The Boy From Block 66: A WW2 Jewish Holocaust Survival True Story (Heroic Children of World War II Book 1) by Limor Regev

The Boy From Block 66: A WW2 Jewish Holocaust Survival True Story (Heroic Children of World War II Book 1) Reviews

• 
  Carolyn Scarcella

  This book I’ve been reading today is called “The Boy From Block 66” written by Limor Regev. Astonishingly, this book will stay with me for a long time. This author is a dedicated friend to Moshe and his family. This book and the movie are based on the first-hand accounts of the Holocaust. Moshe and his cousin Shani have survived three concentration camps by their wit and will and sometimes incredible good fortune. Antonin Kalina, he was a Czech Jew, he was a prisoner was involved with the underground movement, who they nicknamed him “Czech Schindlers” and Kalina manages to save 903 children from the block 66 from death marches. He was recognised name for Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. He died from cancer in 1990 at the age of 88. It was very emotional reading through the pain of Moshe, and other victims of other children, who lost childhood, loss of faith, & the countless losses too numerous to detail. I believe young, teens and adults should be required to read this in schools. Today, in our societies and communities, a lot of youth are so pampered and spoiled and it would be good for them to see how bad things can be and how good they have it. It shows what a human can endure and get through and still come out able to have a good life. As a result, what happened to him, Shani, and their families survived? You can decide
• 
  Connie

  A very moving and heartbreaking story of a boy growing up and the war’s effect on him both on the outside and inside of a concentration camp. I’ve read a lot of WWII books and always learn more with each one. We all need to understand our history and not try to erase it, but learn from it, for f we don’t it will repeat itself, as you can see with the Ukrainian/Russian atrocities going on now.
• 
  Stephanie

  Understanding how the war impacted before and during the concentration camp for this young boy. “We were free but captive to the terrible sights we witnessed” I had never heard of this story until it popped up in my KU, it will stay with me a long time.
• 
  Grace

  This is a gripping story about how even in the presence of much evil, good shows up in unexpected places. I had never heard of Block 66, the place where 900 Jewish boys were saved from certain death during World War II in Buchenwald concentration camp. A Czech prisoner of war, Antonin Kalina, took a great risk in protecting these young Jews by forming this special block. A powerful quote near the end of the book throws light on this, "It was there I saw how the good in man defeats the evil, and how one person’s courage can affect the fate of hundreds of children."
  
  Moshe Kessler, one of the young rescued boys, shares his story and the horrors that he saw. He reflects after his release, "We were free but captive to the terrible sights we had witnessed, which would accompany us all our lives." But in amazing ways these boys, girls, men and women rebuilt their lives.
  
  At times Kessler opens up about the doubts that arise in his heart about his faith. How God could allow these atrocities to happen? When Kessler grew up de didn't quite abandon his faith but he also didn't embrace it either, until years later when his mother passed away. He writes, "I realized that the only way I could preserve the memory of my childhood home - my father and brother, and now my mother as well - was to keep alive the embers in whose light I had initially grown up. I went back to praying in the mornings, going to synagogue on Saturdays and holidays, and believing in the importance of keeping the commandments. I felt I was coming home."
  
  While I was reading this book I was also reading, The Handbook on the Pentateuch, by Victor Hamilton. In his insightful book he reflects on the unusual structure of the book of Numbers. One can't help but notice that inserted in the middle of the narrative in Numbers are the laws about the daily sacrifices, weekly sabbaths, monthly special days and yearly festivals. Then the narrative continues after this break. What is going on? Hamilton explains that this arrangement offers a powerful message. In the middle of the narrative of our lives is an anchor for us. As we encounter God in the daily, weekly, and monthly holy days we find where we belong. Kessler called it "coming home."
• 
  Kristen Dale

  This should be required reading for every high schooler. Limor and Moshe took me on a journey full of emotions. While this is an incredibly heavy subject, it is a beautifully written true story of survival and overcoming real oppression. Moshe is an inspiration, and his story will live on as long as we continue to share it with our younger generations.
• 
  Jill Jacques

  This book had me glued to the pages to find out what he went through. The beginning of the book talks a lot about his life and family, which is important for the background of his story. I have never read a book that had so much detail about this boy's harrowing experiences in different parts of the camp. The detail of his accounts had me turning page after page and imagining what his horrible experience was like. He is lucky to be alive....
• 
  Julia Bell

  This is a harrowing story of a thirteen-year-old boy's experience of the Holocaust. Moshe's survival in Auschwitz and Buchenwald tears at the heart, especially as he's separated from his mother and younger brother. This story is not as graphic as some I've read and I think Moshe did this on purpose. I believe his aim was to tell the human side of the Holocaust; of loss and grief and how a person can never really recover from such trauma. Since I have a grandson of Moshe's age when he entered Auschwitz, it did make me catch my breath. He describes the courage of those in the camp who risked their own lives to save others and he also describes the disdain and cruelty of lifelong neighbours who turned on his family.
  A well deserved five stars.
• 
  Andrea Volinski

  Brilliant
• 
  Knihomolský deník

  Velice zajímavý a smutný příběh. Co bych ale vytkla byl způsob psaní knihy, který byl chvílemi lehce kostrbatý. Jinak příběh silný a dojemný.
• 
  Christine Cazeneuve

  Moving
  
  Told with a rawness that it's hard to put into words, but I haven't read an account of the holocaust quite like this. Includes many pictures of his family and a story you will find hard to forget.
• 
  Michelle

  Incredibly powerful story!
  
