Memories of Evil

by Peter Kubicek

My book is subtitled, "Recalling a World War II Childhood," and is a memoir of my peaceful childhood in Czechoslovakia; of how my life was radically changed by the Holocaust; and of my experiences of surviving two concentration camps in Slovakia; as well as six camps in Germany, from the age of 14 -15.

I was born in 1930 in a town called Trencin, in what was then Czechoslovakia -- a country that no longer exists; it is now called Slovakia. I was the only child of a well-to-do Jewish couple. My father was the owner of a store, a kind of department store, in a prime location on the town's principal square. We lived in a large comfortable apartment above the store. My mother loved working in the store, while the family's needs were attended to by a maid, a cook, and a governess for me. I grew up bi-lingual -- fluent in Slovak and in German. I soon added Czech as an additional language and started studying English from the age of eight.

This idyllic existence was shattered in 1939 when Hitler's Germany annexed the Czech part of the country, with Slovakia becoming a quasi-independent country governed by an indigenous fascist party, firmly allied to Nazi Germany. A resolute feature of this Slovak government was its anti-Semitism. A series of anti-Jewish laws was promulgated, stripping us ultimately of our property and of all civil rights.

In 1942 the government started deporting its population to German concentration camps vaguely identified as "in the East." Between March and November of that year, of a Jewish population of close to 90,000 people, some 60,000 were deported -- the vast majority to their annihilation in camps such as Auschwitz. You can read in my book how my family escaped deportation in 1942; and how we were finally caught in the next and deported in October, 1944. I describe this desperate period in my book: how I was separated from my family; how I survived a succession of concentration camps, culminating in a 12-day Hunger March before my final liberation.

I immigrated to this country in November, 1946. I mark this event in my life as my rebirth and my new life. After a fruitful and satisfying 68 years in the U.S., the travail of my childhood years -- of what I call my previous life -- ought to be long forgotten. And yet, survivors of the Holocaust cannot forget, cannot forgive. Vestiges of our trauma will remain with us to our last breath. If you want to come a little closer to understanding the Holocaust, read my modest book. It is far from the whole truth which is beyond human understanding. But is is nothing but the truth, based on fragments indelibly etched in my memory, supplemented by historical research.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Holocaust, Memoir, Biography, War, World War II

110 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2012

About the author

Peter Kubicek (1930-2017) – Holocaust survivor, author in New York

Peter Kubicek was born in Trenčín in northwestern Slovakia in 1930. His father, Andrej, owned a drugstore in town and his mother, Ilka, who was from the Sudeten part of Moravia, often worked there. Peter attended a Jewish school in Trenčín; he says that only a handful of his middle-school classmates survived WWII. In August 1939, Peter’s father traveled to Geneva for the World Zionist Congress. As a result, he was not in Slovakia when WWII officially broke out. He made his way to France and Portugal and, in March 1941, to New York. His attempts to obtain visas for his family were unsuccessful and, by December 1941, travel to the United States was impossible. Peter, his mother and his grandmother were deported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in October 1944.

Peter was separated from his family and transferred to six different camps before ending up in Sachsenhausen in the spring of 1945. With the Soviet Army approaching, the Germans liquidated Sachsenhausen and started the prisoners on a forced march. Peter says that he and his compatriots were given food packets by the Red Cross which kept them alive during the 12-day march. On May 2, his group was liberated, and they made their way to Schwerin (in northern Germany) where American troops had taken over the city. With the help of an American soldier, Peter made contact with his father who, in New York City, had not heard from his family for several years.

Although Peter’s grandmother died in Bergen-Belsen, he found his mother on the streets of Prague shortly after liberation. Peter had contracted tuberculosis while in the concentration camps and spent one year in a sanatorium. In November 1946, he and his mother moved to New York City and were reunited with his father. Peter studied European history at Queens College and attended graduate school in Lausanne. He joined the import/export business that his father had started and, when his father died in 1963, took over the company. Peter and his wife Edith (a Czech émigré who was born in Prague) have two daughters and three grandchildren. After retiring in 2001, Peter became a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2012, he published his memoirs, titledMemories of Evil: A World War II Childhood. Today Peter lives in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens with his wife.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Grandfather is from (what was then called) Czechoslovakia and he fortunately survived WWII along with several members of his immediate family and eventually immigrated to America. That’s where the similarities end between Peter Kubicek and my Grandfather - because every survivor’s experience is unique in both their horror and their miraculous salvation. Which is something I don’t think most people grasp when they obliquely refer to the Holocaust - as if it was some kind of universal experience for all Jewish survivors (and some non-Jews too). I think we owe it to these survivors to seek out their stories if they are willing to share them. After all, they had to live it, the least we can do is learn it.

