Book Review : I Shall Live - Surviving The Holocaust Against All Odds

Title : I Shall Live - Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds
Author : Henry Orenstein
Publisher : Beaufort Books
ISBN : 979-0-8253-0597-9


'I Shall Live' is a first hand account of a Holocaust survivor, Henry Orenstein, who had been through the times before, during and after World War II and what all these dreadful years brought for a Jew. Through this book, the author narrates the chronological happenings of the events - the rise of seemingly mighty Third Reich, its march ahead as if it was indomitable, the intoxicating peak for the Nazis when maximum amount of meanest atrocities were meted out to Jews and the inevitable downfall of this large empire. While reading this book, I could not help wondering how a single fanatic person could instigate so many others to let their inner animal come out and how abysmally can a human fall, even animal world looks less cruel and more compassionate compared to what happened during that time.

The author, Henry first introduces us to the life of a regular Jew in Poland - less avenues for education, target of ridicule at almost all places and being denied the basic rights of a citizen of a country. Jews were leading their lives in this hateful environment inspired by anti-Semitic feeling among fellow countrymen. The situation was getting worse with each passing year and the educated Jews were aware of the deteriorating situation of their community in Poland. As Henry mentions in the book, 'Almost every Jew was living life with a dream - 'Next year in Jerusalem', but it was more of a greeting for the older generation who had their roots in Poland and could not think of settling in any other place than their own home - Poland.

But the dreadful period began when in 1939, German army attacked Poland. Sensing more danger for male Jews, Henry accompanied by his father and two brothers - Felek and Sam fled their hometown -Hrubieszow, Poland, leaving his mother and sister Hanka behind. But soon all places became equally insecure and they returned back, spent some months in hiding, soon to be captured by the Nazis in 1942.

Then began the savagery and the brutality of the concentration camps of Budzyn, Majdanek, Plaszow, Ravensbruck, Sachsenhausen and finally the death march which became the march to their
freedom. But they lost their parents very early on and got the news of the barbaric way they were killed and thousands and thousands of other Jews in mass killings. Orenstein questioned himself many times 'what was the use of fighting, of struggling so hard against all odds to survive? And if by some miracle we succeeded, was it worth it, to go on living in such an evil world? ' What made him continue to hold on was the undying urge to live and to see the destruction of Hitler. He mentions that he was aware that he was being a witness to a unique event in the history. 'Here we were in the twentieth century, and a supposedly civilized nation was doing this.' Surviving on minimal nutrition, witnessing beatings, death and disease everywhere, constantly fearing whether they would be able to see the next morning while all this time waiting for some miracle to happen - had become constants in their lives in the camps.

In a strange turn of events, special groups of scientists, mathematicians and chemists were formed in the concentration camps and the objective of these groups was to use the intelligence of Jews in inventing a unique gas for the Germans which could help them in the war. Henry and his brothers falsely joined these groups and were spared of the extreme treatment for some time, being part of these special groups.

Orenstein does mention about some God sent people like Mrs. Lipinska who displayed immense courage and went out of their way to save them. Such people justify being human and become a source of inspiration for many. 'She was truly sent by Him to inspire courage in us, to counterbalance the evil that seemed universal'.

Overall, 'I Shall Live - Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds' is a brilliant journal of events describing the harsh realities of Holocaust and the events leading to it, which would remain as a black mark on the forehead of humanity for all times to come. A must read for those who want to know more about history, World War II and Holocaust.

Book Review : Days With Thathu

Title : Days with Thathu
Author : Geeta Dharmarajan
Artist : Nancy Raj
Publisher : Katha

Age : 2-4 years
ISBN : 978-81-89934-48-4


There is a unique flavor to the relationship that children share with their grandparents and a very special one in its own sense, nothing compared to any other thing in the world.

Through 'Days with Thathu' , a little girl brings to us a glimpse of her beautiful small world which she shares with her grandfather and all the ordinary things that they do extra-ordinarily, in fact, the ordinary things become extra-ordinary when they both do it together. She enjoys being with her Thatha, who is lovingly called Thathu sometimes. They go to watch cinema, go in the open sea playing with the fish, Thathu walks and she skips holding hands, they enjoy grey clouds and the playing in the rain, they run together, they somersault together and play pretend games while she sits on the lap of her dear Thathu.

She enjoys all the activities that she gets to do with her Thathu during the day and then a peaceful rest on his lap.

A sweet little book conveying the true feelings of a little heart and the same are beautifully projected by the art work of Nancy Raj. She has brilliantly captured the togetherness and loving bond between a grandfather and a granddaughter through sketches, using very little colors which works marvelously to bring out the simplicity and the clarity.