  A heartbreaking story of one of the worst times in history but speaks to the depths of character and survival. I sincerely appreciate the sharing of this story.
• 
  Leah Moyes

  Wow!
  
  I cannot effectively put into words how this book touched my heart and soul. I can’t even imagine the pain and suffering that so many people endured at the hands of such an evil dictator as Adolf Hitler and the men he tasked with overseeing the concentration camps or slaughter houses is the more appropriate term.
  
  I am shocked at the strength of those who survived. I don’t think I would have made it through the first part of torture, malnutrition, and constant fear, much less the death marches.
  
  Since I have read this book and Elie Wiesel’s book “Night”, I have looked at a crust of bread, a thin piece of clothing, and freezing weather differently. I can’t imagine how a person could survive under such harsh conditions and then function through the nightmares and the mental anguish after liberation.
  
  Please read these books. Every day, more and more Holocaust survivors and World War II Vets pass away and we must thank those who were able to share their history with us so we may know the depth of the horrors that occurred.
• 
  Linda

  A first hand account of the atrocities of the Holocaust. I understand why the first part was about life before the war, but I found it to be way too long and almost stopped reading the book. I’ve read many historical fictions about that time in history and found many instances where what Moshe went through and his story matched up to the “fiction” stories. I’m glad I hung in there and read the rest of the book.
• 
  Terry Tyler

  4.5*
  
  While reading this I wondered why so many of us choose to read survivor accounts of the Holocaust. I think I do so because the 'how' fascinates me so much - how ordinary people would turn a blind eye to, or even join in with, the ill treatment of another group. How a few psychopaths could persuade thousands of soldiers to commit such atrocities. I've recently read most of a book on this subject, Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning, if you're interested in this aspect. Do all people have this potential evil within, a fire waiting to be lit? I don't believe so, but...
  
  Moshe Kessler had an idyllic childhood within his large, extended family. Many, many have asked, over the years, why the Jews allowed their persecution to take place, seemingly without protest. Moshe answers this question in detail; here is an excerpt I marked:
  
  'You must understand that our future in those days was completely uncertain, for better or worse. Our daily routine had gradually changed in the past two years, with each new directive or restriction by the Hungarian regime. We thought this was just another period of temporary worsening of conditions, and we would soon return to our homes. Information about what to expect next was concealed in a way that dispelled our suspicions.'
  
  Moshe was only 13 when he and his family were taken to Auschwitz. He escaped the gas chamber on the advice of a veteran prisoner, who told him to join the 'other queue' and say he was 16. This nameless prisoner was one of many who saved his life over the terrible fifteen months he survived there; another was Antonin Kalina, a true angel who was active in Buchenwald camp underground (Moshe was driven on a 'death march' from one camp to another), who established Block 66 for the children, and initiated many procedures to keep them alive.
  
  The author (a friend of the family in later years), writing as Moshe, describes much about the emotional repercussions, and the slow easing back into 'normal' life after the Americans liberated Buchenwald; many years passed before he found any sort of contentment.
  
  My only complaint about the book is the bad editing; there are occasional grammar errors, and duplication of facts, as though the process was a bit on the sketchy side. This was only mildly irritating; it's definitely worth reading.
  
  
  
  
• 
  Eva Francova

  Moše Kessler nám vypráví svůj příběh, který rozhodně nebyl jednoduchý. Ve 14 letech se ocitl v Osvětimi, přežil pochod smrti a dostal se do koncentračního tábora Buchenwald. Díky tomu, že přišel do Bloku 66 a díky tajnému odboji, který měl za úkol zachránit děti, přežil. Nyní se odhodlal, aby vypověděl světu hrůzy, které zažil jako dítě.
  
  Opět jedna silná kniha, kdy se díky pamětníkovi můžeme dozvědět, jaké to bylo za druhé světové války pro Židy. Ale také si přečteme o tom, jaké to bylo navrátit se do normálního života a co vlastně po těch hrůzách bylo normální.
  
  Moše Kessler se narodil v Berehovu, v podkarpatské Rusi. V roce 1930 bylo toto město součástí Československa, ale jeho historie není jednoduchá. Autorka nám přiblíží historické události města, abychom si dokázali udělat obrázek o životě na místě, kde se několikrát změní to, pod jaký stát vlastně patříte.
  
