On April 15, 1945, British doctor, Brigadier H. L. Glyn Hughes arrived at Bergen-Belsen. While familiar with the horrors of war, nothing could prepare Brigadier Hughes for what he would see there. Among the sixty thousand living inmates, in the camp, was Rachel Genuth, a fifteen-year-old Jewess who arrived at the camp, with her family just a month prior, after already spending time at Auschwitz, the Christianstadt labor camp, and having marched through the Sudetenland. The story opens with Brigadier Hughes’ testimony at the trial of the camp’s commendant, Josef Kramer before following Brigadier Hughes and Rachel’s journeys to through Europe.
Lerner crafts an engrossing read through the interweaving of two very different perspectives on the atrocities of the Holocaust: one of a liberator and the other of her young mother whose childhood was stolen away. While the two never directly meet, as is mentioned, Rachel, her sister, and thousands more, were saved by the actions of Hughes and his medical team. The careful attention to factual detail is evident in the writing and lends context to the narratives of the two subjects within the book. Lerner paints a very clear picture of the gruesome crimes committed and the horrific conditions within the camp.
Lerner’s work preserves two important individual histories. I would like to thank the author for a review copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Bernice Lerner, Ed.D., is the author of “To Meet in Hell: Bergen-Belsen, the British Officer who Liberated it, and the Jewish Girl He Saved,” and other works on the Holocaust and virtue ethics. She is a senior scholar at Boston University’s Center for Character and Social Responsibility, and former dean of adult learning at Hebrew College. Please visit www.bernicelerner.com for links to her articles, interviews, webinars, and information about her book’s protagonists. And, to contact Bernice.
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So many books, so little time! I am an avid reader and love to share recommendations with fellow readers. My choice in books tend to vary by my mood but some of my favorites are mystery, suspense, thriller, and humor. Get my reviews direct to your inbox every Wednesday and check back here for monthly…
So many books, so little time! I am an avid reader and love to share recommendations with fellow readers. My choice in books tend to vary by my mood but some of my favorites are mystery, suspense, thriller, and humor. Get my reviews direct to your inbox every Wednesday and check back here for monthly…
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