What do you think?
Rate this book
The Diary of Petr Ginz
Lost for sixty years in a Prague attic, this secret diary of a teenage prodigy killed at Auschwitz is an extraordinary literary discovery, an intimately candid, deeply affecting account of a childhood compromised by Nazi tyranny.
As a fourteen-year old Jewish boy living in Prague in the early 1940s, Petr Ginz dutifully records the increasingly precarious texture of daily life. With a child’s keen eye for the absurd and the tragic, he muses on the prank he played on his science class and then just pages later, reveals that his cousins have been called to relinquish all their possessions, having been summoned east in the next transport.
The diary ends with Petr's own summons to Thereisenstadt, where he would become the driving force behind the secret newspaper Vedem, and where he would continue to draw, paint, write, and read, furiously educating himself for a future he would never see.
Fortunately, Petr's voice lives on in his diary, a fresh, startling, and invaluable historical document and a testament to one remarkable child's insuppressible hunger for life.
As a fourteen-year old Jewish boy living in Prague in the early 1940s, Petr Ginz dutifully records the increasingly precarious texture of daily life. With a child’s keen eye for the absurd and the tragic, he muses on the prank he played on his science class and then just pages later, reveals that his cousins have been called to relinquish all their possessions, having been summoned east in the next transport.
The diary ends with Petr's own summons to Thereisenstadt, where he would become the driving force behind the secret newspaper Vedem, and where he would continue to draw, paint, write, and read, furiously educating himself for a future he would never see.
Fortunately, Petr's voice lives on in his diary, a fresh, startling, and invaluable historical document and a testament to one remarkable child's insuppressible hunger for life.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
38 people are currently reading
904 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
August 2, 2011
((dammit I hate the way that goodreads is NOT saving my review. I submit it and viola! No review....))
I found this book boring to tears. It's a kid's diary. It's filled with the mundane things a kid does. Entries on homework, birthdays, family get-togethers, his friends. But betwixt these harmless entries, entries on how bit by bit the Nazi regime took away the rights of Jews.
After reading this book I needed a moment to reflect.This isn't just some kids diary. This 'kid' was murdered, in a way most heinous. For what? For his ethno-religious background. You get a sense of the hopes and dreams of a 14 year old boy. Barely into puberty. Dreams that were violently snuffed out in a gas chamber when he was only 16 years old.
In reflection, this book was like watching a horror movie. The scene becomes dark and the music becomes sinister, but the main character, completely unawares, is going into their death. Petr had no idea, that what Germany had cooked up was far worse than taking their underwear, forcing them to labor, and register as Jews...
It occurred to me, reading his diary was a violation of something deep, personal. This is a diary of a dead boy, frozen in time.
I found this book boring to tears. It's a kid's diary. It's filled with the mundane things a kid does. Entries on homework, birthdays, family get-togethers, his friends. But betwixt these harmless entries, entries on how bit by bit the Nazi regime took away the rights of Jews.
After reading this book I needed a moment to reflect.This isn't just some kids diary. This 'kid' was murdered, in a way most heinous. For what? For his ethno-religious background. You get a sense of the hopes and dreams of a 14 year old boy. Barely into puberty. Dreams that were violently snuffed out in a gas chamber when he was only 16 years old.
In reflection, this book was like watching a horror movie. The scene becomes dark and the music becomes sinister, but the main character, completely unawares, is going into their death. Petr had no idea, that what Germany had cooked up was far worse than taking their underwear, forcing them to labor, and register as Jews...
It occurred to me, reading his diary was a violation of something deep, personal. This is a diary of a dead boy, frozen in time.
August 30, 2019
WOW WOW WOW ja ik ben echt verbaasd ik dacht dat ik alle stijlen over de holocaust al had gezien. Had ik dit even verkeerd. Dit is te vergelijken met een 'Anne Frank' maar hij is jonger en bezit een inmens talent.
Schrijven tekenen schilderen dichten hij kon het allemaal en na 'Terezin' heeft 'Auswitch' er een einde aan gemaakt.
16 jaar en zo een verloren talent. Hij heeft me enorm geimponeerd.
Dus ja 5* is dik verdiend !
Schrijven tekenen schilderen dichten hij kon het allemaal en na 'Terezin' heeft 'Auswitch' er een einde aan gemaakt.
16 jaar en zo een verloren talent. Hij heeft me enorm geimponeerd.
Dus ja 5* is dik verdiend !
February 16, 2009
I read this book after spending 10 days at Terezin for a University Field Study Trip, maybe it is because I know Petr's history first hand, maybe it is because I walked the streets he walked as a boy, or maybe it's because I stood in the spot where he last stood before being sent to Auschwitz, but this book moved me in ways I cannot even describe.
Petr Ginz, and his diary will always be for me, a haunting reminder of my time in Terezin, and the horrible events of the Holocaust.
Petr Ginz, and his diary will always be for me, a haunting reminder of my time in Terezin, and the horrible events of the Holocaust.
