The Brothers of Auschwitz

A story based on family and reality.

Raw. Harrowing. Breathtaking. Detailed…End of story.

The Brothers of Auschwitz is a moving and powerful story based on the lives of two Jewish brothers, Dov and Yitzhak, and their lives during WWII and the holocaust, post-war reconstruction and finally their lives in Israel.

The story begins as both brothers, along with their family, were taken from their home in 1944 Czechoslovakia and deported to Auschwitz. From here, the reader will follow each brother through alternating chapters. This way of telling the story brought so much fullness to the plot and storyline along with perspective.

I still find myself recovering from reading this book. The power and gift that Adler has for descriptive writing is like nothing I have ever read before. It was as if I was embodying the characters. The smell of the camp, the feel of the air on my skin, the terror leaching in through my pores, the pure and raw emotions…I still cannot get over it or really even put it into powerful enough words. As I read, there were times I just had to set this book down and let myself process what I had read. Please note that this is a good thing in my book. I love and appreciate when a story makes me realize and feel the truth without any sugar coating.

I’m really thankful to Adler for taking this story past WWII and the camps. So many people have no clue what happed to the survivors or the emotional and physical turmoil they continued to endure. She even dove into the PTSD that many survivors battled in private. It is very important to remember that the horrors did not end the day the camps were liberated.

Malka Adler not only dedicated herself to massive research , she used the accounts from her own father and his experiences in Treblinka’s concentration camp. Just knowing that this book was based off a true story with firsthand accounts had me respecting and honoring her writing.

If you pick up this book…which you should…be ready for a story that doesn’t hold anything back.

On a side note (what I found myself coming back to while reading)…I think that we as a world in general seem to forget the past, and we therefore repeat it. As a Jew, I feel that in today’s society this period of time is beginning to become trivialized, and that is a very dangerous thing.

I would like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.