[Lilo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding Holocaust Memoir!

You want to read this book no matter if you have already read a number of Holocaust memoirs or none at all. This book is very well written, and while it paints a true picture of the Holocaust, it spares you the detailed description of the worst atrocities. As such, it is also recommended for readers who don’t have the stomach for reading more descriptive Holocaust memoirs.

I will not tell more about the contents, as I see no need to repeat the very informative description of this book. I should mention, however, that the book is enhanced by good-quality photographs, showing the author, his family, and friends from early childhood to present age. And I also would like to mention that I appreciated the clarity of the narrative and the final statistics the author gives towards the end of the book.

While I certainly haven’t read all the Holocaust memoirs that have been written, I would assume that “Memoirs of Evil” is one of the best.

What makes this book even more special is that the author is still alive and well and accessible on Goodreads. I have taken him into my heart, and I think that you will, too.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I noticed the death announcement of Peter Kubicek and decided to read his memoir about his survival of the Holocaust. The book was written for his daughters when they turned fifteen years old. He tells of what his life was like on his fifteenth birthday in a German concentration camp. Later the book was added onto and made public.

The book is well written; it is short and concise. It is a collection of vivid memories during his childhood and then filled with general information and information about his family memoires. The author provided some information about Czechoslovakia at the start of the War. Kubicek was in numerous camps over the course of the War, and he tells about the key ones. It is an interesting book. With what is happening in our world today, it is important to remember these stories so that history will not repeat. Unfortunately, it is being repeated in various countries in the world.

I read this as an e-book downloaded from Amazon to my Kindle app on my iPad. The book is 118 pages and was published on November 12, 2012.

[James Morcan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a harrowing and intense read. To vicariously experience the Holocaust through the eyes of a young (Jewish) boy was almost too intense in fact. For anyone to endure the level of depravity Holocaust victims were put through is of course a great tragedy, but somehow when it's a child it is the worst tragedy of all for they do not have the same coping mechanisms or life experience.

Peter Kubicek is a Holocaust survivor who initially began writing this book when his twin daughters were around the same age as he was in WW2: he wanted his girls to know what he experienced. Eventually that short record evolved into Memories of Evil as Kubicek expanded on what he'd started so there'd be a true account for the world to know about.

What really brought home the level of dehumanization for me was the way Kubicek began his Holocaust memoir with his idyllic early childhood in Czechoslovakia (in a town that's now in the Slovak republic). This boy's parents and extended family were highly-educated, successful, hardworking, entrepreneurial people, and as a result the pre-teen Kubicek had almost everything a boy could want including doting parents and grandparents, excellent education and toys and quality foods. And then in an instant it was all gone. To learn how the town's local residents relied on his family for many goods and services before the Nazi regime, to treating them like scum only a short-while later, really highlighted the contrast from pre-war Europe to the living hell that would ensue. Friends and employees the Kubiceks had trusted and even allowed to stay in their home suddenly revealed their true (anti-Semitic) natures and happily took all the family's possessions and jobs due to Jews suddenly not being allowed to have either.

Because of the family's connections they almost avoided experiencing the Holocaust and the US was on the verge of granting them refugee status at one point. But that all falls through at the last minute and within a few months young Peter is entirely on his own, yanked from his family including his beloved mother Ilka Kubicek. He ends up spending the rest of the war with adult males in various concentration camps, being moved from one to another, fighting hard to stay strong physically and mentally to prove to the Nazis he was able-bodied enough to work as a slave laborer just to avoid being put in a gas chamber.

The descriptions of horrors from starvation to lack of sanity to torture methods are vivid and Kubicek's memory is still very sharp.

Another point of interest is the mentions of how major companies like Siemens and BMW and others had factories attached to certain concentration camps and knew exactly what was going on and benefited greatly off the slave laborers who avoided being gassed or otherwise killed.