September 11, 2021
Petr Ginz was een Joodse jongen die in Praag woonde. Hij werd geboren in februari 1928, dus ruim een jaar eerder dan Anne Frank die in het Amsterdamse Achterhuis haar dagboek bijhield. Ook Petr hield een dagboek bij. Het verschil met Anne was dat hij niet was ondergedoken, maar in de eerste jaren van de oorlog nog een min of meer ‘normaal’ leven leidde. Hij ging naar school en speelde met vrienden. De onderdrukking van alles dat Joods was, nam ook in Praag steeds onheilspellender vormen aan. Joden mochten op steeds minder plekken komen, moesten een gele ster dragen, werden maatschappelijk buitengesloten. Petr hield een dagboek bij waarin hij korte notities schreef over de dagelijkse gebeurtenissen. Hij had niet de pretentie om literair te schrijven. Uit het boek blijkt dat hij zeer hoogbegaafd was, met belangstelling voor de wetenschap en met het gebruik van formuleringen die je niet bij een dertienjarige verwacht. Geleidelijk aan werden vanuit Praag steeds meer joden gedeporteerd en uiteindelijk in een concentratiekamp vermoord. Dat lot trof ook Petr die eerst in Theresienstadt terecht kwam en later in het vernietigingskamp Auschwitz-Birkenau waar hij in 1944 om het leven kwam, net zestien jaar oud. Zijn jongere zus trof hem nog in Theresienstadt. Zij overleefde de oorlog. Ze kwam in 2003 alsnog in het bezit van de twee dagboekjes die Petr had geschreven. Zijn beroemde tekening over een maanlandschap werd in 2003 door de eerste Israëlische kosmonaut in de ruimte meegenomen.
Het boek is een hartverscheurend document. Het voelt raar aan om sterren te geven aan een boek van een jongen die gedwongen sterren droeg, het is wat betreft sterrenstatus een boek buiten mededinging. Maar het is wel een van de beste boeken over de gruwelijkheid van haat en discriminatie die ik ken.
Trefwoorden: holocaust, oorlog, Praag, joden
Het boek is een hartverscheurend document. Het voelt raar aan om sterren te geven aan een boek van een jongen die gedwongen sterren droeg, het is wat betreft sterrenstatus een boek buiten mededinging. Maar het is wel een van de beste boeken over de gruwelijkheid van haat en discriminatie die ik ken.
Trefwoorden: holocaust, oorlog, Praag, joden
Read
July 22, 2014I'm intentionally not giving this a rating. That's something I always struggle with when it comes to Holocaust titles, but in this case I've run across something quite rare for me. I would never presume to "grade" someone's Holocaust experience; I do not want to appear to be denigrating or devaluing what Petr Ginz, or his sister, Chava Pressburger, had to endure. But I did not like the way this book was put together.
There are a couple of unusual points about this book that give it a different perspective from many other diaries or memoirs: Petr and Chava/Eva (as she is in the book) are the children of a mixed Jewish/Aryan marriage, which affords the family some protection - although obviously not enough. Further, the setting is Prague, where the Jews were simply removed rather than being forced into a ghetto, so their experiences were quite different from those in Poland, for example - of course, ultimately the treatment isn't better, ghetto or not. One detail that interested me was that twice Petr raised money in aid of a sick friend by selling raffle tickets to his schoolmates, and once money was raised by the students to buy a wedding gift for a teacher - and all the children seemed to have the funds to participate in these efforts. When Petr is pressed into service by the Jewish Community center in a form of mandatory community service, he is paid for his efforts. I have no frame of reference for the actual value of the denominations he mentions, but the flow of ready cash is completely lacking in other accounts I have read about other places.
However, those points do not - for me - salvage this book. The blurbs, and Petr's sister Chava, who edited this book, rave about what a creative genius Petr was - but only a tiny fraction of that is displayed in the actual diaries that are supposed to be the focus of the book. Petr lists what he did each day and where he went (school, his grandmother's, or the home of other relatives), but almost never says anything about actually writing, drawing, or painting. We hear of a couple of linotypes being made and some (presumably) science experiments conducted at school. He lists exams he takes and how he did on them; very occasionally he mentions his health or that of a family member (the hospitalization of his father, for example, for what seems to have been pneumonia). He seems to spend much of his life taking walks. Sometimes he even tells who he was with or what they saw. Well, all of that is fine - he is roughly 12-14 at the time of these diaries, so we cannot expect complex analysis of emotions, etc. But nowhere does he display his alleged "creative genius."
That's not to say he wasn't one. There are drawings and paintings in this edition, as well as some of his linotypes and a few brief pieces of writing. But the wide gap between how he is described and what is really in these little diaries indicates that the problem is with the editor, and the book. While I can completely understand a sister's desire to memorialize the brother who died, that doesn't translate into being the right editor! Here's an example: there are page notes offering explanations of people and places and holidays. But there are also end notes that explain people and places and larger events - including information that would have been quite helpful on the actual page. Chava's presence is actually pretty heavy-handed for an "editor." Additionally, this book stops at 1942, despite the fact that Chava posses Petr's Theresiendtadt diaries - why not publish those? They probably would have been more interesting than seeing how many days he went for walks without ever being told what he did or saw on them.
The occasional mentions of politics, or the glimpses of Petr's actual emotional responses to what is going on around him, are interesting and worth reading, and the diaries are no doubt worth preserving (although I could have done without Chava's own diary excerpts) - but I am just not going to get the claims that this kid was a genius. Not on this evidence. The tragedy is that we'll never know what he might have been.
There are a couple of unusual points about this book that give it a different perspective from many other diaries or memoirs: Petr and Chava/Eva (as she is in the book) are the children of a mixed Jewish/Aryan marriage, which affords the family some protection - although obviously not enough. Further, the setting is Prague, where the Jews were simply removed rather than being forced into a ghetto, so their experiences were quite different from those in Poland, for example - of course, ultimately the treatment isn't better, ghetto or not. One detail that interested me was that twice Petr raised money in aid of a sick friend by selling raffle tickets to his schoolmates, and once money was raised by the students to buy a wedding gift for a teacher - and all the children seemed to have the funds to participate in these efforts. When Petr is pressed into service by the Jewish Community center in a form of mandatory community service, he is paid for his efforts. I have no frame of reference for the actual value of the denominations he mentions, but the flow of ready cash is completely lacking in other accounts I have read about other places.
