A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy thomas buergenthal. A lucky child by thomas buergenthal hachette book group. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy thomas buergenthal, don hagen on. First published in germany in 2007, the book revisits buergenthals youth in the late 1930s when he and his parents were forced by the nazis to leave their home in lubochna, czechoslovakia, where they owned a hotel.
The book a lucky child is thomas buergenthals autobiography, which was published in 2007. The opening words, read by the author, are so ripe with the emotion of his experiences that the reader is immediately drawn into the memoir. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy, published by little, brown, and company. Separated first from his mother and then his father, buergenthal managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive on his. Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justice in the hague, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir a lucky. A holocaust girlhood remembered, the luck of the holocaust survivors does not diminish the dimension of the crime, and the survivors cannot be used as credits to be subtracted from the great debit.
Thomas buergenthal born 11 may 1934, in lubochna, czechoslovakia, today slovakia is a former judge of the international court of justice. A lucky child is a book that demands to be read by all. Jewish book council, founded in 1944, is the longestrunning organization devoted. In this gripping memoir, thomas buergenthal, now an international court judge at the hague, tells his moving story of survival as a child in the holocaust. I just finished reading a lucky child it was a phenomenal book. Iscriviti a prime ciao, accedi account e liste accedi account e liste ordini iscriviti a prime carrello. Almost sixty years later, thomas buergenthal finally tells his story of determination and survival in a lucky child. Human rights committee, interamerican court of human rights, and presidents commission on the holocaust. Buy a lucky child by thomas buergenthal from waterstones today. He arrived auschwitzat age 10 after surviving two ghettos and a labor camp. Liberated from the death camps of auschwitz at the age of eleven, in adulthood he became a judge at the international court in. How do you think the effort to achieve this perspective shaped the book. Thomas buergenthal was not quite six years old when he and his parents were forced into a jewish ghetto in poland.
Tutte le categorie vai ricerca bestseller idee regalo. Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justice in the hague, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir a lucky child. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy by thomas buergenthal. Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justice in the. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy, by thomas buergenthal this book is part of genre of literature that i must admit i am familiar with but seldom enjoy reading, and that is memoirs of the survival of the holocaust, of which we should not expect very many new ones given the length of time, except among manuscripts preserved in private and found by divine providence 1. What effect might writing a lucky child through the eyes of an adult have had on the narrative. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy main by thomas buergenthal isbn.
He arrived at auschwitz at age 10 after surviving two ghettos and a labor camp. The autobiography of a child, surviving the holocaust, bears an irreplaceable piece in the mosaic of testimonies of countless innocent victims. What makes this memoir so rewarding is, in the darkness, the indomitable spirit of the child genevieve fox, telegraph. He takes us on his journey from the kielce ghetto to the auschwitz concentration camp, through the subsequent death march that led him to sachsenhausen, and then on to his liberation by the soviets. History bookshelf thomas buergenthal, a lucky child. With a new afterword by the author sharing these revelations, a lucky child is a classic that demands to be read by all. Buergenthal was 6 years old when forced to abandon his home and spend the rest of his childhood running from nazis and struggling to survive the holocaust. Because this lucky child lived on, eventually working to alleviate human suffering as an important. A lucky child is not one to miss libby purves, radio 4 midweek. Buergenthal was born in czechoslovakia on may 11, 1934, and he and his parents were on the running, fleeing nazis, from the time buergenthal was only 6 years old. Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justic. A lucky child audiobook, a memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy, by thomas buergenthal. A lucky child is an audiobook that demands to be heard by all. Thomas buergenthal was blessed to be born to attentive, educated, insightful parents who fled germany in the 1930s before hitler came to power.
Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justice in, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir a lucky child. Booklist a lucky child does not wallow in the horrors nor does it shirk the darkest events. A lucky child tells the story of thomas buergenthal, born to a germanjewish mother and a polishjewish father in 1933 and from the age of 6 years, grew up in the jewish ghetto of kielce poland and later in the concentration camps at auschwitz and sachsenhausen. A lucky child 2007 is a memoir written by thomas buergenthal, in the vein of night by elie wiesel or my brothers voice 2003 by stephen nasser, in which he recounts the astounding story of his surviving the holocaust as a tenyearold child owing to his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck. And the world can be thankful that it was preserved to become an adult life of real significance and positive contribution to the human condition, on a global level. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy unknown by buergenthal, thomas isbn. A powerful holocaust memoir from an international court judge in the hague. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy, first published in germany 2007, is author thomas buergenthals account of his childhood during the nazi occupation. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy ebook. Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justice in the hague, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his. I wanted to keep reading and not put the book down in order to find out what would. Judge thomas buergenthal has recently published a memoir of his life as a child surviving auschwitz. As one of the few children to survive the horrors of the nazi concentration camps, his unique perspective makes for a remarkable and riveting chronicle. This book should probably have been written many years ago, when the events i describe were still fresh in my mind.
His book is both a special historical document and a great literary achievement, comparable only to primo levis masterpieces. Thomas buergenthals poignant memoir of survival allows us to understand the holocaust as he experienced itfrom a childs point of view. Separated first from his mother and then his father, buergenthal managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive on his own. Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justice in the hague. A memoir of surviving auschwitz as a young boy paperback september 16, 2010 by thomas buergenthal author. Thomas buergenthal, now a judge in the international court of justice in the hague, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir a. A lucky child and millions of other books are available for instant access. The clear, nonhectoring prose makes buergenthals personal storyand the enduring ethical questions it promptsthe stuff of a fast, gripping read.
A lucky child 2007 is a memoir written by thomas buergenthal, in the vein of night by elie. Separated first from his mother and then his father. My thanks to thomas buergenthal for his inspiration, stamina and compassion in writing this book. Read by thomas buergenthal and don hagen by thewanderingjew see profile 1212. Since the initial publication of this book, new documents have been made available, allowing buergenthal to finally learn the details of his mothers search for him and the truth about his father. Thomas buergenthal says that he tried to write his story as i remember living it as the child i was, not as an old man refl ecting on that life page xvii. Thomas buergenthal, the american judge on the international court of justice at the hague, is a scholar in the postholocaust field of international law and.
Ellen keohane reported that when thomas buergenthal first sought an englishlanguage publisher for this book, he was told, holocaust books. Thomass stories from the days following liberation resemble earlier accounts in their thirst to understand what man, pushed to the very limits, is capable of. But as ruth klueger points out in her philosophical holocaust memoir still alive. A great book and one that should be in every school and compulsory reading for every child.
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