The Last Eyewitnesses: Children of the Holocaust Speak

Jewish Lives

by Wiktoria Śliwowska, Julian Bussgang (Translator)

These testimonies, submitted by individual authors and not originally intended for publication, were assembled as a historical record by the Association of the Children of the Holocaust in Poland. While evil and brutal anti-Semitism are described, the accounts also reveal the great risks taken by courageous individuals in order to save Jewish children.

Genres: Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 1998

Reviews

[lexi🤍 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this book 4.5 stars.

The stories of these people who survived one of the worst genocides in history need to be remembered. Books like this one need to be incorporated into summer reading for college English classes and history classes and in high school classes for English and history…. Without the first-hand accounts of these peoples’ lives, their memories die in vain.

While much of history remembers the persecution of Jews as well as the condemnation of Romani peoples, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many other groups deemed “undesirable,” it’s important to also remember those that risked their lives to save the lives of the persecuted.

Without the courage and bravery of ordinary people who believed in humanity, many more lives would’ve been lost and we would’ve lost more generations than were already lost. We owe it to them and to those who were forced to fight for tyrannical nations but fought against their governments to preserve human life, an immense amount of gratitude for their sacrifices and their dedication to saving others.

From priests and nuns to Resistance groups and ordinary people, thousands of people helped shelter and protect the lives of those hunted by the Nazis and we will forever be in their debt.

[Dan Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides concise, factual and personal accounts of sixty-five Jews who survived the Holocaust and still live in Poland. Their stories are shocking, poignant and powerful. They were written by the individuals, children at the time, who had these horrible experiences and only recently felt capable of recounting their painful past. Although each story is different, the collection reveals over and over again the struggle to survive under awful conditions, the brutality and inhumanity of the Holocaust, the recognition that most others perished, and the risk some courageous Gentiles took to save Jews. This is a very important and moving book which should be read by everyone who wants to learn more about the Holocaust. It is unique in many respects, but especially interesting because these Jews chose to remain in Poland.

[Amy Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

For so many of these stories you are left wanting more…wanting answers to “what happened to…,” but there is nothing.

This compilation of life experiences provides the reader with a glimpse of the effects of the Holocaust that go far beyond the war years: lingering health issues, loss of identity, loss of all family, etc.

God bless those who helped and were not deterred by the risk.

[Kiara Davis]

I think that after i read the book,I can relate with Cuba.