However, those points do not - for me - salvage this book. The blurbs, and Petr's sister Chava, who edited this book, rave about what a creative genius Petr was - but only a tiny fraction of that is displayed in the actual diaries that are supposed to be the focus of the book. Petr lists what he did each day and where he went (school, his grandmother's, or the home of other relatives), but almost never says anything about actually writing, drawing, or painting. We hear of a couple of linotypes being made and some (presumably) science experiments conducted at school. He lists exams he takes and how he did on them; very occasionally he mentions his health or that of a family member (the hospitalization of his father, for example, for what seems to have been pneumonia). He seems to spend much of his life taking walks. Sometimes he even tells who he was with or what they saw. Well, all of that is fine - he is roughly 12-14 at the time of these diaries, so we cannot expect complex analysis of emotions, etc. But nowhere does he display his alleged "creative genius."
That's not to say he wasn't one. There are drawings and paintings in this edition, as well as some of his linotypes and a few brief pieces of writing. But the wide gap between how he is described and what is really in these little diaries indicates that the problem is with the editor, and the book. While I can completely understand a sister's desire to memorialize the brother who died, that doesn't translate into being the right editor! Here's an example: there are page notes offering explanations of people and places and holidays. But there are also end notes that explain people and places and larger events - including information that would have been quite helpful on the actual page. Chava's presence is actually pretty heavy-handed for an "editor." Additionally, this book stops at 1942, despite the fact that Chava posses Petr's Theresiendtadt diaries - why not publish those? They probably would have been more interesting than seeing how many days he went for walks without ever being told what he did or saw on them.
The occasional mentions of politics, or the glimpses of Petr's actual emotional responses to what is going on around him, are interesting and worth reading, and the diaries are no doubt worth preserving (although I could have done without Chava's own diary excerpts) - but I am just not going to get the claims that this kid was a genius. Not on this evidence. The tragedy is that we'll never know what he might have been.
March 7, 2008
The extermination of millions deprived the world of greatness as is the aim of evil. The loss of the brilliance of this young man is a loss imaginable.
February 28, 2017
Awesome diary!! You should be proud Chava!!
February 18, 2021
This is the diary of Petr (Peter) Ginz, a Jewish teenager living in Prague, Czechoslaviakia during the middle years of WW2.
The diary was fascinating to read. This Kid Petr was interested in so many different subjects, especially science, just like me!! He was also a rather good artist as well. Many of his drawings and artworks have survived as well as some of his diaries.
Petr was sent to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1942 when he was 14 years old. His younger sister Eva arrived at Theresienstadt in 1944 when she also turned 14. Petr was shipped off to Auschwitz some 2 months after Eva's arrival.
Eva Ginzova was liberated from Theresienstadt in 1945. She is now called Chava Pressburger.
The diary entries were interesting - well those that said more then just, went to school, went home, or nothing special.
The only complaint I have is that the list of people and relatives whom Petr mentions is not at the front of the diary. Instead this list is found at the back. So I went through the diary not knowing who everyone was in relation to Petr.
That lack of names (at the front) drops this down to 4 stars.
The diary was fascinating to read. This Kid Petr was interested in so many different subjects, especially science, just like me!! He was also a rather good artist as well. Many of his drawings and artworks have survived as well as some of his diaries.
Petr was sent to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1942 when he was 14 years old. His younger sister Eva arrived at Theresienstadt in 1944 when she also turned 14. Petr was shipped off to Auschwitz some 2 months after Eva's arrival.
Eva Ginzova was liberated from Theresienstadt in 1945. She is now called Chava Pressburger.
The diary entries were interesting - well those that said more then just, went to school, went home, or nothing special.
The only complaint I have is that the list of people and relatives whom Petr mentions is not at the front of the diary. Instead this list is found at the back. So I went through the diary not knowing who everyone was in relation to Petr.
That lack of names (at the front) drops this down to 4 stars.
December 2, 2022
En judisk tonårspojkes dagbok från 1941-1942, i ett allt mer nazistiskt präglat Prag. En person som hade stor aptit på livet och mycket att åstadkomma men som aldrig fick bli äldre än 14 år. Kusligt och jättetungt att läsa de korta dagsanteckningarna med både skola, kompisar och kriget som tillslut sväljer allt och alla.
March 31, 2024
This diary gives a very objective look at the ongoings of the world and a young teenager's life. While very practical and dry, you can start to see more of the personality of Petr when you look at the art and read the short stories/passages.
Read
January 2, 2020Knowing the outcome of this book makes it very difficult to rate. As I was reading each entry, I looked to the back of the book to see if that person had survived the war. The results were very sobering. I think that one must keep in mind that this was written by a 14 year-old who had no idea what the future held for him. He recorded his day by day activities. It is a good example of life before the Holocaust.
April 24, 2020
De ernst van de situatie wordt later in het boek duidelijk. Net als bij Petr zelf
April 17, 2024
Muy lejos de Él diario de Ana Frank. No deja de ser una lista de lo que el niño hace cada día, con pocas reflexiones.
November 5, 2019
Diario de Praga es un diario de un adolescente, pero escrito en una de las épocas más oscuras de la historia. Petr Ginz era un adolescente checo de madre aria y padre judío, al tener esta 'mezcla de razas' el gobierno nazi y sus colaboradores le permitían estar en casa con su familia hasta que cumpliese los 14 años, cuando sería enviado a un campo de concentración y más tarde a Auschwitz donde murió en las cámaras de gas nada más llegar.
