was hooked from start to finish, and I could have easily listened to this for a lot longer. I think this should become mandatory reading for everyone because it’s stories like this one that will hopefully ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Antisemitism, Death, Genocide, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Deportation, Grief, and War