The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience Survival and Hope Book Review

As the years pass, the number of Holocaust survivors who lived to tell their first-hand stories dwindles. At this point, it is only the child survivors who are still alive to speak their truth.

Tova Friedman is one of these child survivors. Her new memoir, The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope, co-written with Malcolm Brabant and with a foreword by Ben Kingsley, was published earlier this month. Born in 1938, her earliest years were defined by antisemitism, poverty, violence, and destruction. She saw things that no child should ever see.

By age four, Tova and her mother were sent to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Her father was sent to Dachau. What she experienced in the camp was imminently worse than anything she had seen previously. Though she and both of her parents could have been murdered any number of times, all three of them were liberated and found one another.

Now in her early 80’s, Tova is a wife, mother, grandmother, and lecturer. Her mission is to educate about the Holocaust, to make sure that it never happens again.

What makes this book so powerful is her memories. Though the events are nearly a century old, the images are as potent and brutal as if it were yesterday. It is a reminder that this happened in many people’s lifetimes.

Included in the book are pictures. Among them is an image of one of her aunts. Her aunt was liberated from the camps only to be murdered in a pogrom a year later. It is hard to see, but an important reminder of what prejudice can do to us.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope is available wherever books are sold.

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Flashback Friday-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Stories of political intrigue have existed since the dawn of human history. The question is, is the story unique or done to death?

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time hit theaters in 2010. Based on the video game of the same name, the movie tells the story of Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a prince who must save the world from the evil lord Nizam (Ben Kingsley). Assisting Dastan is Tamina, (Gemma Arterton), a princess in her own right. Together they must prevent Nizam from getting his hands on a dagger that will allow him to rule the world.

In an essence, this movie is a low rent Aladdin. It tries, but whatever elements Aladdin had that made it successful, this movie has none of it. In addition, this film reinforces the idea that only Caucasian actors can play ethnic roles. Among the three lead actors, the two actors playing the heroes are definitely not of Middle Eastern descent. Of course, the villain is a person of color, additionally reinforcing the idea about first and second class citizenship in this world.

The critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave this movie a 37% rating and frankly, I can’t disagree with that.

Do I recommend the film? No.

Operation Finale Movie Review

The Holocaust is one of the most well-known massacre in modern human history. Ten million innocent people were murdered, six million of them were Jewish.

Adolph Eichmann is known as the architect of The Holocaust. After World War II, he escaped to Argentina, where he lived under a new identity. That is, until 1960, when Mossad agents located him, captured him and brought him back to Israel to stand trial for his crimes.

The location and capture of Eichmann is told in the new movie, Operation Finale. Adolph Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) has been living in Buenos Aires under the name of Ricardo Clemente. When the Israeli authorities are given this information, a task force of top Mossad agents are given the job of catching Eichmann and transporting him to Israel for trial. The team includes Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac) and Hanna Elian (Melanie Laurent).

Once the team is able to capture Eichmann, they have to hold him until they can fly out of Argentina. Capturing him was the easy part, getting to the airport and flying out without being held up or discovered is the hard part.

This movie is amazing and should be seen by as many people as possible. It should be seen not just because it is relevant in 2018, but because it is a historical thriller done right. The psychological tension, especially between Peter and Eichmann is so tight that it forces the audience to really think about how thin the line between good and evil truly is.

Not only do I recommend it, but I have a feeling that this movie will do very well come award season.

Operation Finale is presently in theaters. 

Thoughts On The 25th Anniversary Of Schindler’s List

Oskar Schindler was a complicated man. He was a German industrialist and a member of the Nazi party. He was not exactly loyal to his wife. But he was also responsible for saving the lives of 1200 Jewish prisoners during The Holocaust.

This year, the film based on his life during the war, Schindler’s List, turns 25.

If there ever was a Holocaust film, Schindler’s List is that film. Liam Neeson played the title role. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the supporting cast includes Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes. Filmed in stark black and white for 99% of the film, the movie pulls no punches. It forces the audience to keep their eyes on the screen and screams out that this is what hate and prejudice leads to.

This film is hard to watch, but it is hard to watch for a reason. It is still relevant 25 years later not only because hatred, prejudice and genocide are still happening, but also because there are some who continue to deny that The Holocaust is anything but historical fact.

May this film live on for eternity, as a reminder of what human beings can do to each other and why we must find a way to accept one another, even if one is different.