Book Review: The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman and Malcolm Brabant
Book Review: The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman and Malcolm Brabant
15 November 2022
Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman tells her harrowing story in the biography The Daughter of Auschwitz.
The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman is a difficult read. The stories that Tova relates of her childhood experiences during World War Two in Nazi death camps are shocking to the core. It simply defies belief that she, as a small child aged only six, survived the horrors of the holocaust.
The murder. The torture. The starvation. Her story is a small taste of one of the worst acts of genocide committed in history, yet, her simple, direct style of relating her journey to and from Auschwitz packs a mighty punch.
The confusion and terror she experienced in the Tomaszów Mazowiecki Ghetto, the Nazi Labour camp, and finally at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and miraculously surviving ‘selektion’ numerous times is palpable. Death waited at every turn, with her life and others constantly hanging in the balance, and their survival or extermination – often determined by the whim of sadistic Nazi guards. Somehow, she evades it, either through sheer luck, her gut instinct or the bravery and sacrifice of her mother and father.
One aspect I found particularly heartbreaking was the Jewish programs that occurred after the war had ended. I had never known that the killings, beatings and hatred continued so blatantly in Europe when Jewish survivors returned to their homes.
Indeed, Tova’s story is very confronting because of the sheer brutality she, her family and the Jewish people endured. But her message is too important for us to look away from: Do not forget, do not let this happen again.
For that reason, this book is a must-read.
The Daughter of Auschwitz is available at major bookstores.
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