El diario empieza fuerte mostrándonos desde el principio la estrella de David que el gobierno ha obligado a llevar a todos los judíos para diferenciarlos del resto. Al fin y al cabo esto no deja de ser un diario con lo que a pesar de que lo más importante, al menos históricamente hablando, sean los fragmentos en los que habla de esta persecución, muchas veces Ginz simplemente nos cuenta como es su día a día, cuando va a la escuela, los exámenes, los estudios, las visitas familiares... Conforme se va acercando la fecha de su decimocuarto cumpleaños se puede apreciar en imágenes del diario original cedidas por la hermana de Petr al Estado israelí, la ansiedad e inquietud de Ginz al no saber lo que le depara el futuro. Aunque realmente no hace falta ver las fotografías, que al menos en esta edición vienen incluidas al final, porque simplemente con la escritura de Petr se puede ver esa angustia permanente, ya que además de acercarse su marcha al gueto, las persecuciones y barbaridades contra los judíos cada vez son mayores, lo que tiene asustada a toda la población judía.
Finalmente en 1942 fue deportado al campo de Terezín donde estuvo unos dos años antes de llegar a Auschwitz. En el campo se dedicó entre otras cosas a llevar una revista de manera clandestina en la que escribía testimonios de otras personas internas en el campo, aunque a veces le costase mucho convencer a reclusos para que hablasen sobre sus experiencias personales. Además, Ginz, que en mi opinión podría haber sido un gran artista y sin duda un gran escritor, escribía en esa revista algunos relatos que se le iban ocurriendo y que también aparecen en el diario -al menos unos pocos que todavía se conservan-. Por si fuera poco mientras estuvo en el campo, Petr desarrolló un sistema de cifrado para poder escribir lo que quisiera sin miedo a que alguien le pillase, algo así como un idioma nuevo -es innegable que tenía una gran imaginación-. A día de hoy se sigue sin saber exactamente lo que puso en esas páginas de manera íntegra, aunque la mayoría lo lograse descifrar su hermana años más tarde.
Tras la guerra, su hermana Eva encontró estos diarios y relatos de la revista y decidió recopilarlos para luego publicarlos, no sin antes encargarse de editarlos ella misma. El diario recuerda en sí al Diario de Ana Frank, el cual, tengo que ser honesta todavía no he leído. A veces, el pensar que estos diarios han sido escritos de manera personal para las mismas personas que las escribieron te puede causar pudor el mero hecho de leerlos y meterse en la vida personal de una persona que sufrió y a la que le deparó una muerte horrible. Sin embargo, creo que este tipo de diarios no deja de ser una de las formas más eficaces de acercarse a esos judíos cuyos testimonios nadie pudo recoger de otra manera.
Sin duda, un diario que no debería volver a repetirse y que recomiendo mucho a aquellos interesados en el Holocausto o la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
El diario empieza fuerte mostrándonos desde el principio la estrella de David que el gobierno ha obligado a llevar a todos los judíos para diferenciarlos del resto. Al fin y al cabo esto no deja de ser un diario con lo que a pesar de que lo más importante, al menos históricamente hablando, sean los fragmentos en los que habla de esta persecución, muchas veces Ginz simplemente nos cuenta como es su día a día, cuando va a la escuela, los exámenes, los estudios, las visitas familiares... Conforme se va acercando la fecha de su decimocuarto cumpleaños se puede apreciar en imágenes del diario original cedidas por la hermana de Petr al Estado israelí, la ansiedad e inquietud de Ginz al no saber lo que le depara el futuro. Aunque realmente no hace falta ver las fotografías, que al menos en esta edición vienen incluidas al final, porque simplemente con la escritura de Petr se puede ver esa angustia permanente, ya que además de acercarse su marcha al gueto, las persecuciones y barbaridades contra los judíos cada vez son mayores, lo que tiene asustada a toda la población judía.
Finalmente en 1942 fue deportado al campo de Terezín donde estuvo unos dos años antes de llegar a Auschwitz. En el campo se dedicó entre otras cosas a llevar una revista de manera clandestina en la que escribía testimonios de otras personas internas en el campo, aunque a veces le costase mucho convencer a reclusos para que hablasen sobre sus experiencias personales. Además, Ginz, que en mi opinión podría haber sido un gran artista y sin duda un gran escritor, escribía en esa revista algunos relatos que se le iban ocurriendo y que también aparecen en el diario -al menos unos pocos que todavía se conservan-. Por si fuera poco mientras estuvo en el campo, Petr desarrolló un sistema de cifrado para poder escribir lo que quisiera sin miedo a que alguien le pillase, algo así como un idioma nuevo -es innegable que tenía una gran imaginación-. A día de hoy se sigue sin saber exactamente lo que puso en esas páginas de manera íntegra, aunque la mayoría lo lograse descifrar su hermana años más tarde.
Tras la guerra, su hermana Eva encontró estos diarios y relatos de la revista y decidió recopilarlos para luego publicarlos, no sin antes encargarse de editarlos ella misma. El diario recuerda en sí al Diario de Ana Frank, el cual, tengo que ser honesta todavía no he leído. A veces, el pensar que estos diarios han sido escritos de manera personal para las mismas personas que las escribieron te puede causar pudor el mero hecho de leerlos y meterse en la vida personal de una persona que sufrió y a la que le deparó una muerte horrible. Sin embargo, creo que este tipo de diarios no deja de ser una de las formas más eficaces de acercarse a esos judíos cuyos testimonios nadie pudo recoger de otra manera.
Sin duda, un diario que no debería volver a repetirse y que recomiendo mucho a aquellos interesados en el Holocausto o la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
March 11, 2009
A rare historical find, the diaries reflect the day to day activities of a Jewish boy in Prague during 1941 - 1942. Unfortunately, the diary as a standalone book is somewhat banal. Many of the entries are simply talk about the weather and what happened in school that day.
Peppered throughout the books are glimpses of the oppression the Jews were facing. You do get to see some of his personality - he has a sense of humor. On the very first entry, he mentions that all of the Jews in town are required to wear a star on their lapel. He calls his classmates sheriffs and designates his street as the Milky Way. He also was a little bit of a prankster and mad scientist of his class. He made little cannons and exploding pencils.
