Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps

by Andrea Warren

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

940.5318092

Genres

All Topics

Nonfiction

Collection

World History

Publication

HarperCollins (2002), Edition: Harper Trophy ed., 160 pages

Description

Biography & Autobiography. History. Juvenile Nonfiction. HTML: The life-changing story of a young boy's struggle for survival in a Nazi-run concentration camp, narrated in the voice of Holocaust survivor Jack Mandelbaum. When twelve-year-old Jack Mandelbaum is separated from his family and shipped off to the Blechhammer concentration camp, his life becomes a never-ending nightmare. With minimal food to eat and harsh living conditions threatening his health, Jack manages to survive by thinking of his family. In this Robert F. Silbert Honor book, readers will glimpse the dark reality of life during the Holocaust, and how one boy made it out alive. William Allen White Award Winner Robert F. Silbert Honor ALA Notable Children's Book VOYA Nonfiction Honor Book.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member ydraughon

This book would be good for grades 5 - 12. This is a good book to give students insight to the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. It is a biography of a Jewish boy, Jack Madelbaum, who is separated from his family when herded to a Nazi concentration camp. It tells of the harsh conditions he

endured and his couragous survival. A history class could use this book to compare discrminatory racial Nazi law vs. Jim Crow law. The book could also be used to compare to current genocide.

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LibraryThing member MattW1

This is a good, but sad and disturbing book. A 15 year old boy is separated from his family and thrown into a Nazi death camps during the holocaust. He is forced to do hard manual labor with terrible conditions. He must face these terrible conditions in order to survive.

LibraryThing member meggyweg

A decent grade-school introduction the Holocaust. It isn't graphic, but it doesn't whitewash the horrors of the camps, and you really feel for the young protagonist of the story and his friends and family. The book is well-illustrated with photos too. A good pick for elementary and middle school

libraries.

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LibraryThing member STBA

An inspiring account of the Holocaust experiences of Jack Mandelbaum, who survived three years as a teen in several camps. His zest for life and ability to form friendships enabled him to begin a new life in the United States.

LibraryThing member TaraThompson

I think older children will like this book.
Because the author makes you feel like
your there and makes you angry and sad at
the same time. It really showes you the
horror of World War 2.
(13+)

LibraryThing member NMkimdykstra

Personal Response:

I found this be a very good story and a very easy read. The author did a very good job making the people and the situations seem real. I read this book in one setting.

I found a typo in this book, and that really bothered me. I'm sure that wouldn't bother most normal

people.

Classroom/Library Uses:

I read this book shortly after reading the book and watching the movie, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." These two books tie in together very nicely. In "The Boy in the Striped Pajams" the reader gets so much more of a glimpse of the Holocaust from the outside, in this book, the reader gets to see what it was like for someone who spent years inside the camp. I think teachers could give their students a good introduction to the Holocaust by incorporating this book and "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" into their curriculum.

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LibraryThing member CardCatalogue

An excellent non-fiction book that is written almost like a novel. Jack's story is well-told and shares many of the horrors that millions of people faced in World War II, but is never explicitly detailed or overwhelmingly graphic. An excellent resource to aide young adults in understanding the

inhuman situations facing concentration camp detainees.

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LibraryThing member JanaRose1

Jack Madelbaum was twelve-years old when the Nazis invaded Poland. His family fled to a relative’s village, leaving his father behind to gather their belongings. They soon received a postcard from their father telling them that he was in a concentration camp. For the next two years, Jack worked

hard to support his family by doing a variety of hard labor until he was separated from his family and sent to a labor camp. Jack spent the next three years being transferred from camp-to-camp as he struggled to survive despite the horrendous conditions.

Beautifully written, the story blends Jack’s voice with details about his life during WWII. It is a story of strength, courage and determination. Overall, this book would be a great way to introduce and discuss the horrors of the holocaust with children.

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LibraryThing member LydiaBree

Jack Mandelbaum assisted author Andrea Warren in this retelling of his life experiences through World War II. Actual photographs are used to illustrate the book. Jack's life before, during, and after this horrible period in time is chronicled to provide authenticity to the hardships endured by

millions of people throughout Europe. Warren notes that the conversations between Jack and other prisoners in the concentration camps are not necessarily verbatim, but she has made a concerted effort to maintain the tone of the events. The book begins in prewar Poland and stretches to a return trip to Poland in 1999. The writing brings this horrible ordeal to life as we hear the story through a Child's eyes. My heart grieves for the 55 million people lost because of the twisted mind of this destructive dictator and the blind obedience of his followers.

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LibraryThing member KWoman

Although I've seen firsthand the photographs of this terrible time-my dad was in WWII and his unit went into Baden Baden to clean it up. He had photos of piles of bodies and the buildings; this book was a good read. This gentleman went through hell and survived it. The issues that followed his

release were horrific as well. Let us hope that our world never has to go through another Holocaust.

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LibraryThing member jo-jo

I have made a habit of never discounting a Holocaust book, or making one story more important than another. Every survivor has their own story to tell, and sure, bits and pieces of them may be repetitive, but that makes it even more important to me. To think that many people were affected by one

man's evil dream is horrifying to me, and I am thankful for each survival story that is shared.

This is my first experience listening to an audiobook in this genre, and I wasn't sure how it would go for me. When I first started listening to it, I enjoyed hearing Jack's story, but found myself disliking the narration. I feel that some more development should have been given to the audioversion, because Lockman's voice seemed almost robotic to me. Although this was annoying to me, I did not let it interfere with my desire to hear a survivor's story. I mean, it is quite a short audiobook at two and half hours long so it's not hard to stick it out.

I did get confused a couple of times, and maybe the print version would have been different for me. There were instances in the book where Warren is describing Jack's experiences, but then it can change to Jack telling his own story in first person. Sometimes I had to back up a track just to make sure I heard something correctly.

Jack shares his life within the concentration camps with us, as he is shuffled to various camps, looking for friends and any help to keep him surviving. I think the important message I received from Jack's story was when he was talking about the hatred that some of his fellow prisoners had for their captors. Jack decided early on that he would not harbor hatred towards the Germans because that would require too much energy, and he had to preserve all of his energy to survive so he could be reunited with his family when the war is over.

This novel brings us through Jack's entire Holocaust nightmare, from imprisonment, to liberation, to his search for his family. With themes of the Holocaust, survival, and family, this novel can be enjoyed by people of all ages, for book club discussions or personal leisure. We all must never forget this period of history to prevent these crimes from happening again. I don't hesitate in recommending this novel.

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LibraryThing member rgruberexcel

RGG: Clear, concise pull no punches biography. The horrors are not glossed over, but the text is still geared toward middle grade students. Reading Interest: 10 -14.

LibraryThing member benuathanasia

An intriguing and fairly detailed look at the different aspects of Holocaust life from one survivor's perspective.

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