Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren

May 01, 2013 Miguel rated it 3 of 5 stars

What I liked about the book is that no matter what he never gave up and still kept fighting tell the very end. One of the examples that I like about the book is that. He chose not to hate that take a lot of guts to do especially if it toward a person who killed so many of his people and separated his family apart knowing that he would most likely never see any of them ever again. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book is that it took awhile for me to actually get into the book. I still...more What I liked about the book is that no matter what he never gave up and still kept fighting tell the very end. One of the examples that I like about the book is that. He chose not to hate that take a lot of guts to do especially if it toward a person who killed so many of his people and separated his family apart knowing that he would most likely never see any of them ever again. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book is that it took awhile for me to actually get into the book. I still feel the same way about the book it not a book that I would actually take time and bother to read. The only time I would even bother to pick up this book is if I have a history project and I have to pick a topic and I chose to pick about the holocaust. The whole entire plot to this book is to outsmart Hitler ran of terror and to keep surviving tell the last minute. The characters are a family group that once lived together but slowly they all started to get separated from each other and sent to different kinds of concentration camps. One important scene that I feel is really important is that he actually chose not to hate not to worry just do what the Nazi tell you to do and to never refuse anything anybody offered you. The genre is a non-fiction. The setting took places an many concentration camps not just in one but different kinds of concentration camp and it also took place in WWII. This book can easily be compared to different kinds of movies or other fiction book. Such as the Pianist it about a man who tries to survive in WWII. Well like I said the only time someone should even bother to read this book is if you had a project for history and you needed a topic to talk about and a person who lived in one of the concentration camps. I’m not saying the book is bad. Because in reality this book is really good about a person who trying their best to survive but in all honesty it doesn’t grab my attention. I don’t really know if this book has a sequel and an all honesty I really don’t care enough to bother to know if it does, but I have read some kinds of book that are similar towards this book such as The Devil Arithmetic it a fiction book about a young girl who travels back in time to WWII and she suffers all the pain of living in a concentration camp. I wouldn’t really bother to care recommending this book but if you love reading about true historical things about what happen then you could give it a try and see if you would enjoy it.(less)

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Jun 29, 2012 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: wwii-and-holocaust, autobio-bio-true-story, jewish-protagonist

This book had me in tears during the 2.5 hours it took me to read this. I have read a lot of Holocaust memoirs/biographies. Though two Holocaust survivors could have experienced the same certain event, for some reason there is always one that hits me harder than the other. This book hit me very hard. It's pretty depressing throughout, but what I enjoyed most is the beginning (The "Introduction") and the last 2 chapters.

The beginning opens up with a Spielberg quote and "First they Came", the famo...more

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May 12, 2013 Rebecca Baker rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rebecca Baker

Warren, Andrea. (2001) Surviving Hitler: A boy in the Nazi death camps. New York: Harper Trophy.

Genre: Informational

Format: Print

Selection: Found reviews on booklistonline.com

Review:
Fifteen year old Jack Mandlebaum is a Jewish boy living in Poland in 1942. After suffering through the restrictions and laws established against the Jews by the Nazis, Jack and his family are eventually rounded up with other Polish Jews and sent to concentration camps. Jack was separated from the rest of...more

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Apr 30, 2013 JoBeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

I like the story because Jack never gave up. He didn’t let the mean words get to him and he played the game. He didn’t let Hitler win.
Character:
Jack Mandelbaum grew up in a Jewish home. When he was 14 he support his family by substituting for people who paid him to take their place in forced labor. After that Jack was send to the camps. His mom and brother Jakob didn’t go with him. After the war ended when he was 18, he decided to start over in America. He got married to Claudia and had seven c...more

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Apr 10, 2013 Holly Heuglin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-books

I have always been highly interested in the Holocaust, and fascinated by Hitler's ability to attract an entire nation to support his actions of genocide in eastern and western Europe.It is hard to imagine that something like that happened in our world not even a century ago, and was described as my high school history teachers as "Hell on Earth." Andrea Warren's book, "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps," is an amazing story in teaching children about the Holocaust because it center...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Rachel!!! rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-report