The book became much more interesting to me when I googled the names and dates in the book. I don't understand why the editor claims to have the diaries from 1943 - 1944 up until he was sent to the concentration camp, and the editor even mentions that they were very interesting and full of emotional tension. She even teased us in the introduction with a few excerpts. Why weren't these diaries published?
Another point, while it's completely understandable, some of the more traumatic events in that time period, he skipped writing in the diary. When his best fried was sent to a concentration camp, he doesn't even write an entry for five days. I figured out by looking online and reading the notes in the back of the book that his friend Harry was deported and sent to an extermination camp around the missing days of Petr's diary. I don't blame him for being too upset to write, but when I simply read the diary - it seemed like nothing interesting happened that week. I had no idea that there was a whole story around those missing days.
I think some more clever editing would have helped out a lot. In the back of the book, there are detailed notes explaining the events in history, or some of the cultural references Petr made. I think these should have been printed next to each other. First of all, I didn't know that the notes existed until I finished the diary. By then I was already Googling all of this information on every other page. And I got to the notes, and they didn't make any sense unless I flipped back to the original diary entry. Some clever editing would have made this book so much better.
All in all, I found it an interesting document, but not a compelling read.
Peppered throughout the books are glimpses of the oppression the Jews were facing. You do get to see some of his personality - he has a sense of humor. On the very first entry, he mentions that all of the Jews in town are required to wear a star on their lapel. He calls his classmates sheriffs and designates his street as the Milky Way. He also was a little bit of a prankster and mad scientist of his class. He made little cannons and exploding pencils.
The book became much more interesting to me when I googled the names and dates in the book. I don't understand why the editor claims to have the diaries from 1943 - 1944 up until he was sent to the concentration camp, and the editor even mentions that they were very interesting and full of emotional tension. She even teased us in the introduction with a few excerpts. Why weren't these diaries published?
Another point, while it's completely understandable, some of the more traumatic events in that time period, he skipped writing in the diary. When his best fried was sent to a concentration camp, he doesn't even write an entry for five days. I figured out by looking online and reading the notes in the back of the book that his friend Harry was deported and sent to an extermination camp around the missing days of Petr's diary. I don't blame him for being too upset to write, but when I simply read the diary - it seemed like nothing interesting happened that week. I had no idea that there was a whole story around those missing days.
I think some more clever editing would have helped out a lot. In the back of the book, there are detailed notes explaining the events in history, or some of the cultural references Petr made. I think these should have been printed next to each other. First of all, I didn't know that the notes existed until I finished the diary. By then I was already Googling all of this information on every other page. And I got to the notes, and they didn't make any sense unless I flipped back to the original diary entry. Some clever editing would have made this book so much better.
All in all, I found it an interesting document, but not a compelling read.
February 15, 2019
The Diary of Petr Ginz 1941-1942, written by Peter Ginz, Edited by his sister, Chava Pressburger, translation Copyright 2007 by Elena Lappin
Poignant, Compelling, Insightful, Astounding!
Petr lived a short sixteen years, but his life was filled with artistic flair, to the very end. From writing to drawing, painting and editing a newsletter, he filled the last years of his life with identity, courage and creativity. That we are able to read these diary entries is amazing in itself, as they were only discovered recently, in February of 2003.
It is difficult to review this book, because of the circumstances surrounding the diary. It is reminiscent of another diary, that of the young Anne Frank.
Petr’s outlook on life, the Holocaust, the Jewish condition, his family and friends, is all documented within the diary’s pages. The documentation lasts up to the time he was transported to Theresienstadt. We are given snippets of history, ghetto conditions, devastation, humor, joy, his childish pranks, sadness and poignancy, all within the framework of a teenager’s voice. Near the end of his life, his thoughts and emotions show a strength and maturity beyond his years. Petr was part of the Jewish condition that he so sincerely and faithfully wrote about.
His intense diary entry regarding the time when he receives notification of his impending transport to the Theresienstadt concentration camp is overwhelming to read (and, it was written while in Theresienstadt). While there for two years, he continued to write, which is, in itself, a testament to the endurance of the young teenager’s brilliance of mind, and of his almost innate and continuing need to put words to paper. How one so young could have written what he did under such duress is incomprehensible.
Petr Ginz’s diary will long be remembered by me, his words ever beautiful and filled with symbolic references have touched me extremely deeply. This is a must read for every age group.
Poignant, Compelling, Insightful, Astounding!
Petr lived a short sixteen years, but his life was filled with artistic flair, to the very end. From writing to drawing, painting and editing a newsletter, he filled the last years of his life with identity, courage and creativity. That we are able to read these diary entries is amazing in itself, as they were only discovered recently, in February of 2003.
It is difficult to review this book, because of the circumstances surrounding the diary. It is reminiscent of another diary, that of the young Anne Frank.
Petr’s outlook on life, the Holocaust, the Jewish condition, his family and friends, is all documented within the diary’s pages. The documentation lasts up to the time he was transported to Theresienstadt. We are given snippets of history, ghetto conditions, devastation, humor, joy, his childish pranks, sadness and poignancy, all within the framework of a teenager’s voice. Near the end of his life, his thoughts and emotions show a strength and maturity beyond his years. Petr was part of the Jewish condition that he so sincerely and faithfully wrote about.
His intense diary entry regarding the time when he receives notification of his impending transport to the Theresienstadt concentration camp is overwhelming to read (and, it was written while in Theresienstadt). While there for two years, he continued to write, which is, in itself, a testament to the endurance of the young teenager’s brilliance of mind, and of his almost innate and continuing need to put words to paper. How one so young could have written what he did under such duress is incomprehensible.