I found young Peter to be a remarkable and resourceful boy who was forced to become a man before his years and see and experience things no human being, let alone a child, should ever have to.

One of the most powerful moments in the book is where Ilka, who herself has miraculously survived concentration camps, learns her son is still alive at the end of WW2 and demands (no, make that commands!) that a senior British official (who is already inundated) drop everything and drive her to Peter. This wonderful moment where mother and son are reunited provides a small ray of sunshine in one of the darkest events in human history.

[Jennifer Ciotta · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Memories of Evil" by Peter Kubicek is a haunting and chilling story of survival. Kubiceck is a survivor of eight concentration camps, six Nazi and two Slovak fascist camps. Now in his eighties, Kubicek brings himself back to the horror of the Holocaust to write this memoir that is sure to influence the literary world. What Elie Wiesel did with his Holocaust memoir "Night" is what Kubicek is destined to do with "Memories of Evil."

Imagine your fifteenth birthday. Now imagine spending it in a concentration camp, which is the exact experience Kubicek had. What is so compelling about this particular memoir is Kubicek doesn't exaggerate or focus on the well-known violence and horror, but he focuses on the facts of what actually happened. For example, he slept on the floor of an aircraft factory on loose straw in one camp. Then he masterfully recounts his sleeping "method" to keep warm. Many of these details are lost to us now, but Kubicek brings historical and factual details such as these to life.

I am impressed by Kubicek's straightforward and compelling writing. I love the photos throughout the book that show him at different stages of his life, even today. I highly recommend "Memories of Evil" to anyone who is fascinated by the Holocaust. Overall, it's a beautiful memoir, and and a historically important one.

[Gearóid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really cannot add anything other
than to say everyone should read this book.
It is very short but a very honest recollection
of this man's horrendous experience at incredibly
the age of just 15 years.
It was very moving and honest.
I was also surprised in the story with the authors
recollection of small random acts of kindness in the
concentration camps.
I found the statistics at the very end of the book
really hit home.Really shocking.
I will read this book at least once a year.

[Charles Weinblatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memories of Evil: Recalling a World War II Childhood by Peter Kubicek:

In his memoir, Memories of Evil, Peter Kubicek bears personal witness to the terror of the Holocaust. His book is a testimonial to those who by strength of spirit and conviction, and sometimes through kind fate, managed to survive humanity's worst genocide - the Holocaust.

Kubicek describes the degradation and inhumanity felt by Nazi victims. His narration uncovers the horror of incarceration, starvation, forced labor and brutality. His descriptions are remarkably detailed, especially considering his young age at the time and the decades that have passed since the Holocaust. Miraculously, Kubicek's mother also survived at Bergen-Belsen, although his grandmother died there. His father had managed to immigrate to the United States just before his family and friends were taken from their homes.

Mr. Kubicek hails from a Slovak city called Trencin. Of the 18.000 inhabitants, about 2,000 were Jewish. Only a few survived the deadly whirlwind of the Shoah. Kubicek's life as a child was normal in all respects. His parents were devoted to religious tradition; he enjoyed school, he loved hiking and he participated in the cultural life of the Jewish community. Zionism was an important aspect of his family's life. His parents owned a general store in town and he spent much of his childhood there.

In the summer of 1939, as war neared, Kubicek's father left for America, eventually settling in New York City, where he called for his family to join him. But it was too late. Jews were denied travel permits and visas. The author and his mother were stranded in a land where being a Jew meant being destined for extermination.

Germans soon evicted Jews from Kubicek's apartment building, including their valuables and furniture. The family business was also taken. Trains began transporting the Jewish population to Nazi concentration camps, emptying the town of its Jewish inhabitants and their culture. At age nine, Kubicek was engulfed by the horror of the Holocaust. The first camp was Bergen-Belsen, where their valuables and clothing were taken, their heads were shaved and they were issued striped pajama-type uniforms. There, they were put to work, serving the Nazi war machine.

In various concentration camps, Kubicek had to endure the unendurable. Separated from his mother, he was left to fend for himself in a nightmarish world of beatings, humiliation, slavery and murder. Everyone that he had loved had been taken away from him. He suffered through sickness, starvation, forced labor, brutal weather and vicious cruelty. Kubicek soon learned to find work valued by his nefarious Nazi captors. In one camp, he learned how to mend and darn socks, a valuable skill that aided him greatly in another camp.