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Get up! Get up! Jack and his mother and brother wake up to an unfriendly voice. This voice was the voice of a nazi. And this nazi was telling them to go outside. They had lived in a small house with some other jews for only a while. But the thing is they were forced too. Jack had been surrounded by the nazis for the past two years. But this time it's different, they were up to something and jack wanted to know what. When they got outside. Jews were everywhere. Of all ages, and all looked scared....more Get up! Get up! Jack and his mother and brother wake up to an unfriendly voice. This voice was the voice of a nazi. And this nazi was telling them to go outside. They had lived in a small house with some other jews for only a while. But the thing is they were forced too. Jack had been surrounded by the nazis for the past two years. But this time it's different, they were up to something and jack wanted to know what. When they got outside. Jews were everywhere. Of all ages, and all looked scared. They were told to stand. And they stood for hours until finally the nazis started separating families. All men on one side, woman and other young children and men on the other. When they got to his family all of them were sent to where the woman were but then jack remembered his nazi stamped note from a carpenter he had worked for. He pulled it out and showed it to the nazi.The nazi sent him the other way, but not his mother or his brother weren't able to come. They were put on trucks and delivered to their first concentration camps.

Day one, was scary and brutal. In the camps there were men dying everywhere. The nazis didn't care though. They just had the bodies sent to the crematorium. Jack had been to many camps and struggled with many things on this journey. He got lucky with a lot. And by the time Hitler had been defeated jack was 18. He had survived three years in the concentration camps. More than many. He meets friends along the way, but you could call them allies. Those allies kept him alive. He survived to see the real world again. and not be called by prisoner 16013. He was jack again. Finally jack.

He survived. He had freedom now. He didn't have to fight to get food. He didn't have to eat the bread filled with saw-dust. He was treated as a human now. He thinks and remembers a friend saying,"Think of it as a game Jack." From that moment on he knew he had a chance. And he knew he had to make it. In the end he beat hitler at his game. And he gets everything he wanted. Will he get his family back? Will he ever find them? Find out! (less)

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Mar 18, 2013 Jessica Vanhemel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

I have always been interested in the stories of Holocaust survivors, the stories that they tell are gripping and interesting, their accounts of the camps is truly amazing in the sense that those that survived actually did. It took a lot to survive in a camp, some people were lucky and did, others were not lucky enough to survive but in reality who was the lucky one, those that died quickly or those that perished just days before the liberation. There are no illustrations in this book, there are...more I have always been interested in the stories of Holocaust survivors, the stories that they tell are gripping and interesting, their accounts of the camps is truly amazing in the sense that those that survived actually did. It took a lot to survive in a camp, some people were lucky and did, others were not lucky enough to survive but in reality who was the lucky one, those that died quickly or those that perished just days before the liberation. There are no illustrations in this book, there are several pictures from the area and time of the concentration camps. The pictures helped connect the text, the pictures made the story stronger more emotional. When real pictures are used the story becomes more realistic and believable.

This is the story of a Polish Jew named Jack, he lived with his mother, father, a younger brother and an older sister, they were rather well to do. They had a good life up until the day that Hitler invaded Poland, before this they traveled from relative to relative to try and get out of the line of fire. Jack was only 12 years old and he was the oldest son, the father was stayed behind to close up the business, they never saw him again. They were visiting relatives when they were forced into a specific area of the town they were staying in, Jack was working along side the men doing manual labor for other men that could afford to pay him to take their place. Soon the money ran out and they were herded into the center of town and taken away, they had no idea what was about to happen to them. He was separated from his mother and brother, never to see them again, his sister was sent to help a family member with a new baby. He never saw any of his immediate family members again. Jack was placed in work camps, he was forced to do hard manual labor with little or no food, most men starved to death. The conditions in the camps were atrocious, they were over crowded, and people were underfed, and sometimes the prisoners were just taken away and killed for no reason. Jack tried to remain hopeful that he would see his family again and continued to have hope for an end to the death that surrounded him. Jack was transferred to several different camps, he survived typhus and dysentery, somehow Jack beat the odds and survived these diseases that were prevalent in the camps, these diseases killed many prisoners. Through courageousness and determination, Jack survived 3 years in the camps, most were not that lucky. Through his family suffered heavy losses, neither his mother, father, or brother or sister survived, they died early on, an aunt and uncle survived. After discovering the fate of his family he decided it was time to leave Poland, he ventured to the United States and made a life for himself here, with a wife, seven children and twelve grandchildren. He traveled to the different camps after the war to support other Holocaust survivors, he became an advocate for the survivors and the victims that suffered at the hands of Hitler and the Nazi's.