Petr Ginz’s diary will long be remembered by me, his words ever beautiful and filled with symbolic references have touched me extremely deeply. This is a must read for every age group.
June 11, 2020
The Diary of Petr Ginz 1941-42
A painter, a sketch artist, an amateur inventor, a teenager who raised funds for others, a young mind with infinite potential. That is what Petr Ginz was.
Published posthumously by his sister, this diary is a record of factual observations by Petr- the changes in Czechoslovakia as the Nazi regime spreads its wings over more and more European countries.
Mention of homework, going for a walk(in areas allowed to Jews) and about restrictions on Jews, soldiers spotted, families preparing for transport, uncles and neighbours asked to report for snow shoveling duty, Jews asked to give up their sweaters- they could all or some come under the same entry. There is no emotion, just observation.
What is evident is that the Jews were not aware of the fate they were heading to, not yet!
Petr Ginz was taken to the Theresienstadt concentration camp where he lived for 2 years, and he did meet his sister there later. His uncle was also there. He was later taken to Auschwitz to his death when just 16.
A painter, a sketch artist, an amateur inventor, a teenager who raised funds for others, a young mind with infinite potential. That is what Petr Ginz was.
Published posthumously by his sister, this diary is a record of factual observations by Petr- the changes in Czechoslovakia as the Nazi regime spreads its wings over more and more European countries.
Mention of homework, going for a walk(in areas allowed to Jews) and about restrictions on Jews, soldiers spotted, families preparing for transport, uncles and neighbours asked to report for snow shoveling duty, Jews asked to give up their sweaters- they could all or some come under the same entry. There is no emotion, just observation.
What is evident is that the Jews were not aware of the fate they were heading to, not yet!
Petr Ginz was taken to the Theresienstadt concentration camp where he lived for 2 years, and he did meet his sister there later. His uncle was also there. He was later taken to Auschwitz to his death when just 16.
Read
September 21, 2015I'm not rating this because I don't think it's right to put a rating on something a person never intended to publish, it's like putting a rating on someone's personal experience and I don't feel it's my place to do that, especially to someone that has endured the horrors that were the Holocaust.
When reading this, it is paramount to read between the lines. This account tells of the story of Petr Ginz, a 14 year old Jewish boy that died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
His diary entries are brief and tell very simply his day's events. You begin to see the decline in his community's morale with all of the departures, health issues and social restrictions they had to deal with.
It is very interesting to think that so many peoples diaries, especially children's, have been printed and can be read by anyone. I am planning pick up another one.
When reading this, it is paramount to read between the lines. This account tells of the story of Petr Ginz, a 14 year old Jewish boy that died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
His diary entries are brief and tell very simply his day's events. You begin to see the decline in his community's morale with all of the departures, health issues and social restrictions they had to deal with.
It is very interesting to think that so many peoples diaries, especially children's, have been printed and can be read by anyone. I am planning pick up another one.
September 9, 2017
I could not put this book down. Very important read for anyone interested in this subject or who have had a personal experience with it. So real and so innocently touching. I hold Petr in my heart.
June 9, 2024
In 2003, before setting out on the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle, Ilam Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut and a son of Auschwitz survivors, decided to bring something on his trip to commemorate the Holocaust. He took with him a small drawing titled “Moon Landscape” by a young Prague teenager named Petr Ginz who died in Auschwitz. The painting was done while Petr was in a concentration camp in Theresienstadt, found when the camp was liberated and placed in a Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. After the shuttle exploded on February 1, 2003 when it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, a man from Prague came forward with what he believed to be Petr’s diaries, which had been stored away for decades in the attic of a home he had bought many years before. The diaries ultimately made their way to Petra, Petr’s sister who was living in Israel. She edited the diary, had it published and made available throughout Europe and the English translation became available in 2007.
The diary is made up of two books Petr made by hand. They are a simple account of a teenager’s everyday life in Prague as the Nazis made life increasingly more difficult for the Jews. Although Petr’s father was Jewish and his mother was not, they still had to follow the same set of rules, with one exception. Boys were not transported out of the city to concentration camps until they were fourteen.
In these pages, Petr records what is happening all around him, the day-to-day disturbing news as relatives, teachers and friends are called to give up their possessions, pack a small bag and report for transport. Some simply disappear overnight. He describes the rules that increase every day, listing places Jews are forbidden to go, what they are no longer permitted to do and things they must give up. It is all simply put down with no sense of anger or emotion. Although he was an inquisitive and observant young man, much was happening at the time, but not all of it was visible, most of it went on secretly behind the scenes.
Petr was not allowed to attend school, but he read every book he could get his hands on, recording the various titles in the diary. He was serious about his education, determined to prepare himself for the day when this would all be over and he could continue his life, determined to plan for the future he was sure would eventually come.
It is obvious Petr never knew his journal would be read by others. He uses short simple sentences and a matter-of-fact style to record the weather, the mundane routines of daily life, the grades he receives and the pranks he and his friends pulled at school. Petr also enjoyed painting and some of his sketches are included in these pages.
The diary ends two months before Petr is transported to Theresienstadt, the camp where prisoners were held before being taken to Auschwitz; what happened nobody knew. In Theresienstadt, he continued to try to educate himself, helped create and edit as well as contributed to a secret newspaper. He also continued to draw and paint.
Two years later Petr died in the gas chambers at the age of sixteen.
Although this is a personal document, it is also an important historical one, which like Anne Frank’s diaries, helps us to know about that nightmarish time. It is what remains of the life of a talented young boy who sadly was never able to see the future he deserved.
The diary is made up of two books Petr made by hand. They are a simple account of a teenager’s everyday life in Prague as the Nazis made life increasingly more difficult for the Jews. Although Petr’s father was Jewish and his mother was not, they still had to follow the same set of rules, with one exception. Boys were not transported out of the city to concentration camps until they were fourteen.