As Allied forces neared, in 1945, Kubicek and 32,000 other prisoners were led on a forced march through the countryside. For many days and nights, the march continued. Those who were too slow, who had stopped or sat down, were moved into the ditch and shot. This particular action later became known as "the hunger march." One morning, Kubicek arose to discover that the German soldiers were gone. They had left during the night. Ironically, the 3,000 prisoners left at the camp because they were too sick to travel were liberated by the Russian Army shortly after the march began.

As the war ended, Kubicek, like all of the prisoners, faced a myriad of physical and emotional problems. Kubicek weighed less than 70 pounds. Severely malnourished, doctors discovered that Kubicek had also contracted tuberculosis. Almost everyone suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome. He was eventually hospitalized and forced to live in a sanitarium because of his tuberculosis.

Miraculously, Kubicek's mother had also survived. Reunited, they seek to join his father in America. When Kubicek had largely recovered from tuberculosis, they returned to Trencin; where they discovered that Christian neighbors had taken their apartment and furniture. Eventually, Kubicek's mother found the person who had taken their furniture. Under a false bottom in a china cabinet, the cache of jewelry that she had hid there four years earlier was recovered.

Kubicek and his mother eventually were able to communicate with his father and he helped them immigrate to America. But many of the Jews remaining in displaced persons (DP) camps had no such luck. With no nation, except Sweden, willing to take in Jews who survived the Holocaust, they had had nowhere else to live. These plucky Jews had survived starvation, being beaten within an inch of their lives, survived rigorous slave labor and the loss of everyone that they had loved. Yet they remained homeless because most nations had an immigration quota on Jews, including Great Britain and The United States. Many of these survivors attempted to enter Palestine; the ultimate quest for a Zionist. They were rebuffed by the British, who controlled the Palestinian Territories.

Kubicek is a very competent writer, although a memoir is hardly the medium for a sparkling new talent. Still, Kubicek delivers a panorama of feelings and experiences that one might anticipate in a Nazi concentration camp. We discover remarkable characters and vivid descriptions. The flow of this memoir is steady and constant. The reader is immersed within the cascading bowels of terror inflicted by Nazi Germany upon innocent Jewish families. In this, Kubicek proffers exactly what the reader expects to discover.

This book might have been enhanced with the inclusion of additional family pictures (if possible). Adding more maps and diagrams, which are plentiful and easily available, would have enriched the experience for visual learners. And while a memoir is not a novel, there is room for enhanced character development and a more evocative description of the senses.

Many memoir authors write about their experiences not for public consumption, but as a gift for their progeny. That is certainly the sense here. Should the author desire, this memoir has the capacity to be turned into a novel. As such, a vast new universe of characters, situations and emotional responses would open. Of course, it is not for the reader to dictate what the author intends to provide, particularly in a memoir. Regardless, Kubicek has given us an opportunity to live within his Holocaust, which is the quintessential desire of the memoir author.

Peter Kubicek's memoir produces a powerful historical description of life as a Jew in Nazi concentration camps. His story is remarkably accurate and insightful. This is a riveting tale of family, faith, terror and survival. Memories of Evil is a thrilling, compelling memoir.

Reviewer Charles S. Weinblatt is the author of "Jacob's Courage: A Holocaust Love Story" (Mazo Publishers 2007).

[Laura Leaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very spare (almost laconic) memoir of survival. Kubicek tells the reader: "In March, 1942, the Slovak government embarked with great determination and enthusiasm on the task of annihilating Slovak Jewry, a community of close to 90,000 people." By the end of the book, the "final statistics"are given in microscopic fashion. Who is deported? Who died? From the number of Slovak Jews in the former Czechoslovakia, to those Jews in Kubicek's hometown of Trencin, to the Jews in his elementary school, and finally to Kubicek's friends, the number of survivors gets smaller and smaller.

He is thirteen (perhaps fourteen) when he arrives at Bergen-Belsen. Within hours he is moved, without his mother and grandmother, to Camp Sachsenhausen. His name is changed to #119,748. He is later moved to Heinkel, a slave labor camp. Two months later, he is transferred to Camp Inak (home of the conglomerate Siemens).

