NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: Survivors, by Aliza Auerbach

Survivors, by Aliza Auerbach, is more than just a Holocaust book. Holocaust books generally relate the stories of the past, the horrors, the tribulations, how some survived and some didn't.

Survivors is not a book about the past. Survivors is not a book about horror and tragedy.

Survivors is a beautiful book about the present and about the future.

Survivors speaks to a variety of Holocaust survivors, from various countries, from various backgrounds, and tells their stories, though not the type of Holocaust stories we are used to. Instead of focusing on the past, it focuses on the present and future. Each survivor gives an outline of how he or she survived the holocaust, and also talks about what they've done with the rest of their lives, the families they've raised, the education, the businesses, the involvement in community.

Each survivor includes some pictures of their memories of the Holocaust that they have held on to, such as a dried out lemon, a swatch of cloth, a camp uniform, etc. but also includes a picture of the survivors entire family, so you can see what they have made for themselves. how they survived after the Holocaust.

It is especially interesting to see how some have had financial success, while others less so. Some have a family picture with just a couple kids and a few grandchildren, while others have families so large that they could barely fit into the shot. Some are religious, while others are not.

Especially intriguing to me was that the variety of survivors includes survivors from various countries in Europe, but also some in North Africa. As the author writes, while the Jews in some countries did not suffer the same way, many were expelled from their countries or had to put their lives on hold - they too are survivors, albeit with different experiences.

This was not a typical Holocaust book, where the reader tries to understand the past, or even live the past in some way vicariously. Survivors is a book that looks past the past and into the present, into the future. How they got past the horrors and built lives. How they survived.

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NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.