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Inseparable: The Hess Twins' Holocaust Journey through Bergen-Belsen to America
See the Holocaust through the Eyes of Children.
Stefan and Marion Hess's happy childhood was shattered in 1943. Torn from their home in Amsterdam, the six-year-old twins and their parents were deported to a place their mother called "this dying hell"—the infamous concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen.
Inseparable is the vivid account of one family's struggle to survive the Holocaust. In the camp, the children ran from SS soldiers, making it a game to see who could get closest to the guard towers before being warned they would be shot. Stefan and Marion witnessed their father beaten beyond recognition, dodged strafing warplanes, and somehow survived in a place where "the children were looking for bread between the corpses." Above all, this is the unforgettable story of a young mother and father who were willing to sacrifice everything for their children.
From the Hesses' prosperous pre-war life in Germany to their desperate ride in a bulletstrafed boxcar through the rubble of the collapsing Third Reich, Faris Cassell weaves Stefan and Marion’s personal memories and historical details into a gripping narration of their family’s heroic fight for their lives.
As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the Hess twins' account of their childhood ordeal forces the reader to grapple with pure evil. And more important, it is an opportunity to offer the most meaningful of tributes to victims and survivors of the Third Reich—remembrance.
Stefan and Marion Hess's happy childhood was shattered in 1943. Torn from their home in Amsterdam, the six-year-old twins and their parents were deported to a place their mother called "this dying hell"—the infamous concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen.
Inseparable is the vivid account of one family's struggle to survive the Holocaust. In the camp, the children ran from SS soldiers, making it a game to see who could get closest to the guard towers before being warned they would be shot. Stefan and Marion witnessed their father beaten beyond recognition, dodged strafing warplanes, and somehow survived in a place where "the children were looking for bread between the corpses." Above all, this is the unforgettable story of a young mother and father who were willing to sacrifice everything for their children.
From the Hesses' prosperous pre-war life in Germany to their desperate ride in a bulletstrafed boxcar through the rubble of the collapsing Third Reich, Faris Cassell weaves Stefan and Marion’s personal memories and historical details into a gripping narration of their family’s heroic fight for their lives.
As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the Hess twins' account of their childhood ordeal forces the reader to grapple with pure evil. And more important, it is an opportunity to offer the most meaningful of tributes to victims and survivors of the Third Reich—remembrance.
405 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2023
59 people are currently reading
3409 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 31, 2024
I have read and continue to read many historical fiction books whose setting is World War II, but this is the first non-fiction book that I have read. It is amazing to me how much I continue to learn, and this book imparts a great deal of knowledge! The author goes into great detail about the war from beginning to end, including Hitler's plan and strategy, yet I was surprised that I found it fascinating rather than boring. Battle plans and details usually don't interest me. It was also a revelation to me that the infamous concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen was originally set up to hold prisoners for possible prisoner exchanges, although few prisoners were ever actually exchanged. And, in the end, conditions were no better than at other camps. And I had never heard of the "Lost Train" that the Hess family traveled on when they left Bergen-Belsen.
The fact that the Hess family survived despite all that they endured was definitely by God's grace and protection.
I highly recommend this book if you want to learn more about World War II!
The fact that the Hess family survived despite all that they endured was definitely by God's grace and protection.
I highly recommend this book if you want to learn more about World War II!
July 13, 2023
I won this book from a giveaway on Goodreads. I think it's one of the best books I've ever read about the Holocaust. The Third Reich was collapsing and still the Germans sent Jews to the camps.
The twins are Stefan & Marion Hess and when they were 6, they were deported to the infamous concentration camp Bergen Belsen along with their parents. It was a true struggle just to survive beginning with the boxcar ride to the camp where some people died on the journey. After arriving they had to go through selection. The men sent one way and their families another. They lived in horribly desperate conditions. No heat, not enough blankets, very little food and hard labor for those old enough. The twins saw their father nearly beaten to death, had to dodge bullets from Allied planes flying overhead, scrounging for breadcrumbs wherever they could and saw corpses every day. But their parents were determined for their family to survive. And despite everything they did and eventually ended up in America and became successful. A testament to the human spirit. The author obviously did a lot of research into it.
The twins are Stefan & Marion Hess and when they were 6, they were deported to the infamous concentration camp Bergen Belsen along with their parents. It was a true struggle just to survive beginning with the boxcar ride to the camp where some people died on the journey. After arriving they had to go through selection. The men sent one way and their families another. They lived in horribly desperate conditions. No heat, not enough blankets, very little food and hard labor for those old enough. The twins saw their father nearly beaten to death, had to dodge bullets from Allied planes flying overhead, scrounging for breadcrumbs wherever they could and saw corpses every day. But their parents were determined for their family to survive. And despite everything they did and eventually ended up in America and became successful. A testament to the human spirit. The author obviously did a lot of research into it.
