Wiesel, Wisenthal, Klardsfeld: The Holocaust Survivors

Yeatts, Tabatha. Wiesel, Wisenthal, Klardsfeld: The Holocaust Survivors. 2015. 96p. ISBN 978-0-7660-6202-3. Available at 940.53 YEA on the library shelves.

There are no words that can accurately describe the Holocaust, yet for thousands of European Jews who survived the Holocaust they had to explain to themselves and to others the horrors they had encountered during the Second World War.

This book describes the aftermath of the War, from the liberation of the concentration camps to the reactions of soldiers and survivors. Victory in Europe and the resettlement of concentration camp victims is presented, and the trials of major Nazi figures conducted by the International War Crimes Tribunal are explained.

Liberation brought along new pains and suffering. Many victims were not able to adapt and committed suicide. Others moved to Israel and to the United States. Some shared their stories, while others were unable to relive the horrors they had gone through. Some, like Wiesenthal, dedicated themselves to hunting Nazi war criminals, while others, like Wiesel, wrote their stories to try to convey their experience.

Throughout it all, though, there remains the central idea that this shall be no more. We remember the Holocaust so that it never happens again. Other books in the series include Schindler, Wallenberg, Miep Gies: The Holocaust Heroes, Anti-Semitism and the “Final Solution”: The Holocaust Overview, and Warsaw, Lodz, Vilna: The Holocaust Ghettos. You can also consult Elie Wiesel's story of survival in a Nazi concentration camp in Night.