What I liked about Peter Kubicek's short volume is its clarity and lack of sentimentality. He writes: "Adko Strassmann was the first person arrested in our town, together with his father-in-law, and with the remaining leaders of our community. They were quickly deported and never heard from again. Later he writes: "Franzi Strassmann, as a woman alone, had been separated from us already in Camp Sered. We never saw her again." This straightforward style makes the memories of Kubicek's survival all the more harrowing.

Every so often, he'll stop the narrative and write Snapshot to recreate a retained memory. I found this effective. When I try to remember my own childhood, I often find that I only have disparate memories, like beads on a string.

Despite having read quite a few books on World War II, I haven't read many Holocaust memoirs. In fact, I can recall only Elie Wiesel's and Anne Frank's. Reading a first person account of the insane depravities of human beings against their fellows is a powerful reminder of the world's recent history. And it IS recent. At this point, Peter Kubicek is still alive.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memories of Evil: Recalling a World War II Childhood was written by Peter Kubicek. Peter is a Holocaust survivor who wrote a short story of his fifteenth birthday to give to his daughters when they were fifteen. Later, he took that short selection and added to it realizing he needed to put his memories on paper for the future. He survived two camps in Slovakia and then six German concentration camps. Upon liberation, he was reunited with his Mother and they were brought to the United States by his Father. Of his Mother’s numerous cousins, aunts, and uncles, only three male cousins survived. Of his Father’s family, only a niece and a cousin survived. Since retiring, he now serves as a docent for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Though it is short and simply written, the horror of the time he spent in the camps is captured in his words. He shows that those who survived, survived with the help of others. It is a very good memoir.

[Ezequiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like a dialogue with Peter Kubicek. I sat down one night, turned on the reading light, started reading this book, and soon after found myself in the streets of Trecin, walking alongside a juvenile Kubicek. I could hear his voice, the sounds, I could sense the smells. Reading this book is an authentic privilege; the privilege of having Mr, Kubicek tell you his story, first hand, for about 10 hours, non stop. You will not want to stop.

The style is direct; because the story so requires. This is not fiction, this is real life, this is Europe not so long ago.

Writing this book was a "mitzva"; a must do for Kubicek. And I am personally grateful to him for this gift.

Buy it, read it, gift it, recommend it.

[Rita]

UK - not available at abe.books USA

Jennifer:
"Memories of Evil" by Peter Kubicek is a haunting and chilling story of survival. Kubiceck is a survivor of eight concentration camps, six Nazi and two Slovak fascist camps. Now in his eighties, Kubicek brings himself back to the horror of the Holocaust to write this memoir that is sure to influence the literary world. What Elie Wiesel did with his Holocaust memoir "Night" is what Kubicek is destined to do with "Memories of Evil."

Imagine your fifteenth birthday. Now imagine spending it in a concentration camp, which is the exact experience Kubicek had. What is so compelling about this particular memoir is Kubicek doesn't exaggerate or focus on the well-known violence and horror, but he focuses on the facts of what actually happened. For example, he slept on the floor of an aircraft factory on loose straw in one camp. Then he masterfully recounts his sleeping "method" to keep warm. Many of these details are lost to us now, but Kubicek brings historical and factual details such as these to life.

I am impressed by Kubicek's straightforward and compelling writing. I love the photos throughout the book that show him at different stages of his life, even today. I highly recommend "Memories of Evil" to anyone who is fascinated by the Holocaust. Overall, it's a beautiful memoir, and and a historically important one.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how Peter Kubicek survived the horror that was the concentration camp. It seemed like only through a series of dumb-luck circumstances that he did survive. His account of how things really were contrast with a lot of invented stories of the Holocaust. In particular, if you're thinking of reading The Boy in Striped Pajamas, you should read this account first, because it is actually based on FACT, rather than just being a cheap grab at a profit.

[Narcis Capdevila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book about the life of young boy in the holocaust.
However, I feel the book is a bit too short, and that the author self-censored himself. The book lacks almost any detail about camp brutality, which I find necessary to fully understand the holocaust. A good book, without a doubt, and a corageous author, but I can't give it more stars because it's far from Kertesz masterpiece Fatelesness.

[Bethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned about this book from a comment the author made on 'The boy in the striped pyjamas goodreads page', I can't remeber what was said but it was a long the lines of "If you want to know the truth you should read my book". Fast forward a week and thank you to Amazon I obtained my copy.

This is unlike anything I had read, (and I have read alot about WW2 and the unknown horrors they tried to hide from us) for one I didn't know there were expemption lists.. I can't even fathom what it would have been like for people who didn't manage to get on these.

I didn't know there were so many camps. Some I recognised.. Others I didn't. I didn't know about the manufacturers who supported Hitler
Or the little items they were given, about the latrine workers and even the shoes.. I realised until I real this how little I did know. I also thought how lucky Peter and his mum were to find each other after eveything they went through.. But that was it. Peter and his mum was anything but lucky, they had been through hell just because of their basic humanity and right to live. How can one race do that to another?

It's quite obvious from the beginning that Peter is a humble man who only wants to tell the world the truth about what happened and despite odds in a million he survived the most heinous times of our age. By rights, he should not be here, but he is and he is the symbol of humanity and it's durance to withstand the most evil, sadist crimes of the century.

I also found it interesting in the way he summarised that the Nazis and all that supported them disappeared over night.. And I can't help but applud that BECAUSE I FELT THE EXACT SAME WAY.

Should Germany be blamed for it's past? Certainly not but it IS PART of their past and them accepting that is something alot of people don't do.. Especially as time goes on and a lid is tried to temporary cover the crimes and actions of those who were not Nazis, SS or in anyway trained by the army but simple folks like me and you.

I'm glad I picked up your comment sir, and I'm glad I read your book.! ( I was a little jittery at the thought of you giving this to your daughters at 15 but I do understand the thought process behind it and if you hadn't.. This wouldn't survive now.)

I can't imagine my child going through what you did, away from me, treated in such an unfair manner and for you to keep the spirit alive inside of you was so inspiring. I'm sorry for what you went through and I thank you for sharing your life with us. I am honestly better for reading it. Xx

[Nemanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Kubicek’s memoir consists of two parts. The first is the original memoir, written for his daughters, in which he attempted to explain the life of a boy their age who spent that time in concentration camps, mostly performing hard physical labor in Siemens facilities that funded the armament of the Third Reich. The second part, a later addition that precedes the original, expands on the context by recounting life in wartime Slovakia—life in hiding, antisemitic laws, the breakup of his family, and the missed opportunity to escape to America with his father before ultimately being deported to a camp with his mother.

The memoir concludes with emotional scenes after liberation: his reunion with his mother, clever ways of reclaiming stolen property, coping with trauma, providing specific statistics about the number of survivors from his family and Slovakia, and an attempt to start life anew. It also includes family photographs.

The memoir places particular emphasis on situations where something good or humane occurs, or where Jews are viewed in a positive light—contrary to what one might expect.

*Operation Bernhard—the Nazi operation intended to trigger economic collapse in the United Kingdom by flooding it with counterfeit banknotes, forged with skill by specially selected members of the Sonderkommando.

Memoari Petera Kubičeka sastoje se iz dva dela, originalnog teksta namenjenog njegovim devojčicama u kojem je pokušao da objasni život jednog dečaka njihovog uzrasta koji to doba provodi u logorima, uglavnom obavljajući teške fizičke poslove radeći u Simensovim postrojenjima koja su finansirala naoružanje Trećeg rajha. Drugi deo predstavlja proširenje i prethodi originalu u kojem iznosi činjenice o životu u ratom zahvaćenoj Slovačkoj, životu u skrivanju, antisemitskim zakonima, podeli porodice usled nemogućnosti da izbegne s ocem u Ameriku pre nego što s majkom završi u logoru. Memoari se završavaju emotivnim scenama po oslobođenju, ponovnom susretu s majkom, dosetljivim načinima za povraćaj otete imovine, borbom s traumama, iznošenjem konkretne statistike o broju preživelih iz njegove porodice i Slovačke i pokušajem da se započne iz početka; kao i slikama iz porodične kolekcije.

U tekstu su posebno izdvojene situacije u kojima se desi nešto dobro, humano ili se na Jevreje gleda u pozitivnom svetlu, nasuprot očekivanjima.