Due to the graphic nature of the story and the Holocaust, this story is more appropriate for older readers, more specifically fifth graders. This story is told in a very straight forward way and the older students would be better capable to understand the gravity of the situation. Not a lot of survivors are willing or able to tell their story in such a way that a child could understand and still get historical facts from a text. (less)

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Oct 10, 2012 Brit rated it 4 of 5 stars

Surviving Hitler is a chapter book based on the experiences of a young man named Jack during the Holocaust. This book is a very emotional book to read. It is a very strong, and horrifying story on what one person, as well as many many others have gone through during the Holocaust. The author writes this story in a way that puts the reader into Jack's place and can empathize and connect with Jack. I would have to remark that this book is probably better suited for a more mature audience, 13 and o...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Toni Marshall rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is extraordinary, this book is told very well while keeping the integrity of the lives that were lost. This book tells a young boy who grows up to be a very strong minded man during WWII. This is a non-fiction book, which tells the gory details of what he witnessed and encountered while in many concentration camps. In the story he states "one of the most important lessons has always been that extraordinary people are simply ordinary people, like my father, who rose to the challenge in...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: informational

Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren
• Life story account
• Smaller black and white pictures with larger text.
• More shocking photos such as executions lining up, guns to the head of individuals.
• Dogs wearing muzzles accompanying stocky soliders that are patrolling the roads.
• Men kicking individuals and the hate in their eyes as doing so.
• Angelic Children in Auschwitz who look like a deer in headlights.
• Frail People who eat bread for seven days.
• Women being forced to work as hard as men cleanin...more

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Apr 18, 2009 Social Voice rated it 3 of 5 stars

by Angela

In the book Surviving Hitler we basically learn the Story of Jack Mandelbaum a boy who starts the age of fourteen is send to a Nazi Work camp where he spends 4 years of his life.As you get more into the book you see how his life progresses in the horrible inserts of the Nazi Camps.I think this book is really down to earth and is something we can all relate to the lost of someone we love only in his case it is everyone he loves.This book is so comprehend-able you will feel as if you were...more by Angela

In the book Surviving Hitler we basically learn the Story of Jack Mandelbaum a boy who starts the age of fourteen is send to a Nazi Work camp where he spends 4 years of his life.As you get more into the book you see how his life progresses in the horrible inserts of the Nazi Camps.I think this book is really down to earth and is something we can all relate to the lost of someone we love only in his case it is everyone he loves.This book is so comprehend-able you will feel as if you were there because of the great word choice the author Andrea Warren uses.While you are reading this book you will experience all sorts of emotions from sadness to happiness and excitement.
The book starts out in Gdynia Poland where Jack along side his father,mother,sister,and brother live in their nice apartment.Then it goes from there to many different caps where he is faced with some of the most harsh living conditions that any human being could go through.This book shows many of the things that the prisoners of these camps had put up with.I think this book is a very inspiring story that shows how nothing is impossible if there is faith,hope and a motive.I mean really if Jack could survive all of the things he survived I think the least he deserves is that his story is heard and is paid attention to because it is in stories like this that we learn what being human is and what is really important in our lives.After all Jack did start out with some of the things we all have a home, a family,and a normal, free life but he ended up with nothing.He didn't have his family, he didn't have his home, he didn't have his freedom, the only thing he had was his faith and his passion for life.

I think there is at least one thing every body can learn from this book wheter it is that all it sometimes takes is will, to how to look at the atrocities in the past and learn from them, because something like the holocaust could happen at any moment at any place all it would take would be someone who really hates a kind of race or religion to get other people to follow.I guess there are really no words to explain how much this book captivated me by the end of the book it was like if I had been there, I mean the imagery, the words, everything about this book makes it feel like if you were there seeing all of this.I feel like I know exactly what the Barracks look like just by reading about them in this book, the wooden sticks lined up in rows all over the wall supposedly set as beds or the nasty stew that was made with all the left over rotten things from the Officers stew.This are just some of the things you will learn about life in a Nazi work camp when you read this book.So if you are looking for a great motivating, exciting story read Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren!(less)

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Nov 10, 2010 N_maryellen Rosenblum rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: info-bios

The book begins in pre-war Poland, with a fourteen-year-old Jack Mandelbaum living a very comfortable life with his family in the small town of Gdynia. The story takes us through the transformation of Poland from a peaceful European country to a place embroiled in the second World War. Jack changes from a happy-go-lucky teenager into a prisoner desperately trying to stay alive in multiple concentration camps. We vividly see the struggle for survival that Jack goes through on a daily basis.

The b...more The book begins in pre-war Poland, with a fourteen-year-old Jack Mandelbaum living a very comfortable life with his family in the small town of Gdynia. The story takes us through the transformation of Poland from a peaceful European country to a place embroiled in the second World War. Jack changes from a happy-go-lucky teenager into a prisoner desperately trying to stay alive in multiple concentration camps. We vividly see the struggle for survival that Jack goes through on a daily basis.

The book is written so that we can see the world through a teenage-boy's eyes. A world that he is able to deal with because through all the death and destruction he witnesses, he truly believes that he will be reunited with his mother, father, sister and brother. As an outsider looking in, I knew the fate that had most probably befallen his mother and brother. After Jack was separated from his mother and younger brother I knew that they had probably been sent to a concentration camp where they were immediately killed in a gas chamber, but I found myself hoping, as Jack did, that they had somehow survived. Throughout the book, I found myself denying the reality of what had probably happened to Jack's family, as Jack continued to do through most of the book.

We learn what life was like in a concentration camp and what a human being can truly endure. Jack talked about his state of mind from day-to-day and what he saw in the faces of the men around him. He becomes an old soul who knows by looking at a fellow prisoner's face, that they have chosen to die and will do so within the week.

Unlike many of the books about the Holocaust that I have read, this story was told from the perspective of a teenager and kept the story focused on survival. There was no venturing from the story or an attempt to make the events portrayed anything other than what they were. At the end of the story, Jack, now an old man, takes the time to reflect on this time in his life. Prior to this, he had done his best to live in the present, however he never forgot his past, but he did not make being a concentration camp survivor the sole focus of his life.

I truly enjoyed how this book was written, however I did not enjoy the subject matter. This book would be quite useful in a middle-school classroom. I feel that the majority of students would be able to connect with Jack, even though it took place in a world so different from the one in which they currently live. The photographs and the informational afterward provide the background knowledge students may need to create a historical context for the time Jack had lived through.

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Jan 14, 2011 Jawnkisana rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 28, 2009 Mary JL rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: any reader interested in the subject age 12 or older

Recommended to Mary JL by: Found at library sale

Shelves: non-fiction

This is the true story of a young teen surviving the Nazi Holocaust. It is well written, touching, and a testament to Jack Mandelbaum's courage.

It is aimed at younger readers. The recommendation is from ages 9 to 12, but due to the mature subject matter, I personally would wait until a child was 12 to read this one. It is simply troubling to read; as I find all books on the Holocaust to be.

The book has some personal photoes of Jack and his family; as well as photoes and Hilter and the camps. I t...more

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May 09, 2013 Christian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Surviving Hitler
I gave Surviving Hitler a 4 star rating, because he survived the concentration camps and he got married.
The things I liked about the book?
He tries to beat Hitler at his own game. He didn’t let hate consume him.
The things I didn’t like about the book?
He was all alone in the camps.
1. Jack was twelve when Hitler invaded Poland, and that’s when fifteen years old boy that was held prison in the concentration camp. He meets Moneik. He works hard, he does what he told, he ignores pa...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-420

NON FICTION
This is the true story of Jake's survival in the concentration camps. It describes his boyhood days, then his family splitting apart and him ending up in the camps, his horrific story of survival in the camps, and then his rescue and search for his family. I liked it because it didn't just focus on Jake's experiences in the camps, but also on his family life before the camps, and where he ended up after the war and how he has dealt with the camps. Although the main focus was the expe...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nonfiction Title from Robert Sibert:

Surviving Hitler: Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren is a Robert F. Sibert Honor book. This is a nonfiction story about a Holocaust survivor, Jack Mandelbaum. The book began in 1939 with rumors of the start of World War II. Jack was 12 years old and lived with his 2 parents and 1 brother and 1 sister. When the Nazis came, he was separated from his family and was put to work in a concentration camp. He met people who gave him advice along the way and...more Nonfiction Title from Robert Sibert:

Surviving Hitler: Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren is a Robert F. Sibert Honor book. This is a nonfiction story about a Holocaust survivor, Jack Mandelbaum. The book began in 1939 with rumors of the start of World War II. Jack was 12 years old and lived with his 2 parents and 1 brother and 1 sister. When the Nazis came, he was separated from his family and was put to work in a concentration camp. He met people who gave him advice along the way and Jack decided in order to survive, he needed to be a good worker, likeable, and cooperative. I loved the quote from Jack on page 64. "Hate was destructive and served no good. To hate would consume his strength." Jack was determined to survive because he thought he eventually would be reunited with his family.

He survived the horrific conditions of the concentration camps. Near the end, he got a job as a cook which made him a little stronger. Liberation day came, and Jack had survived. He eventually found out that the rest of his family did not make it. He had 80 relatives before the war, and when it ended, the only people that remained were his 2 second cousins, 1 aunt and 1 uncle. Jack moved to America and started a successful investment business. He married a woman named Claudia, and they had 7 kids together. Jack cofounded the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.

This was a remarkable story and I highly recommend people read it. This should be read by junior high students who are studying the Holocaust or that want to learn more about the topic. The author wrote the book using facts and Jack's experiences. This is a devastating story about death, survival, friendship, love and courage.

I believe it earned the Robert F. Sibert award because it fit the distinguished criteria of being clear, accurate, and had a stimulating presentation of facts, concepts and ideas and it was appropriate for a child audience. As I read the book, I wanted to continue reading to find out how Jack survived. The photographs also added to the book because they captured what it was like during the times of the Holocaust. The pictures were sad and disturbing, but it was also nice to see some of the pictures of Jack and his family. (less)

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Mar 24, 2011 Amberlouise rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was very well written. It is the memoirs of a teenaged Polish Jewish boy, and what he personally went through during WWII. The collection of pictures are amazing. Most of them from Nazi records, because of the nature, but all very well done in taste. This is a Children's NON FICTION book and I think they approached it very well, making it educational, entertaining to read, but not graphic to where it is still suitable for children. I would however, not let my kids read it until they ar...more

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May 03, 2013 Janet Amaya rated it 3 of 5 stars

What I liked about the book:
• That no matter what, he chose to never give up and make it till the end.
• He decided to look on the bright side of things.

For example, while the Nazi’s would beat them and say horrible things to them he chose not to let the comments that were always made to get to him. Also, even though they were in a horrible time at that moment he decided that he will do anything to survive because he had a dream that when all of this is over he would see his family waiting for hi...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Madison Daub rated it 3 of 5 stars

For my biography book I chose a book by Andrea Warren about a 15 year old boy who was in the Nazi death camps. Jack was a 15 year old boy who was torn away from his family and thrown in the death camps. He now is living in the nightmare and trying to survive day by day. The boy has a strong will to survive and see his family again. This book gives a lot of details about living in the camps and what a struggle it was. I think that the detail and knowing that it was a young boy, would really make...more

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Dec 14, 2010 Olivia S. rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When the word Holocaust comes to mind, I think of the 6,000,000 Jews who died and suffered. Why would Hitler do such a thing? In the book Surviving Hitler a boy named Jack Mandelbaum tells the story of his life. From starvation, to sicknesses, to no food and many deaths Jack was one of the few people who remained alive. He was just an ordinary kid living in Gydia with his family who he loved very much. Then the time came... Jack was seperated from his family and was left on his own. It was all...more When the word Holocaust comes to mind, I think of the 6,000,000 Jews who died and suffered. Why would Hitler do such a thing? In the book Surviving Hitler a boy named Jack Mandelbaum tells the story of his life. From starvation, to sicknesses, to no food and many deaths Jack was one of the few people who remained alive. He was just an ordinary kid living in Gydia with his family who he loved very much. Then the time came... Jack was seperated from his family and was left on his own. It was all up to him and he did not recongnize one face. Can you image if this happened to you? Every day in the book Jack became stronger and braver, but he explained that it was not so easy. Along the way he met a couple of new friends named Aaron and Moniek and they really helped him through. One of the main reasons why Jack survived the Holocaust is because he was promoted to becoming a chef with his friend Moniek, and secretly they would steal food. Without this privilege Jack and Moniek would not have made it . One day when Jack woke up the Kapos and the guards were gone. Nothing but the prisoners were left and that was when they knew they were free. After Jack and Moniek said their goodbyes they both went on a search to find the rest of their families. Sadley the only people that were left from Jacks family were Uncle Sigmund, cousin Arek Mandelbaum and Aunt Hinda, but he was lucky because some people didnt have any family members left. What if you lost someone you loved very much in a situation like this, how would you feel? After reading Jacks story and how he survived it really made me think deeper. I thought more about what the Holocaust was really about and how scared people must have been. The Holocaust is not only when 6,000,000 Jews died, It is a memory that we will never forget.
The author Andrea Warren was told this story by Jack Mandelbaum. She did an unbelievable job with everything and I would not change one thing in the book because it was so well written and very descriptive. This book is filled with unexpected events and is very grabbing that I couldnt even put the book down. On almost every page there is a picture of the Holocast and the pictures are worth a thousand words. They are so depressing and detailed that they tell a story on their own. Also the plot was very organized. Every chapter was very descriptive and very vizual. I would describe the plot as a timeline of Jacks life because in the begginning it talked about what it was like before the holocaust and how he had a normal life. Then it started leading into how he got seperated from his family and how he survived. I would definetly recomend this book because there are many lessons you can learn. Many people dont really know why they Holocaust happened, but after reading "Surviving Hitler" I think you can get a clear definition of what it was like back then and how hard it was to survive. Jack Mandelbaum was a very strong and courageous person that we should all look up to as a role model. What I learned from him is to never give up and never stop believing. That might sound cheesy but it is true!