In these pages, Petr records what is happening all around him, the day-to-day disturbing news as relatives, teachers and friends are called to give up their possessions, pack a small bag and report for transport. Some simply disappear overnight. He describes the rules that increase every day, listing places Jews are forbidden to go, what they are no longer permitted to do and things they must give up. It is all simply put down with no sense of anger or emotion. Although he was an inquisitive and observant young man, much was happening at the time, but not all of it was visible, most of it went on secretly behind the scenes.
Petr was not allowed to attend school, but he read every book he could get his hands on, recording the various titles in the diary. He was serious about his education, determined to prepare himself for the day when this would all be over and he could continue his life, determined to plan for the future he was sure would eventually come.
It is obvious Petr never knew his journal would be read by others. He uses short simple sentences and a matter-of-fact style to record the weather, the mundane routines of daily life, the grades he receives and the pranks he and his friends pulled at school. Petr also enjoyed painting and some of his sketches are included in these pages.
The diary ends two months before Petr is transported to Theresienstadt, the camp where prisoners were held before being taken to Auschwitz; what happened nobody knew. In Theresienstadt, he continued to try to educate himself, helped create and edit as well as contributed to a secret newspaper. He also continued to draw and paint.
Two years later Petr died in the gas chambers at the age of sixteen.
Although this is a personal document, it is also an important historical one, which like Anne Frank’s diaries, helps us to know about that nightmarish time. It is what remains of the life of a talented young boy who sadly was never able to see the future he deserved.
March 14, 2022
"Jueves, 1 de enero de 1942. (...) Por la mañana hice deberes. Por lo demás no pasa nada especial. En realidad pasan muchas cosas, pero no se notan. Lo que resulta ahora totalmente corriente, hubiera sido motivo de escándalo en una época normal."
Mi nueva obsesión: la II Guerra Mundial. Mientras prosigo con la lectura de "Vida y destino" de Vasili Grossman estos días he leído este breve Diario de Praga (1941-42) de Petr Ginz en mi biblioteca personal desde 2006, año de publicación por Acantilado y ahora descatalogado. Bien podrían plantearse reeditar este texto de importancia similar al diario de Anna Frank.
Los diarios de Petr Ginz vieron la luz en 2003 a raíz del accidente del transbordador espacial Columbia. Uno de los pasajeros que se desintegró en el espacio, el israelí Ilan Ramon llevó consigo un dibujo de Petr Ginz depositado en el museo del holocausto de Jerusalén. El nuevo propietario del edificio donde vivió el muchacho, que había conservado toda la documentación, escuchó la noticia, se puso en contacto con el museo y completó su colección.
Son anotaciones personales que reflejan el duro día a día de un adolescente en la Praga ocupada por los nazis, y eso que era un "privilegiado" que, en un principio, por pertenecer a una familia mixta podía vivir en su casa. Cuando después de anotar "Por la mañana en la escuela, por la tarde en casa de la abuela..." indica que la familia X sale en el transporte de mañana hacia Polonia, es inevitable sentir un escalofrío ahora que sabemos lo que eso significaba. El engaño por parte de los alemanes al que fue sometida la comunidad judía llevó a sus dirigentes a colaborar en su propio registro para realizar un traslado ordenado y menos doloroso, según nos relata la hermana, Eva Ginz en las notas reproducidas al final del libro. Los reunían en el Palacio de Exposiciones como paso previo al campo de concentración de Terezin a su vez antesala de la solución final en Auschwitz, camino que recorrió Petr Ginz.
Para no olvidar: un testimonio del fanatismo y la barbarie nazi.
Mi nueva obsesión: la II Guerra Mundial. Mientras prosigo con la lectura de "Vida y destino" de Vasili Grossman estos días he leído este breve Diario de Praga (1941-42) de Petr Ginz en mi biblioteca personal desde 2006, año de publicación por Acantilado y ahora descatalogado. Bien podrían plantearse reeditar este texto de importancia similar al diario de Anna Frank.
Los diarios de Petr Ginz vieron la luz en 2003 a raíz del accidente del transbordador espacial Columbia. Uno de los pasajeros que se desintegró en el espacio, el israelí Ilan Ramon llevó consigo un dibujo de Petr Ginz depositado en el museo del holocausto de Jerusalén. El nuevo propietario del edificio donde vivió el muchacho, que había conservado toda la documentación, escuchó la noticia, se puso en contacto con el museo y completó su colección.
Son anotaciones personales que reflejan el duro día a día de un adolescente en la Praga ocupada por los nazis, y eso que era un "privilegiado" que, en un principio, por pertenecer a una familia mixta podía vivir en su casa. Cuando después de anotar "Por la mañana en la escuela, por la tarde en casa de la abuela..." indica que la familia X sale en el transporte de mañana hacia Polonia, es inevitable sentir un escalofrío ahora que sabemos lo que eso significaba. El engaño por parte de los alemanes al que fue sometida la comunidad judía llevó a sus dirigentes a colaborar en su propio registro para realizar un traslado ordenado y menos doloroso, según nos relata la hermana, Eva Ginz en las notas reproducidas al final del libro. Los reunían en el Palacio de Exposiciones como paso previo al campo de concentración de Terezin a su vez antesala de la solución final en Auschwitz, camino que recorrió Petr Ginz.
Para no olvidar: un testimonio del fanatismo y la barbarie nazi.