*Operacija Bernhard - operacija kojom su Nacisti težili da izazovu ekonomski kolaps Ujedinjenog Kraljestva zasipajući ih lažnim novčanicama koji su posebno izabrani članovi Sonderkommandoa vešto lažirali.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author was a Jew living in Eastern Europe when the Germans invaded and took control. A fundamental part of their strategy was to exploit the Jewish population whenever possible and exterminate otherwise. Kubicek was an inmate in six German camps, surviving via a combination of luck and some skills. One of the simplest was his ability to repair socks. Wherever he went, there was always someone that gave him that extra slice of bread or other sustenance that was the difference between life and death.
While Kubicek’s story about life in the camps is of course unique to him, the basic experiences were those of millions of people, most of which did not survive. One of the most interesting points in the book is how he encountered a man that was a German criminal assigned to the camps. As such a person, he was considered non-political and given a decent job with better food, shelter and clothing. Some of those benefits were passed along to Kubicek.
A sad tale of history that must never be forgotten, this is a story that is both unique and yet depressingly common and most often not told due to the deaths of the principals at the hands of the Germans.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this entire book in one sitting - yes it is smaller than most, but it really hooked me.
Actually, when I started, Todd told me to read it aloud on our way to Lincoln. It was touching, heartbreaking, and informative.

Peter tells of how his family avoided deportation for a time due to their connections. His father had been on a trip, and followed directions to go to the US. There, he tried to get his family there, too, but ran into several road blocks.
Eventually, Peter, his mother and grandmother are taken to Bergen-Belsen. Peter is taken to several different concentration camps. He was 14 years old...and all I could think about was my 13 year old being separated from us, and suffering to survive.
Amazingly, Peter will survive, be reunited with his mother, and eventually find his way to his father in New York City.

An amazing story, and I'm glad that Peter shared it.

[Marie Polega · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting memoir of a man who was a child during WWII, including his experiences with the Holocaust and concentration camps. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to be separated from everyone as a teenager. I had to constantly remind myself how young he was. I have mostly read fiction about this time and learned a lot reading this memoir.

[Lukasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. I wish it would be longer and more in details.

[Kevin Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good story. It doesn’t get into too much horrific detail but still amazes me how people survived these horrible acts.

[Daniela Agudelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was his story. I think I am in no position to review it. However, I give 5 stars as I appreciate that he took the time to write it and share it. It gave me a lot to think about.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks for sharing your story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

11/25: page 60 "One of a kind."

"Memories of Evil: A World War II Childhood" by Peter Kubicek is:

A ONCE IN A LIFETIME BOOK & EXPERIENCE!

I will return to write a "real" review, but I want to share some of my thoughts and feelings about this utterly from the heart and soul book. There are a plethora of reasons why this book stands out from other memoirs written by other Holocaust survivors. But two examples are that the author, Peter Kubicek, gives great insight into how and why many things occurred and how people reacted during The Holocaust, that I have never seen interpreted in the ways they are here...

"Memories of Evil: Recalling a World War II Childhood" written by Peter Kubicek, a survivor, is an intimate yet straightforward with zero fat journey into the lives of the author, his family and others. The author uses honest, accessible and clean prose that makes reading each page an experience of intimacy and an immersion in truth. Readers will find moving black and white photos throughout the book that draw you in like magnets to a world that is long gone, but comes to life right before your eyes and in your soul. I felt like I had been transported back in time and that I was seeing, hearing, and smelling everything right beside the author in real time.

I have read many, many books about The Holocaust, but I've never read anything like this work. INCREDIBLE!

RUN AND GET THIS BOOK NOW! If you can't find it, or if you can't or don't want to purchase it, I will get it for you. It is "that" good!

[Natalie Regliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, factual, and conveyed experience with sincerity. Elicited strong reaction in reading this- sadness, anger, and relief at his luck, relative to others who didnt make it. Amidst the horror- "the hunger, weariness, and fear"- it was touching to learn that the small acts of kindness extended by strangers he encountered facilitated his survival (and kept him warm).

[Ruby Tuesday · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a reasonably short but well written book about the Holocaust.I'd like to hear more about Peter's live and how he adjusted to normal life in the US after what he went through.