Book Review : Number the Stars

Title : Number the Stars
Author : Lois Lowry

An amazing, sensitive and emotional story about two very dear friends - Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen set against the backdrop of World War II in Denmark. The two girls love to be together but at this time saving life is of prime importance, for which even separation is acceptable. Ellen belonged to the Jewish community and for Jews - Denmark, their own country, their own home for ages was not safe anymore. Nazi soldiers were all over the place and some strict irrational rules were being imposed on the people living in the city - not to use the electricity, no proper availability of food items, just to name a few. In spite of all these, people were continuing with their lives as normally as they possibly could, but one day, the Jewish families were informed that Germans had prepared a list of all Jewish families in the neighborhood and plan to "relocate" them. By now, people were aware of what Germans meant with the word 'relocate'.

Johansen family became instrumental in doing their bit to protect the Rosen's family and ensure that they exit Denmark before Germans reach them so they hide Ellen in their home as their eldest daughter, who had died in a mysterious accident. And they made arrangements to send the Rosen's family to Sweden with the help of Annemarie's uncle Henrik who was a fisherman. In this pursuit, Annemarie found herself in a very crucial situation where she had to use her presence of mind and her inner confidence to make this mission a success.

As the events of the story unfold, we observe Annemarie getting mature, not by years but by the experience. I liked the way author pointed this out so subtly - 'They (Annemarie and her mother) looked at each other for a long time and said nothing. In that moment, with that look, they became equals'. Sometimes adversity manages to bridge all gaps between individuals and that is what gets conveyed through this book.
While witnessing the situations and the sudden changes in her and her dear ones' lives, Annemarie's mind struggles to find answers to many of her doubts and questions, but she understands and later comes to realize the importance of her uncle's simple wisdom - 'It is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything. We know only what we need to know.'

The story very cautiously reveals the fears, apprehensions and uncertainty that were in the minds of each family and more so in the Jew families, without going into the gory details of holocaust and concentration camps. 'Number the Stars' manages to strike the right balance between just appropriate amount of information for the young readers while focusing more on the friendship which cuts across castes, creeds, religions and communities. The beautiful handling of the subject makes it a highly recommended book for 9+ yrs.

Book Review : Secrets of Happy Couples

Title : Secrets of Happy Couples - Loving Yourself, Your Partner, And Your Life
Author : Kim Olver
Publisher : InsideOutPress
ISBN : 978-0--9827549-0-0

This book deals with that one relationship which has intrigued every individual at some point of time, either before entering into it or after. As the author Kim Olver says - 'creating successful relationships with our significant others and parenting children are two of the most difficult jobs we will ever face and yet, we receive no formal training for either'. I want to extend it a little further - these are the two relationships which are fun and challenging at the same time and the only way we can transform this challenge into fun is by appreciating the uniqueness in each individual, respecting people as they are and not trying to make them a clone of ourselves. She very rightly points out that the only person's behavior that you can control is yours. It is of paramount importance to keep reminding oneself that the partner is not yours. The tighter you hold onto someone or try to control their behavior, the greater is the likelihood that he or she will leave or feel suffocated, which can definitely not be the right ingredient for building a healthy and happy relationship.

We all grow up learning passively while watching our parents as a couple but the issues, challenges, preferences, idiosyncrasies, almost everything changes with every couple. So extrapolating the conclusions derived in one to another is not a good idea and not fair too. Moreover, fairy tales and TV shows do great amount of damage by creating a make believe world in the young minds and when the actual reality deviates from the fairy land, which in all probabilities happens eventually, sometimes it gets very hard to accept the reality because unfortunately most of these stories end at the point when actually the life begins.

Kim elaborates upon some areas and some issues which are sensitive and how to stay clear or work around these specific areas to make the relationship enjoyable for both individuals. Usually most couples get along well when times are good. But when times are rough which are the testing times for the relationship, they fight with each other, ignore each other or leave the relationship. One option is to seek help in mending the relationship and if they both agree that some external agent would be able to bring sanity in their thinking, there is no harm in trying that option and should not be considered as a defeat of the relationship.

Kim implores the readers to make use of the Platinum rule - 'Do unto others as they would have you do unto them', instead of the Golden rule which says that 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. You will be surprised to see what all can a slight change in the perspective achieve. It is imperative that both individuals sincerely attempt to understand the other's perspectives and while trying to build a long, peaceful and healthy relationship, satisfying the partner's needs should not become an ego-fight

'Secrets of Happy Couples' is a very well written book, reinforcing the most important fact that all great relationships begin and end with yourself. What I like the most about this book is how the individual traits, preferences and reactions are considered and discussed against different scenarios rather than working the other way round - picking up the scenarios and listing out behavioral do's and don’ts in that situation.
In my opinion, any external agent, counselors or books can help or impress upon the individual thinking to a certain extent, the complete onus to traverse the path rests entirely on the individuals involved and there cannot be any customized training for that. So have fun exploring it.

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Book Review : The Peacemaker Parent

Title : The Peacemaker Parent
Author : Lorraine Esposito
Publisher : EME Press
ISBN : 978-0-9842953-2-6

Book Reviewed for BookPleasures
One thing that is common across all cultures, religions and countries, is the challenging parenting, more so now when there is no end to the problems and no dearth of resources to address the issues as well.

Lorraine Esposito in her book 'The Peacemaker Parent' is trying to provide the aid in making the process of bringing up the children a little more smoother and less trying. Very rightly she points out the mistakes that we as parents make at some point or the other while being so inundated in the pressures of parenting. As a parent the first emotion you feel while reading this book, is that of not being alone, the realization dawns yet again that we are not the only one, there are many more who are sailing, if not the same, at least a similar kind of boat. The storms that each of us face can vary in the magnitude and frequency but they are not absent all together. What all parents aim for is to achieve short-term results to bring in positive future of our children.

After having analyzed the problem which she we very correctly identifies as starting from the morning stress hours, she then moves on to the steps that could be experimented with in order to overcome the same kind of situations, same kind of responses and same kind of feelings. Throughout most of her narrative she lays a lot of stress on de-stressing the morning time. And there are always plenty of pitfalls while doing this which makes the task of accomplishing it even more cumbersome.

Among other things that she has pointed out in the book, there are some which would surely appeal to every person who is reading this book because as it is the same results must have been derived already by personal parenting experiences - nagging does not help, to acquiesce to irrational demands or behavior of the children is not the solution but the way in which disapproval is made clear is of paramount importance, keeping the instructions simple always has more chances of getting followed, be open to children, they are not wrong always, do not start with any pre-conceived notion about them or about their capabilities. Let them be honest with you and honesty comes out when the child believes that his mistakes won’t cause the parent to think the worst about him. Only then the confidence to confide in the parent comes in the child from within because he/she is sure that the character will not be judged by specific incidents.

However, my questioning mind does not completely agree with the barter system that she recommends for some situations. I have my own doubts regarding this approach, what kind of signals do we send out to the children - it is alright to haggle for each and every action that they do and they should expect something in return for every action of theirs? But this is my personal opinion, this solution may work for some as every household is unique and the individuals involved are diverse.

Having said all this, she maintains that, "Nothing in life can prepare a person for the challenges faced by parenthood. The experience of being completely responsible for another human is only the real teacher" and this is the essence and in my opinion, the fun of parenting. There are some solutions and tools which can be tried for a few things but largely it is the sole responsibility of the individuals involved, no one from outside, not even any book or counselor can do the trick. They can maximum provide the aid and correct the thinking process to a certain extent but the rest of the journey has to be covered by the parents themselves, no proxy works.

Book Review : Angela And The Baby Jesus

Title : Angela and the Baby Jesus
Author : Frank McCourt
Illustrated by : Raul Colon (Kids' edition) and Loren Long (Adult edition)
Publisher : Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

The author Frank McCourt reminisces about one incidence from his mother - Angela's childhood when she was six years old. Most of the stories that we have read so far on Christmas theme are written with either the Christmas eve or the Christmas day in focus but this small book is very different.

It happens a few days before Christmas. Baby Jesus is already in the Limmerick Church where little Angela gets to see him - an infant in the crib but what makes her heart sad, very sad is the fact that little Jesus is lying in the crib in cool, wet, dark December nights without any cover or blanket to keep him warm. She wonders why nobody thought of keeping the baby Jesus warm and so she decides to take this task upon herself. She thinks of a plan to take the baby home with her and keep him warm and cosy. But materialising the plan is not going to be easy when there are a whole bunch of hurdles on the way - she has to keep her plan a secret, she has to pick the baby when the Church is empty, she is aware that stealing is bad thing and she could get punishment for stealing the baby. No matter what, Angela is convinced, she is determined, she has to take care of poor and cold Jesus because she knows how it is to be cold in these chilly nights. Now carrying the baby in her arms, she has to be extra careful. She surely cannot enter her home through the main door which means she has to climb the backyard wall with the baby. She is in despair and asks the baby for help and she does get the help. She is told in her head by the Jesus - "throw the baby over the wall and recover him on the other side". She throws once, she throws twice but her attempts are unsuccessful, finally in third attempt he goes over but a very terrible thing happens this time, he lands in the wrong backyard. Angela now talks to the baby very sternly and asks him to cooperate and not fly like angles so that he is warm soon. This time baby Jesus obediently obeys the instructions and lands in the right courtyard sporting the same smile on his face all through. She heaves a sigh of relief but the trouble is not over yet, her brother Pat comes out in the backyard and starts questioning her. What would Pat tell the mother and how can Angela still manage to keep the Baby Jesus safe and warm with her on this chilly December night? Who would assure her that the baby is safe? You must read to know the following sequence of events.

