The Thief of Auschwitz
Review by Nancy
A family of four, Jacob, the father a barber; Eidel, the mother a very talented artist; Max, the 14-yr old son, big for his age and Lydia, a little slower and asthmatic but a beautiful child. They are taking a train ride like no other – to Auschwitz. Yes, they are Jews. Their trials, brief moment of happiness bring together an epic tale of love and sacrifice. Bittersweet reunions of a sort and the ultimate escape by one of them.
This story was so moving to me that I actually cried through quite a bit of (hindsight, you know). Jacob and Eidel’s strength doing what they must in order to keep hopes alive in all of the ones who are left.
The research that went into this was amazing and it was so well written that I could smell the ovens and even feel the chill of the hurt prisoners who went to hospital which had no heat, no good water and no hope of coming out any better than you went in unless. Unless you had an “in” with someone. Jacob did, in fact as one of the camp lieutenant’s wanted a family painting done and he knew of just the person thereby gaining favor with the officer, heat and extra bits of food for Eidel and recuperative time for Max who “somehow” had broken a leg.
This is book is a must-read for anyone interested in WWII, concentration camps or just a wonderfully sad tale of the truth.
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