A review by nicoleisalwaysreading
Auschwitz and After by Charlotte Delbo

5.0

Charlotte Delbo tells in such painstaking detail and with a deep well of emotion her life, as sorted into her time at Auschwitz and after. She concludes that there is no before. Her examinations on memory and the impact of survival are, in my opinion, absolutely crucial for any sort of understanding of the Holocaust. I am devastated and moved by her account. There were times I had to pause because her words snagged on my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Her ability to tell a story both so personal and so largely devastating is incredible. She has managed to make art out of pain that no one who wasn't there can even begin to understand, through prose in her own perspective, vignettes of the characters and people in her story of trying to begin to live again, and poems.