Frank McCourt, an author par excellence has an unparalleled ability of weaving extra-ordinary tales from the ordinary situations. A very heartfelt tender story full of love and emotions that is sure to reach out to every little heart and tug some strings there. There are two editions of this book - one for kids and one for the adults. I picked up the one which is for the kids. The riveting drawings by Raul Colon, portraying Angela's emotions, are a treat for the readers to savor. Just the title page picture gives an idea what to expect inside the book.

Book Review : Dinosaur-Long-As-127-Kids

Title : Dinosaur-Long-As-127-Kids
Author : Geeta Dharamraj
Illustrator : Rajiv Eipe

This book is the Grand Prize Winner of the 'Katha Chitrakala 2009'

As I read more children's books, I get more convinced that Dinosaurs do possess some kind of magical attraction for the little children. Interestingly, these are the exceptional creatures who have been kept alive even millions of years after they (un)naturally exited this earth, thanks to our lovely books and the tons of stories weaved around them.

You might have enjoyed a camel ride or a horse ride or an elephant ride or even a donkey's ride. But have you ever wondered, how it would be to ride a dinosaur? There is no chance to make this dream a reality, but we can be a part of this wonderful magical story brought to us by Katha about a particular dinosaur, "Dinosaur-long-as-127-kids". This very looooooong dinosaur just loves to take children for rides and one fine day he comes knocking at a little girl's window inviting her for a ride on his back. But there is one problem, Dinosaur-long-as-127-kids is cursed by a demon. And what a strange curse - the dinosaur can only carry 127 kids on his back, NOT ONE LESS and NOT ONE MORE!!! The little girl manages to find 126 friends of hers, which makes total 127 kids but the story doesn't end here, the girl's Amma also wants to ride the dinosaur and ride she must, so now that makes a total of …?? oh no! This makes the Dinosaur-long-as-127-kids tremble in fear of the demon.
What happens next and how can children enjoy the thrill of a dinosaur ride and how can Dinosaur-long-as-127-kids experience the pleasure of taking little children on his back. You must read it to find out.

The illustrations by Rajiv Eipe brilliantly convey the happiness, the fear and the distress of dinosaur and his little friends. The dinosaur narrating his sad story of being cursed, to the little children is beautifully depicted through the lovely drawings. The extra long dinosaur is just poured onto two big pages with tail not fitting in, aptly giving the feel of how long the dinosaur is. The attractive drawings look very classy and very stylish, just the perfect kind for this sweet little story.

Book Review : Heart with Joy

Title : Heart with Joy
Author : Steve Cushman
Publisher : Canterbury House
ISBN : 978-0-9825396-3-7

Fifteen years old Julian finds himself completely lost when his mother suddenly leaves him and his father and moves from North Carolina to Florida creating a façade that she wants to run her parent's motel and to work on her novel. Julian who has always been much closer to his mother does not know what to make out of this new situation, wants to join her but he has to wait till the school year ends.

Now father and son, almost alien to each other find themselves thrown together in an empty home with no common bridge. Gradually the fissure between the two starts getting plugged and a special bond begins to appear. He gets the chance to know and understand his father - his achievements, his compromises and what kind of individual he is. Julian takes on the responsibility of the kitchen and enjoys cooking dinner for his father. His passion for cooking brings him closer to a pretty cashier at the local grocery store who shares similar interests with him. His association with his elderly neighbor opens a whole new world of appreciating nature and the winged creatures. During his daily visits to the elderly lady's place, he learns a valuable lesson of listening to the heart, following it and enjoying the pleasure that it brings.

Slowly and very subtly he manages to motivate his father to follow his own heart and pick up some lost strings from his life. He keeps fantasizing about the ideal situation when his parents would start living together. But the distance, though very unpleasant, gave each of them time to think and to find the things which bring happiness to them and fill their hearts with joy.

At the end of the school year, the time comes when he has to leave for Florida. He is very excited to meet his mother and understands that she is happy in Florida. But he has mixed feelings about his own move, he has to make a big decision of either to stay with his mother or to go back to North Carolina to his father and to her new found love.

A very sensitive story presented by Steve Cushman which brings out the essence of life - finding that special thing which fills the heart with joy and fills the life with contentment and satisfaction. 'Heart with Joy' , a story dealing with adjustments, compromises, dreams, expectations, priorities and being comfortable with who we are, flows very naturally and takes the readers in the waves of the narrative. The protagonist comes across as a person very mature for his age, who observes and understands the intricacies of different individuals and relationships. I admire the clarity of thought that Julian develops through his year long journey in finally deciding what is it that makes him happy.

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