January 27, 2024
Petr Ganz was a Jewish boy, a “mischling” who lived in Prague and was deported to Theresienstadt at the mandatory age of 14. In the year and a half leading up to his deportation he kept a diary of everyday facts, a record that came to light in 2003. In addition to a diarist Petr was an artist, a poet (a really good one), a scientist, an author and aspiring novelist and in Theresienstadt a journalist for the ghetto newspaper. All this he accomplished in the short 16 years of his life before he was transported to Auschwitz where his life ended.
Petr’s diary is but a portion of this book which contains a thought provoking introduction by American author Jonathan Safran Foer as well as one from Petr’s sister Eva/Chava without whose efforts these works would not be published and whose contributions add greatly to interpreting much of the content.
The diary itself is a dry, factual accounting of Petr’s everyday life broken down most days into morning and afternoon activities often mixing his own experiences, those of the Jews of Prague, and world events together with what at times is an almost clinical detachment.
Monday Dec 8, 1941: “I had gym. I was at home in the afternoon. Japan has officially declared war against the United States of North America.”
Friday March 20, 1942: “They arrested all the Americans who are Jews. In the morning at school, in the afternoon outside. As far as I know, there was loose ice floating on the river”
Friday March 27, 1942: “In the morning in school. In the afternoon outdoors. Auntie Nepomericka is going to Theresienstadt.”
Petr’s artwork family photos, footnotes, and statistical appendices round out the text of this book.
Imagine the extraordinary man Petr would have become had his life not been cruelly snuffed out at the age of 16.
Thanks to the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum Library for recommending this book.
Petr’s diary is but a portion of this book which contains a thought provoking introduction by American author Jonathan Safran Foer as well as one from Petr’s sister Eva/Chava without whose efforts these works would not be published and whose contributions add greatly to interpreting much of the content.
The diary itself is a dry, factual accounting of Petr’s everyday life broken down most days into morning and afternoon activities often mixing his own experiences, those of the Jews of Prague, and world events together with what at times is an almost clinical detachment.
Monday Dec 8, 1941: “I had gym. I was at home in the afternoon. Japan has officially declared war against the United States of North America.”
Friday March 20, 1942: “They arrested all the Americans who are Jews. In the morning at school, in the afternoon outside. As far as I know, there was loose ice floating on the river”
Friday March 27, 1942: “In the morning in school. In the afternoon outdoors. Auntie Nepomericka is going to Theresienstadt.”
Petr’s artwork family photos, footnotes, and statistical appendices round out the text of this book.
Imagine the extraordinary man Petr would have become had his life not been cruelly snuffed out at the age of 16.
Thanks to the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum Library for recommending this book.
April 9, 2022
Remarkable, authentic diary of Petr Ginz, a teenage victim of the Holocaust. But it would be a disservice to define young Petr in that light alone. A budding artist, writer, friend, and young man with an insatiable appetite for learning, also define him. At 14 years of age Petr was transported to a concentration camp called Theresienstadt, a “holding place” for two years until his final relocation to Auschwitz, where he was inevitably reunited with the majority of his family and friends in eternity. Petr’s little sister Eva (aka Chava) was one of a handful who survived, and has brought his handwritten impressions, artwork and inspirations to us by sharing her brother’s personal diary entries.
A truly touching ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Star read.
A truly touching ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Star read.
February 24, 2020
This journal was written by a child so my expectations were not very high. It’s repetitive but that’s because everyday life was repetitive during the war. There is an innocence about it. Petr records going to school and playing with friends. Intermingled with these recordings are mentions of the atrocities of war with a certain naïveté because he most likely did not fully grasp the implications of being sent to a camp by transport.
October 17, 2020
Seňores editores de Acantilado: REEDÍTENLO, cojones!! Que este libro es tan importante, mínimo, como el de Anna Frank. Que es historia que no se debe olvidar. Y es demasiado bonito dentro de su tremenedísimo drama como para obviarlo. La historia general no es nueva, desgraciadamente, pero sí difiere mucho en que es otra persona en otro país y en otras circunstancias (Checoslovaquia regalada a Hitler por parte de quienes se creyeron las falacias de este infrahumano para evitar la guerra).
December 7, 2020
Kleine Peter ging vaak ronddolen aan de oever van Donau, schreef scifi-verhalen, en speelde graag met bommetjes. Ik heb hem voor eeuwig in mijn hart gesloten! Zijn moed en dapperheid brandden een traan in mijn hart. Wie zich open stelt voor dit boekje stapt in een tijdmachine naar het Praag van 1941-42. Het dagboek zelf wordt wonderlijk voorzien van voor-en nawoorden die elk een extra dimensie geven aan de brontekst.
May 8, 2022
This is an amazing book. Amazing because it is the writings of a 14 year-old boy whose diary was found years after his execution. The writings are mostly factual, always centered on family. I was very impressed with his readings outside the classroom. Again there is that word Amazing. Unfortunately, his kind of quest for knowledge seems to be lost on our world today.But his art work is amazing. I cannot help but think of how he might have contributed to society had he lived.
February 29, 2020
“Enjoy” is not a word one uses with a Holocaust book, but I did appreciate reading from a perspective I hadn’t read about before. Petr is from Prague and due to his mixed parentage, wasn’t rounded up until until 14 years old, in 1942. His observations on each day are very matter of fact but convey a great deal of what was going on at the time in his brief entries.
Read
February 19, 2024El diari de Petr Ginz va ser trobat al 2003. El nen adolescent jueu apunta el dia a dia dels anys 1941 i 1942 a Praga. Quan el van deportar, es va inventar un alfabet per seguir escrivint contes, reflexions, converses amb altres presos. No havia llegit mai a ningú tan inquiet per aprendre i serè a la vegada davant de fets tan violents
November 3, 2022
Heartbreaking diary with related features of a young 14 year Czech half jewish boy as he watches his life change and the Jewsih community disappear around him. He never lost his search for education and knowledge during this period.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews