A brilliant story of hope in the midst of atrocity
This book tells the story of Lale and Gita, two Slovakians who during World War II were deported to Auschwitz, where against all odds fell in love and survived.
To be honest, when I was recommended this book, frankly I thought it would be one more of the endless holocaust stories, which don´t get me wrong tend to be emotionally challenging while at the same time seeming in some cases( when they are pure fiction) a tiny bit irrealistic. With that said, the most powerful aspect of the book is the true story, which the author described. A story of two people, who in the cruellest and hopeless situation the Holocaust was, find each other and find in each other the strength to keep fighting day by day their minds and bodies needs.
As I was reading the book, I quickly realised that the choice of simple prose gave the protagonism to what needed it, the beautiful story of hope in the midst of horror. What really surprised me is the way you could see the influence of a female writer in the thoughts of the main character, which at first seemed strange, due to the fact that we are not used to reading women takes on male characters´ thoughts, fears and perspectives of relationships as we are of male takes of female characters.
I particularly enjoyed the conversations about faith the main characters had and the personal relationships they had with gipsies and SS. The way of writing also made me feel a splash the pain the main character had to feel ( even though it is still unimaginable to someone who fortunately didn´t endure this episode) of knowing what was going on and not being able to share it to keep the morale of the rest.
Above all, I think the purpose of this survivor was achieved due to the fact that reading this book, the story through the eyes of a victim of a genocide, despite having heard about it and probably having studied it, definitely makes the reader just completely astonished to see the extent of hate and the effects in society. Holocaust stories should never stop being told because they add the face the name and the story to one atrocity in history which otherwise surprises and horrifies you but it just doesn´t leave such a powerful mark as when you are introduced to the real people, who had families and dreams, the same as all of us but were forced to part ways with them because of a part of their identity, which suddenly made them to the eyes of some, worthy of such a dehumanisation.
To be honest, when I was recommended this book, frankly I thought it would be one more of the endless holocaust stories, which don´t get me wrong tend to be emotionally challenging while at the same time seeming in some cases( when they are pure fiction) a tiny bit irrealistic. With that said, the most powerful aspect of the book is the true story, which the author described. A story of two people, who in the cruellest and hopeless situation the Holocaust was, find each other and find in each other the strength to keep fighting day by day their minds and bodies needs.
As I was reading the book, I quickly realised that the choice of simple prose gave the protagonism to what needed it, the beautiful story of hope in the midst of horror. What really surprised me is the way you could see the influence of a female writer in the thoughts of the main character, which at first seemed strange, due to the fact that we are not used to reading women takes on male characters´ thoughts, fears and perspectives of relationships as we are of male takes of female characters.
I particularly enjoyed the conversations about faith the main characters had and the personal relationships they had with gipsies and SS. The way of writing also made me feel a splash the pain the main character had to feel ( even though it is still unimaginable to someone who fortunately didn´t endure this episode) of knowing what was going on and not being able to share it to keep the morale of the rest.
Above all, I think the purpose of this survivor was achieved due to the fact that reading this book, the story through the eyes of a victim of a genocide, despite having heard about it and probably having studied it, definitely makes the reader just completely astonished to see the extent of hate and the effects in society. Holocaust stories should never stop being told because they add the face the name and the story to one atrocity in history which otherwise surprises and horrifies you but it just doesn´t leave such a powerful mark as when you are introduced to the real people, who had families and dreams, the same as all of us but were forced to part ways with them because of a part of their identity, which suddenly made them to the eyes of some, worthy of such a dehumanisation.