Spring's End

by John Freund

On the eve of World War II, John Freund was a young boy who loved soccer as much as he loved to write. In Springs End he recounts with telling detail how his joyful childhood was shattered by the German invasion of his homeland, Czechoslovakia, in 1939. Like other boys his age, John loved mischief and adventure and he found his greatest pleasure sitting and watching the dozens of trains that rolled through his city of Ceske Budejovice every day. He was only nine years old when, as he puts it, the devil walked in. Hoping at first the conflict and persecution would soon blow over, the Freunds an assimilated Jewish family who identified first and foremost as Czechs suffered through the systematic erosion of their rights before being first deported to the Terezin concentration camp near Prague and then transported to Auschwitz. Springs End faithfully records everything John witnessed inside the death camp life in the family camp section of the compound, the experience of being one of Dr. Josef Mengeles Boys of Birkenau, and the successful revolt of the Sonderkommando that destroyed part of the crematoria complex. Johns loss of innocence and suffering are made all the more poignant by writing that reveals an unwavering faith in humanity, determined optimism and commitment to rebuilding his life in Canada.

Genres: Memoir, Holocaust, History, World War II

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

1930-

Reviews

[Jared Barkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

To reduce a story this devastating to a star rating feels almost crass, but this was an impactful read. John Freund, a friend of my grandparents, shares his recollections of the Holocaust as an Auschwitz survivor; his memories are poignant and offer an important historical account, albeit an incredibly heartbreaking one.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Freund’s Springs End is written in the most writerly style of the memoirs I’ve read. Most survivors do not speak English as a first, or even second language, but Freund is comfortable with English, storytelling, and atmosphere. The others so far have been written in a more matter-of-fact, point-by-point, this-is-what-happened-to-me style. Freund is more metaphorical, even lyrical with his theme of the changing seasons, and he philosophically explores his emotions as a survivor.

“How did I survive when so many died? The easiest way to answer would be to say that God was with me, though I cannot accept this explanation because it raises more questions than it answers. [...] More than forty million people died in camps, battlefields and bombed cities. Where was God? [...] Rabbi Rudolph Ferda believed that we Jews were punished for leaving our religion and the moral teachings of the Torah. Perhaps there is some truth in this, but would a just God punish so severely and unmercifully? [...] Even though I cannot believe that God selected me to live, I am grateful that I survived.” ~ pg 71-72

We read along as he grapples with these impossible questions, and describes his well thought-out, ambiguous, and ambivalent answers to them.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great book for people just getting into reading about the holocaust or any holocaust series. It is a pretty short book but it is very detailed and gives a pretty good feel of how most other non-fictional, storyline books are. If you want to get into real life books that still have that sequential and storyline aspect to them, this is a great book!