July 20, 2023
Shoutout to Goodreads for this Giveaway!
This book was truly eye opening in so many ways. It follows a family’s resilience to not only survive the Holocaust, but stay together the entire time. Even if that means turning yourself in so you are in the same concentration camp as your wife and children. This book had depth, heart, desperation, and hope. This is not your typical memoir, and a retelling of a family’s will to survive… but also a great recap of the historical figures that played a role in the Holocaust and WW2. It unfolded chronologically, which really placed you in that time period.
Beautifully written, heartbreakingly surreal.
This book was truly eye opening in so many ways. It follows a family’s resilience to not only survive the Holocaust, but stay together the entire time. Even if that means turning yourself in so you are in the same concentration camp as your wife and children. This book had depth, heart, desperation, and hope. This is not your typical memoir, and a retelling of a family’s will to survive… but also a great recap of the historical figures that played a role in the Holocaust and WW2. It unfolded chronologically, which really placed you in that time period.
Beautifully written, heartbreakingly surreal.
July 22, 2023
Thank you for the advance copy! The first 20% of this book was kind of slow for me, as a lot of basic facts about the early war was presented but I’m so glad I kept going. Once the family actually started dealing with trying to evade capture it was so well-written, I felt like I was reading a novel instead of a true story. I’ve read many books about the Holocaust but every story is unique in its own way. I definitely recommend taking the time to read this one!
May 1, 2023
I got this book on a goodreads giveaway. It told the story of a Jewish familys struggle and treatment in world War two. I have no words for how beautiful and heartbreaking this story is. I learned a lot and enjoyed the book from cover to cover.
November 10, 2023
This was an incredibly comprehensive history of the development of Nazism in the years leading up to and including World War II. Historically speaking, the author does an excellent job of documenting the way Hitler and his cohorts plotted the take-over of all of Europe with their eyes also set on England. Interwoven with the history is the moving story of the Hess twins, Marion & Steven, German Jewish children, who moved to Holland with their parents due to a mistaken belief that it would be a safe shelter as Hitler continued his march across Europe. They survived the horrors of Bergen-Belsen, along with their parents, an extreme rarity for an entire family living at that time. First-person interviews with the family throughout the book provide a living testimony of what happened to Jewish families in Europe, and particularly Holland, during the years from the 1930’s through the 1940’s. It also followed the family and their life following the war when they relocated to the United States.
May 21, 2023
I received this in a Goodreads giveaway, and it proved to be history just the way I like it: well researched yet as readable as fiction. In addition to the Hess family's compelling story it sheds light on the question those of us who did not live through that time often ask - "how could something so horrific be allowed to happen?" One doesn't have to look very hard to see similarities in our society today. I will be passing this book on to a friend who teaches a high school holocaust class with the hope that some of his students will read it and make another generation aware of how easily hate can take over.
July 9, 2023
3 and a half stars rounded up to 4 for me. The book was different than I was expecting talking about seeing the Holocaust through the eyes of children. While there were some viewpoints shared, it was not the main focus. The history was well researched and I learned a lot, but at times was hard to follow as the dates in the chapters and what was being referenced didn’t always line up. Overall. It was a good book and I am glad I read it!
June 15, 2023
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This book was a little different that what I expected, to me it read a bit like a history book while occasionally checking in on the Hess family. I have to say that it was still a very enjoyable read, you may even learn a thing or two! Such a heart breaking story of resilience, determination, love and survival.
This book was a little different that what I expected, to me it read a bit like a history book while occasionally checking in on the Hess family. I have to say that it was still a very enjoyable read, you may even learn a thing or two! Such a heart breaking story of resilience, determination, love and survival.
May 27, 2023
The 4.5 rating showing would be my choice if allowed.
First the negative: I found distracting the author's use of the first person that I noticed in the last half of the book. Perhaps it was an indication of supposition rather than what is otherwise an obviously well-researched book. But it was distracting.
Now the good. THIS IS A VERY GOOD READ! It is also an important and detailed documentation of a family's holocaust-survival story. While I have not shied away from recounting of WWII Nazi atrocities this book gives insight into the genesis, process, variety and extent of the scourge exacted on millions by Nazi's, collaborators, and sympathizers.
It also shows that existence - even in alleged "good" camps like Thereisenstadt and Belson-Bergen was inhumane, still torturous, and the level of death mind-numbing.
This was, for this gentile, a seminal book. I highly recommend it.
First the negative: I found distracting the author's use of the first person that I noticed in the last half of the book. Perhaps it was an indication of supposition rather than what is otherwise an obviously well-researched book. But it was distracting.
Now the good. THIS IS A VERY GOOD READ! It is also an important and detailed documentation of a family's holocaust-survival story. While I have not shied away from recounting of WWII Nazi atrocities this book gives insight into the genesis, process, variety and extent of the scourge exacted on millions by Nazi's, collaborators, and sympathizers.
It also shows that existence - even in alleged "good" camps like Thereisenstadt and Belson-Bergen was inhumane, still torturous, and the level of death mind-numbing.
This was, for this gentile, a seminal book. I highly recommend it.
August 10, 2024
This was nothing like I expected. The subtitle of the Hess Twin’s holocaust journey through Bergen-Belsen to America doesn’t quite describe what this is about. This story is so much bigger than the Hess family. (Also, it's a bit mature for a book claiming to be told from the eyes of children. If this is what you're looking for, check out Yellow Star instead.)
It’s a chilling, horrific, eye-opening narrative on the systematic mass murder of European Jewry. It’s frightening. Powerful. Informative.
The first five or so chapters give an overview of the historical situation, the slowly growing antisemitism, and events which would normally be horrific but seem laughable compared to what came next. The sixth chapter and onwards continues to give these facts and historical overview, then goes on to focus on the Hess family and how this affected them (and, sometimes, Anne Frank, and where this caught her). This was where it started to get interesting.
Somehow, this style of presenting the big-picture facts, and then zooming in on specific figures just made the facts more powerful. It gave a small picture of the mass massacre the holocaust was with all of its gruesomeness and horrors.
And, despite Stefan’s assertion that, “The word, miracle, is too religious for me. It was another bit of luck that kept us alive.” Their story was, indeed filled with open miracles, as his family not only survived, but stayed together through it all, kept their humanity, and to live functioning, productive lives.
Similar:
Content: mature.
Horrific graphic conditions, violence, murder, rape, genocide, some language.
It’s a chilling, horrific, eye-opening narrative on the systematic mass murder of European Jewry. It’s frightening. Powerful. Informative.
The first five or so chapters give an overview of the historical situation, the slowly growing antisemitism, and events which would normally be horrific but seem laughable compared to what came next. The sixth chapter and onwards continues to give these facts and historical overview, then goes on to focus on the Hess family and how this affected them (and, sometimes, Anne Frank, and where this caught her). This was where it started to get interesting.
Somehow, this style of presenting the big-picture facts, and then zooming in on specific figures just made the facts more powerful. It gave a small picture of the mass massacre the holocaust was with all of its gruesomeness and horrors.
And, despite Stefan’s assertion that, “The word, miracle, is too religious for me. It was another bit of luck that kept us alive.” Their story was, indeed filled with open miracles, as his family not only survived, but stayed together through it all, kept their humanity, and to live functioning, productive lives.
Similar:
Content: mature.
Horrific graphic conditions, violence, murder, rape, genocide, some language.
October 31, 2024
This is one of the most engaging and informative books I've found on World War II as viewed from the lens of the Holocaust and those who personally suffered its horrors. Author, Faris Cassell, skillfully intertwines the experiences of the Hess family, mother, father, and young twins Stefan and Marion, with the rise of Hitler, the progression of WWII, as well as the severe poverty and dispossession in Europe after the Allied victory. As prosperous German Jews who fled to Holland as Hitler's persecution increased, the Hess family risked everything to stay together even when transported by Nazis to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where they struggled to survive for several years.
Cassell skillfully summarizes the European war itself while telling their personal story using direct quotations from each of the family members as expressed in post-war memoirs, interviews, and public presentations. This book reads like a good novel, but it is reality, not fiction. It is based on historical documents and the accounts of the Hesses and their contemporaries. It is the Holocaust described from the perspective of committed parents and their very young children who grew up in a world of terror and unspeakable suffering.
I recommend this special book even though there are numerous excellent choices, both fictional and factual, available on this topic. Inseparable stands apart for me. It provided a surprising amount of new material on a subject I felt well acquainted with, and it was moving and through-provoking. It is not only vital history but an indespensable cautionary message for our time as well. It inspired me and chilled me to my core because I see both hope and threat for humanity present now in our country and across the world.
Cassell skillfully summarizes the European war itself while telling their personal story using direct quotations from each of the family members as expressed in post-war memoirs, interviews, and public presentations. This book reads like a good novel, but it is reality, not fiction. It is based on historical documents and the accounts of the Hesses and their contemporaries. It is the Holocaust described from the perspective of committed parents and their very young children who grew up in a world of terror and unspeakable suffering.
