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The Coldest Winter: The Holocaust Memoirs of Rabbi Samuel Freilich
Book by Freilich, Samuel, Greenberg, Irving
- GenresHistory
90 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 16, 2024
Only 90 pages but took me days to finish because I stopped multiple times to cry my eyes out.
The author is so humble and modest even though he is, in my eyes, a hero. The book is so well written considering that it is only 90 pages. I learned so much about history, geopolitics, psychology, theology, and the talks behind closed doors that led to the creation of the state of Israel. It covers the prevalent anti-Semitism in Czechoslovakia well before Germany came into town and shines light on some of my biggest questions about the Holocaust: How did everyone allow this to happen so quickly? How did the European Jews lose faith in the West?
Some quotes from the book that got me to stop, cry, and reflect:
- The pictures of Rabbi Freilich's family, his efforts to sneak these photos out so that their stories will be remembered. These images are the embodiment of "what could have been"
- "In the years that followed, one question often came to my mind: by what measure had I merited the gift of life, when other Jews more noble and virtuous than I had met so terrible a fate? They waited for some miracle, but none came"
- "As large number of Jews contracted the disease, their bodies dotted the landscape, as if witnesses in a trial against God. I myself had only one wish - that when my time came I would be buried. Was I not made in the image of God? Was I not promised, 'from the earth you have been created, and to the earth you will return?' Would God grant me my wish or abandon me in some valley?"
- "We had been taught to believe that God would redeem us in our hour of need...our enemies laughed at us as they slaughtered our parents and children. We became an orphan people without a heavenly father. Many Jews went freely to their death because for them life had lost all meaning"
- "A frightening end is better than fright with no end"
The author is so humble and modest even though he is, in my eyes, a hero. The book is so well written considering that it is only 90 pages. I learned so much about history, geopolitics, psychology, theology, and the talks behind closed doors that led to the creation of the state of Israel. It covers the prevalent anti-Semitism in Czechoslovakia well before Germany came into town and shines light on some of my biggest questions about the Holocaust: How did everyone allow this to happen so quickly? How did the European Jews lose faith in the West?
Some quotes from the book that got me to stop, cry, and reflect:
- The pictures of Rabbi Freilich's family, his efforts to sneak these photos out so that their stories will be remembered. These images are the embodiment of "what could have been"
- "In the years that followed, one question often came to my mind: by what measure had I merited the gift of life, when other Jews more noble and virtuous than I had met so terrible a fate? They waited for some miracle, but none came"
- "As large number of Jews contracted the disease, their bodies dotted the landscape, as if witnesses in a trial against God. I myself had only one wish - that when my time came I would be buried. Was I not made in the image of God? Was I not promised, 'from the earth you have been created, and to the earth you will return?' Would God grant me my wish or abandon me in some valley?"
- "We had been taught to believe that God would redeem us in our hour of need...our enemies laughed at us as they slaughtered our parents and children. We became an orphan people without a heavenly father. Many Jews went freely to their death because for them life had lost all meaning"
- "A frightening end is better than fright with no end"
May 12, 2011
I read this book so long ago, I honestly can't remember everything about it, but I do know this man's struggles showed strength and courage. I remember crying through parts of the book because you could feel the pain.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews