Cover Image: Bread or Death

Bread or Death

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I am a Holocaust/WWII junkie, in that I love to read about the candle in the darkness, the light that doesn't go out. I love to read about humans helping one another, about the good that we can, and should, do.

While I have read many books from the POV of survivors of death camps, this is the first one I read from the POV of a Polish Jew whose family fled to Russia and survived there during WWII. Despite all of the WWII books I have read, I wasn't aware that some Polish people fled/were taken to Russia as workers, so I learned quite a lot from this book.

Now, even though this man wasn't in a concentration camp, he and his family still had it incredibly tough. Food, warm clothing, all the necessities of life were in short supply, and by the time the war was over, he had lost two siblings. He had nearly died a few times himself. It was difficult and brutal, but he survived with his mother and this is his story.

These stories NEED to be told AND listened to. That this happened at all is a sin. For this sort of thing to happen again, to even only one other person, when we have history to warn us, is a crime against humanity.

This book also goes into the author's life when he and his family came to America and his adult life as well. Which is important, because he experienced a Neo-Nazi movement and with other Jews in his neighborhood, fought it. Not with violence, but by shining light on the hatred and not letting it hide or get away with anything. He had learned the hard way the effect of good people staying quiet and doing nothing. He wasn't going to let it happen in his new home on his watch.

Also, you will need tissues when he describes seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time. So touching. We need to not lose sight of what she represents to those who have no hope.

I highly recommend this book, for all to read. Maybe middle reader on up. There is violence and death, but it isn't overly gruesome. This book, and others like it, need to be required reading for all human beings. I can't recommend this book enough. 5, if only humanity can learn from this book, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Concierge Marketing Inc.-Fifth Generation Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

Was this review helpful?