I recommend this special book even though there are numerous excellent choices, both fictional and factual, available on this topic. Inseparable stands apart for me. It provided a surprising amount of new material on a subject I felt well acquainted with, and it was moving and through-provoking. It is not only vital history but an indespensable cautionary message for our time as well. It inspired me and chilled me to my core because I see both hope and threat for humanity present now in our country and across the world.
May 22, 2023
Inseparable is a book that once you start you do not want to put it down. It is a journey of young jewish parents with two toddlers living in Amsterdam happily until the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. Everyday life with the Nazi horde gets worse by the day then it happens. The family is rounded up deportation to a concentration camp. By a miracle the family survives the ordeal of the boxcar ride, selection at the camp and the horrors they will endure. The author Faris Cassell takes you on a journey where the story is the memories of the toddlers and with a most realistic historical details of events that really happened as World War II rolls on and finally ends. In the final days of the war as germany collapses they are all stuffed into railway box cars and moved day after day all through Germany with the train trying to stay one step ahead of the advancing Russians from the east and the advancing Allies from the west. The is truly an eye opening trip into what the hell that innocent people had to endure during the holocaust. This is a gem for anyone interested in life during WWII and what it was like being subjected and surviving the holocaust.
March 19, 2024
This book deeply moved me. It is the remarkable story of a Jewish family in Amsterdam who barely survived incarceration at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp from 1943-1946. Karl, Ilse and their twins, Stefan and Marion, with fortitude and determination, experienced unimaginable torture and hunger, and were among only 5% of Jews in the Netherlands who escaped murder at the hands of the Nazis. They eventually made it to America where they established a new life. I was introduced to this book by Bob Welch, who wrote an article about the author, Faris Cassell, a resident of Eugene, Oregon. She spent 10 years researching and writing this account. At a time when America's democracy is threatened and anti-semitism is on the rise, this is an important book and a reminder to pay attention to our history.
July 4, 2024
I’ve read many, many accounts of the Holocaust. Every story is incredible, but this one just gripped my heart and will stay with me a long time. I kept flipping to the pictures in the center of the book-imagining those precious little children in the middle of such unimaginable horrors. The lengths their parents went to protect their children were heroic. Their family’s story was an entirely new perspective for me-and showed clearly that the Nazis’ “Final Solution” spared no one, regardless of social status.
The author of this book did such an excellent job of describing the breadth of the war and what was happening across the world, while still paralleling that bigger picture to what this one family was undergoing at the same time. Excellent writing.
The author of this book did such an excellent job of describing the breadth of the war and what was happening across the world, while still paralleling that bigger picture to what this one family was undergoing at the same time. Excellent writing.
October 23, 2024
Thank you to goodreads! Sorry this review has taken so long. I started reading it when I received it, but all the history was not what I was looking for at the time, so I gave up. Glad I went back to it. The story is both uplifting and heart breaking. What the Germans did to these Jewish people was an atrocity. Seeing the Holocaust through the eyes of the Hess family made it much more real. The fortitude it took to keep the family together and to just survive was inspiring. This book is about hate but more importantly about love.
March 1, 2024
Excellent, well-documented and beautifully written account that weaves together eye witness horrific factual stories of the Holocaust with the detailed rise and fall of Hitler. Such an important read in this chaotic political world of 2024. May our world take this suffering to heart and rise up to a more inclusive sense of humanity!
May 17, 2023
Thanks to Regnery History for sending me this good reads giveaway.
A comprehensive telling of the German invasion of the Netherlands during World War 11. The memories of the child survivors makes a person wonder how they coped in adulthood due to such a traumatic childhood.
A comprehensive telling of the German invasion of the Netherlands during World War 11. The memories of the child survivors makes a person wonder how they coped in adulthood due to such a traumatic childhood.
March 12, 2024
This book was a gift from my son Andrew who shares my love for books and history. It turned out to be one of the best researched books I've ever read as it tells the personal story of a family while recounting facts about the war.
A must read for ww2 buffs.
A must read for ww2 buffs.
April 18, 2023
A memorable story that is well worth reading and learning from.
December 31, 2023
Amazing story of survival during the Holocaust.
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January 12, 2024Very tedious reading. Another I won’t be recommending. And another major disappointment. I was intrigued after seeing a story on the news about it. But the book itself? Nope! I’m so sad.
June 15, 2024
I feel like I'm reading a rough draft or author's outline. This reads more like a textbook than a Holocaust survivors journey.
September 25, 2024
I thought this book was just based on the children's perspective, but it actually focused more on the parents story. It repeated itself several times in different parts of the book.
September 30, 2024
Who knew the Dutch conspired with the Nazis to exterminate the Jews? The survival of the Hess family is just short of miraculous.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews