Rating: 
Summary: Nesarim : Child Survivor of Terezin
Review:
Many people approach the reading of Holocaust books with a sense of foreboding because they know that the descriptions of Nazi inhumanity are going to disturb them.
Somehow Nasarim is different and I finished this very readable book feeling a warm glow inside.
For once the good guys won and triumphed over adversity. It is amazing how well the child survivors of nasarim have done in their chosen careers but this success underscores the tremendous wastage of human talent resulting from the attempted extermination of a particularly gifted race.
I was fortunate to be a classmate of Misa at Yale University in 1957 and 1958. Although we were vaguely aware that this brilliant hard working student was a concentration camp survivor he never spoke about his experiences.
Misa is Thelma Gruenbaum's husband and her book is truly a labour of love. At the same time Thelma has quite unintentionally given the world an illustration of what makes America great.
Rating:
Summary: Many Holocaust Stories Rolled into One
Review: Growing up in the `60s, I occasionally heard stories of a horrible past incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps. Generally, these were shorter tales, told by my friends' parents with heavy accents. Hearing these stories made me glad the good guys won the war. I moved on.
More recently, the survivors of this Holocaust have begun allowing their stories to be written down. I've begun paying more attention. The stark reality of the life of Jews in this no-longer-so-distant past has begun to sink in. But there are still too many stories to hear and read them all and to TRULY comprehend.
Thelma Gruenbaum's compilation of stories takes many of the kinds of stories I heard growing up and puts them in one tome. She encouraged her husband and his former concentration camp roommates to tell their tales. Some are still hesitant. Some have few memories, their minds scarred by the events. Yet, in this book, a vivid picture of life before, during, and after the Holocaust takes shape. The amazing story of these boys is different from other Holocaust stories, in that these boys have stuck together over the years, corresponding from distant parts of the globe, participating in each others' lives.
Gruenbaum has filled in the holes in this story by describing the history of Czech Jews in the first days of Nazi occupation. She starts the ball rolling, but leaves the majority of the words to the survivors' writings and interviews. It works. This is not a romanticized story written by a ghost-writer. Rather, it tells the tale of harsh life under the Nazis as seen through different eyes, hearts, and minds. If you are looking for a book that summarizes most of the Holocaust survivor stories, I don't believe you will find one. This one, however, comes close.
Rating:
Summary: Necessary History
Review: 'Nesarim: Child Survivors of Terezin' is not only a profound voyage into the human soul and the depths of camaraderie, but also an academic treasure. Gruenbaum's hard work and dedication have allowed the world access to the life experiences of the men who make up the Nesarim (at its conception a group of boys and their young teacher who were all prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin, in the Czech Republic), as well as those of some of their spouses. Viewed through an historian's eyes, this book is an essential and priceless compellation of rich primary sources. These firsthand accounts are unique in that they encompass the whole of the interviewees' lives. The book covers the Nesarims' experiences during the Holocaust but also portrays the often turbulent journeys each of them undertook after the war, thereby providing a most complete understanding of the on-going effects and lessons of the Holocaust, which has informed the Nesarims' perceptions of themselves and their surrounding world. This work is a vital piece of knowledge and history and a telling pilgrimage into the possible.
Rating:
Summary: Necessary History
Review: 'Nesarim: Child Survivors of Terezin' is not only a profound voyage into the human soul and the depths of camaraderie, but also an academic treasure. Gruenbaum's hard work and dedication have allowed the world access to the life experiences of the men who make up the Nesarim (at its conception a group of boys and their young teacher who were all prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin, in the Czech Republic), as well as those of some of their spouses. Viewed through an historian's eyes, this book is an essential and priceless compellation of rich primary sources. These firsthand accounts are unique in that they encompass the whole of the interviewees' lives. The book covers the Nesarims' experiences during the Holocaust but also portrays the often turbulent journeys each of them undertook after the war, thereby providing a most complete understanding of the on-going effects and lessons of the Holocaust, which has informed the Nesarims' perceptions of themselves and their surrounding world. This work is a vital piece of knowledge and history and a telling pilgrimage into the possible.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and Hopeful Stories of Survival
Review: A few days ago I finished reading "Nesarim." It is a very meaningful memoir as well as an inspiring story of what human beings can aspire to and achieve despite the horrors they and their loved ones have suffered. I thank the author Thelma Gruenbaum and her husband Michael (one of the Nesarim) for their persistence in getting these stories told, recorded, and published, and for the introductions to each individual that provide additional perspectives on these very human, compassionate, and high-achieving individuals.
Rating:
Summary: A sensitive and true depiction of child survivors
Review: At a time of life when ordinary youths' minds and bodies are spurting along in growth with accompanying wild swings of judgment and behavior, these boys were confined in Terezin. Separated from their families and familiars, thrown together in deprived and frightening circumstances, they survived. As Thelma Gruenbaum recounts their stories, this book is touching, exciting, and illuminating. With great sensitivity and delicacy, she brings out the very personal accounts of ten who experienced Terezin, then lived beyond it to persevere, find success in life, and finally even joy in each other. This work provides a lesson in the possible. Not only is any feeling reader interested but surivvors in all walks of life would find sustenance here.
Rating:
Summary: A sensitive and true depiction of child survivors
Review: At a time of life when ordinary youths' minds and bodies are spurting along in growth with accompanying wild swings of judgment and behavior, these boys were confined in Terezin. Separated from their families and familiars, thrown together in deprived and frightening circumstances, they survived. As Thelma Gruenbaum recounts their stories, this book is touching, exciting, and illuminating. With great sensitivity and delicacy, she brings out the very personal accounts of ten who experienced Terezin, then lived beyond it to persevere, find success in life, and finally even joy in each other. This work provides a lesson in the possible. Not only is any feeling reader interested but surivvors in all walks of life would find sustenance here.
Rating:
Summary: Courage and Fortitude
Review: I have found Nesarim:Child Survivors of Terezin both fascinating and uplifting. The courage and fortitude of the young men that lived thru this frightening experience at a young age, exemplified the best in human beings, especially when faced with the worst. Although currently living all over the world, they remain bonded and in contact to this day. An inspiring book.
Rating:
Summary: Real History
Review: I was Born in Prague 1933. My family knew the Gruenbaum family well. I was fortunate to leave the country in 1941. After reading NESARIM I now know exactly and vividly what my fate might have been; would have been!
The book is well written and the descriptions of people places and events come to life along with their innermost feelings.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful statement
Review: This book is an incredible account of perseverance and hope in the face of tragedy and suffering.
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