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Nov 05, 2012 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: rls-520

Robert Sibert Book Review

Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps, by Andrea Warren is an excellent example of historical non-fiction. The story details the experience of a Jack, a 13 year old boy and his survival in numerous concentration camps throughout the Holocaust. Separated from his family, Jack’s determination and will to survive is what keeps him strong during his darkest hours. I recommend this book to children starting in grades 5th and up. It’s very descriptive and the photos...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have made a habit of never discounting a Holocaust book, or making one story more important than another. Every survivor has their own story to tell, and sure, bits and pieces of them may be repetitive, but that makes it even more important to me. To think that many people were affected by one man's evil dream is horrifying to me, and I am thankful for each survival story that is shared.

This is my first experience listening to an audiobook in this genre, and I wasn't sure how it would go for m...more I have made a habit of never discounting a Holocaust book, or making one story more important than another. Every survivor has their own story to tell, and sure, bits and pieces of them may be repetitive, but that makes it even more important to me. To think that many people were affected by one man's evil dream is horrifying to me, and I am thankful for each survival story that is shared.

This is my first experience listening to an audiobook in this genre, and I wasn't sure how it would go for me. When I first started listening to it, I enjoyed hearing Jack's story, but found myself disliking the narration. I feel that some more development should have been given to the audioversion, because Lockman's voice seemed almost robotic to me. Although this was annoying to me, I did not let it interfere with my desire to hear a survivor's story. I mean, it is quite a short audiobook at two and half hours long so it's not hard to stick it out.

I did get confused a couple of times, and maybe the print version would have been different for me. There were instances in the book where Warren is describing Jack's experiences, but then it can change to Jack telling his own story in first person. Sometimes I had to back up a track just to make sure I heard something correctly.

Jack shares his life within the concentration camps with us, as he is shuffled to various camps, looking for friends and any help to keep him surviving. I think the important message I received from Jack's story was when he was talking about the hatred that some of his fellow prisoners had for their captors. Jack decided early on that he would not harbor hatred towards the Germans because that would require too much energy, and he had to preserve all of his energy to survive so he could be reunited with his family when the war is over.

This novel brings us through Jack's entire Holocaust nightmare, from imprisonment, to liberation, to his search for his family. With themes of the Holocaust, survival, and family, this novel can be enjoyed by people of all ages, for book club discussions or personal leisure. We all must never forget this period of history to prevent these crimes from happening again. I don't hesitate in recommending this novel.(less)

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Apr 08, 2010 Luann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sibert-honor, holocaust, young-adult, nonfiction, war, biography, 2010

There's always room for another book telling the story of a Holocaust survivor. This is a particularly nice one for young adults. It isn't too long or graphic, but still doesn't pull punches in sharing the experiences of 15-year-old Jack Mandelbaum.

Jack survived his time in concentrations camps for several reasons. He made good friends who gave him good advice and who helped him to laugh and keep his optimism going through his darkest days and moods of despair. His family was also a huge factor....more There's always room for another book telling the story of a Holocaust survivor. This is a particularly nice one for young adults. It isn't too long or graphic, but still doesn't pull punches in sharing the experiences of 15-year-old Jack Mandelbaum.

Jack survived his time in concentrations camps for several reasons. He made good friends who gave him good advice and who helped him to laugh and keep his optimism going through his darkest days and moods of despair. His family was also a huge factor. He had a burning desire to survive so that he could be reunited with his family. He also made several key decisions. He decided, based on advice from a friend, that he would not take what was happening to him personally. He would treat it like a game in which he would outlast the Nazis. Also, he would not complain, but would act respectful, be likable and cooperative, and as good of a worker as he could. He chose not to hate the kapos, the guards, or the officers. He felt that the negative emotion of hate would consume energy that he needed for survival. He said, "In spite of all the terrible things that happened to me, I did not allow Hitler to make me feel less than human. I had been raised well and I knew who I was. My strategy was not to allow myself to hate. I knew I could be consumed by hate."

After all of that, with good decisions and some luck, Jack survived the concentration camps. The sad part is that of the 80 people in Jack's extended family, only five survived. None of his immediate family survived.

Because of the way Jack chose to live during his concentration camp experiences, he has some very wise advice for the rest of us. He says:

One thing people wonder is why the Jews did not defend themselves, why we were like lambs led to the slaughter. In truth, many Jews fought back bravely. But the Holocaust was so well planned that we were overwhelmed. It started with little acts of racism and discrimination and eventually led to the murder of millions of innocents. We thought the European people would rise up out of basic decency and defend us. Some tried, but not enough. We must never think the Holocaust cannot happen again.

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Apr 01, 2012 Kevin Zhang rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was about Jack Mandelbaum where when he was 12 the Nazi's attacked his homeland Poland. He was Jewish and he knew little about his religion and yet dressed like everyone else. Soon after Hitlet conquered Poland they were sent to Poland where he was forced to do labor work and at 15 he was sent to many different concentration camps. The way the author tells the story is good because she describes the details so vividly which gives you a picture of what actually happened during the Holoc...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Surviving Hitler
160 Pages
Non Fiction

This book is about a boy who lives in the Nazi death camps during WWII and is starved by the brownshirts. He is shipped from camp to camp during this time. I can relate to this book because it takes place during WWII in Europe with the Nazis. My maternal grandmother lived in Amsterdam during this time and she saw brownshirts outside her window patrolling the streets. I enjoy this historical period almost as much as the Civil War because I can relate to it. I r...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Susan Poling rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: High School English, Social Studies and History Teachers.

Shelves: nonfiction, wwii-hitler-judism

This is quite a story. My neice, Nora Poling, told me about it. She uses it, along with "Night" by Elie Wiesel, in a unit for her freshman high school literature class in Decatur, Georgia. I would love to be in that classroom during the discussions of these books.

The story is about 16 year-old Jacob Mandelbaum, a Polish Jew, who is determined to live despite the conditions of the various concentration camps in which he is imprisoned. It ends with Jack as an adult,a successful businessman in Kans...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Briannadevonne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Surviving Hitler is the devastating autobiography of a Jewish boy named Jack Mandebaum who is seperated from him family and forced into a concentration camp. It was a very traumatic experience for him and readers will feel his pain, desperation, and hope. What I really liked about the book is the black and white pictures that are featured. The pictures give realistic images of what concentration camps were really like. This book would be very helpful when teaching adolecents about WWII and the H...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Lauren Stoolfire rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-and-memoir, history, middle-grade, non-fiction, young-adult

This biography focuses on the experiences of Jack Mandelbaum as he survived three years in Nazi concentration camps. This story is extremely touching as Jack vows not to hate his captors, manages to form lifelong bonds while attempting to beat the Nazi’s at a life and death game, and see his family again. This biography includes numerous photos, a table of contents, resource recommendations broken down by age, and an index. For readers of this, no matter the age, there needs to be discussion on...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Mackenzie is currently reading it

This book is very interesting to me. It's about a boy who is Jewish named Jack, Jack and his family has to move in with his uncle because oh Hitler and his army. Then his family gets separated and he is sent to a concentration camp. He is the youngest boy there and he learns the rules very quickly to avoid beatings by his Kapo (his guard but the Kapo is also a prisoner). He also makes a friend named Aaron. Aaron teaches Jack how to avoid beings the best way possible. One the last page I left on...more

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