The Boy From Block 66: A WW2 Jewish Holocaust Survival True Story (Heroic Children of World War II)

This is a beautiful and tragic story of one family and the horror of the HolocaustMy father was in World War II and was there at the liberation of Buchenwald. He brought back some pictures that were kept in our family cedar chest and I didn't get to see until after his death. After reading this, I understand so much more. It should be ready by all people. Especially those in America that are somehow 'on the fence' about our Jewish brothers and sisters. I cried through the entire last third of the book. And I will always keep the family and generations that managed to come out of this horror in my prayers.

Love this writer, will be reading more later.

According to the author this book wasn’t written for me - it’s “primarily for today’s young people.” That’s not me.And like other readers I struggled to keep reading in the beginning of the book. The writing is tedious and often very repetitive (which will turn off young readers). Listing the names of family members - why? Serves no purpose except maybe for Mr Kessler’s family members.At first the story isn’t compelling but for some reason I continued reading thinking “it’s going to get better.”It does! The writing still needs help but the story is compelling. Imagine you’re 13 and you purposely, on the advice of a stranger, separate yourself from your mother and younger brother while at least sensing you’ll likely never see them again. And so the horror begins. For more than a year this child is tortured but survives. The writing doesn’t help but still the reader senses the child’s agony. The pain is unimaginable. But the hope kept me reading. Knowing that the child survives kept me from giving up on reading.

A wonderful book although so incredibly sad and in parts so difficult to read. Everyone should read it and understand the horrors that were the Jews lives and what they lived through and survived it’s so difficult to understand how and why this happend and should never be forgotten. Excellent read

I’ve read many WW2 books and this one explained the politics and circumstances in a way that I could easily understand. Another incredible survival story amidst just tremendous evil and violence. I was struck with how in the world could anyone do backbreaking work day after day 12 hours with no food or break and then walk back to stand for hours. The strength to survive during and after the war will always sadden but encourage me. Thank you for sharing your story in such a way we can understand better what you experienced so that no one will ever forget!

Okay, call me morbid, but I love reading about the Holocaust and all the different perspectives. This was a page turner from the start until the very end!

Enjoyed this book!

This is a story worth telling. This is a story worth reading about. This is a story worth writing about. I appreciate the author including photos. However, I am taking two stars because the writing style wasn't for me. There is a lot of repetition (like another reviewer pointed out) and a lot of information that I felt wasn’t either that important to the story or interesting (someone mentioned long list of family names. Like when you’re reading the first books of the Bible and they give you a list of names you don’t care about and just want to skip that section all together). I reserve 4 and 5 stars for books I truly love, and even tho I love this story, I don’t love this book.This is just based on my personal preference as far as writing styles. I enjoy reading thrillers. If you’re into more “history textbook” type writing, this book may be great for you. I don’t mean disrespect to the author, who truly put a lot of love and care telling this story.