  Je tu krásně a mile popsáno idylické dětství, rodinná pospolitost a dobré vztahy v obsáhlém příbuzenstvu. Bohužel čtenář ví, co přijde, proto je to zároveň smutné čtení.
  
  Je to silný příběh. Jsou tu vylíčeny hrůzy koncentračních táborů a zvrácenost dozorců. Na druhou stranu je tu touha přežít a nevzdat se. Mám přečtené desítky knih s touto tématikou a nikdy mě nepřestane udivovat, že se takové věci skutečně mohly stát.
  
  V knize najdete spoustu fotografií i dokumentů, seznámíte se s rodinou Moše Kesslera, i s lidmi, kteří pro něj byli důležití.
  
  Autorka Limor Regev již chystá další knihu, ve které nám přiblíží českého hrdinu, díky němuž bylo zachráněno spousta dětí. Tu si rozhodně také přečtu.
  
  Připomínejme si tuto dobru, ať na ni nikdy nezapomeneme.
  
• 
  Julia

  The Boy From Block 66 by Limor Regev is a powerful true tale of Moshe Kessler and his family during World War II.
  Moshe Kessler was born in an area that kept swapping between being Czech or Hungarian territory. He was born in 1930 and forced to grow up very quickly under the Nazi occupation of Hungary.
  We see how previously close neighbours and friends turned as the jackboots marched in.
  Moshe Kessler spent over a year being transported to various concentration camps and on death marches until liberation in the spring of 1945. He had grown up in the Jewish faith but like many, he felt abandoned by God in the camps. Moshe Kessler turned his back on God, only returning to faith in later years.
  We see Moshe Kessler’s will to survive. He paired up with another lad from his town and together they spurred each other on.
  As Moshe Kessler entered the camps he was a fourteen year boy forced to become a man.
  The Boy From Block 66 is a powerful, moving and horrifying account of man’s inhumanity to man. It is also a tale of survival and must be read in memory of all those who returned from the camps and all those who didn’t.
  I loved the inclusion of photos so that I could put names to faces.
  
• 
  Sean

  January, 1945. 14-year-old Moshe Kessle steps off a train in Auschwitz-Birkenau. With his mother, gran, and younger brother.
  He is told by a man in a striped uniform to tell them you are 16. He does and is sent off to the right. His mother, gran, and brother go off with the others. He survives the Gas Chambers but is forced to work like an adult and see horror no child should see. He is only 14 years old. This is his story.
  It is also a story of Buchenwald’s secret resistance. After work camps and death marches, he arrives at Buchenwald. He knows he must get sent to hut 66.
  The camp's many political prisons and others have set up an underground movement in the camp. They have influence, and on seeing the children arrive. They ensure the Nazis assign the children to block 66. They can be protected. They spread rumors there is a Thypus outbreak in the hut, so the Children are spared work and roll call. Then at the end, when the Nazis are set to wipe out the remaining Jewish Childen. They provide uniforms and identities of other prisoners who have died. So when the Nazis come for the Children, they show them there are no Jewish Children left. Many youngsters were saved because of this.
  This story is harrowing but also has hope. I am pleased that Moshe share his story. I would love him to know, I have read his story and I Care and I will not forget.
• 
  Haley Kay

  Follows the experiences of Moshe Kessler during the time of war living in Czechoslovakia as a young Jewish man of 13 years old.
  
  I loved the way this was written. Normally memoirs are written in a story way but this one was written like if he was actually speaking it to you while sitting in his living room. It really was beautiful but so traumatic. A beautiful life he made when he immigrated to Israel where he joined the IDF and grew his family to this day where they’re still thriving.
  
  What I thought was exciting that he knew and stayed in the same block as probably one of the most famous Jewish Holocaust survivors, Elie Wiesel. He had a major impact on his life and restoring his faith in Judaism as the war ended.
• 
  Nate Bart

  Amazing story of Moshe Kessler’s life as a holocaust survivor, he went through many of the camps and ended up in a German camp in a block with about 1000 kids called block 66, there a man protected the kids and kept them alive until they were liberated by Americans.
  
  He then survived communist Soviet Union, the gulf war in Isreal where his house was bombed, and now he is living through the current Isreal conflict.
  
  
  I give this 5 stars but I wish it was a bit longer and slowed down a bit giving more detail about what life was like living in the camps. Other than that it was a great book and reflecting on my own life it makes me so grateful to live in the US
• 
  janey bredeman

  Everyone should read this book
  
  Everyone should read this book. It is a great reminder of a horrible time in our world's history that we must never forget. A lot of this book was very hard to read. Imagine having to live it. So many people were murdered during the holocaust. As sad and horrifying as I knew it would be, I couldn't stop reading this book because I wanted to find out how he and the others survived. God bless each of the people who were murdered and each of them who survived. May we never forget.