Fragments of Memory: From Kolin to Jerusalem

by Hana Greenfield

The extermination of Jews, political prisoners, homosexuals and other undesirables by the Nazis during the 1940's is very well documented in hundreds of historical books, but without the eye witness testimony of the few who survived this period they become almost hollow. In Fragments of Memory, Hana Greenfield relives the horrors of the European Jewish population, during what came to be known as the Holocaust, in spellbinding and horrifying detail. She remembers family, friends and neighbors who were subjected to inhumane treatment, humiliation, hunger and brutality on a daily basis. She recalls horror, fear and sadness, but also brief and all too infrequent moments of hope and happiness, which are often followed by yet more despair. Each story is well written in small, bite-sized chunks, and each can be read as a stand-alone piece or as part of the whole book, making it easy for the reader to dip in and out of the chapters as they please. The sheer horror of Hana's time in different camps, including the notorious Auschwitz, and the constant fear in which she was forced to live, is conveyed through these tales in a way that only one who had lived through it could deliver.

Genres: Holocaust

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Dem · Rating 4 out of 5]

review to follow

[Bev Walkling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter in this book can be read individually as it tells of a memory from Hannah Green of her time in a concentration camp. There is occasional mild repetition but not in a way that reduces reading enjoyment. These memories are not easy ones to hear. In the final chapters the focus moves to finding out the story of the Bialstock children who were killed by the Germans when no one would follow through on arrangement to pay money for their transfer to safety.

[Joy Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book in a Library book sale box while I was looking for memoirs. This book is a spell-binding eye-witness account of the extermination of the Polish Jewry in chilling detail. The author survived, just barely, because of her youthful strength maybe. She writes of her search for her mother who died along with 1,196 children and 53 adults at Auschwitz. When we see resurgences of white nationalism in Europe and America, we must remember the lengths that German precision to murder can take humanity. We, too, must not forget. Hana Greenfield makes it imperative in her much translated work.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very quick short read. However, it has a very strong message about a Survivor! It was unfortunately too easy to picture what was being described.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short quick read. I got this book while visiting Terezin (Theresienstadt) during my Czech trip last week. The lady at the Small Fortress' souvenir shop recommended this book and another book. The other one was more of a picture book on the belongings of an orphaned girl, and her belongings were sent to a Japanese scholar (I think? I didn't read too well what it was about) and thus I decided to get this book instead, as at that time I wanted to read about Terezin... There wasn't too much on Terezin in this book though.

The book is made up of chapters of single incidents. Timeline-wise it jumped a bit back and forth in time so that was slightly confusing, but otherwise every story, incident and scenario were clearly presented.

It was a horrifying read and while I know that the horror I felt reading this in no way compares to the despair of the ones actually living through it, I feel very, very sorry about it. And well.. I sort of felt like what President Vaclav Havel declared (as quoted from the book) "I am ashamed, if I may say so, of the human race, of mankind, of man. I feel this is his crime and disgrace, and thus also my crime and disgrace. It is necessary to talk about the suffering of the Jewish people even though it is so difficult to do so."

People tell me that when they read books on the holocaust they feel grumpy. I myself feel chilled to the bone and not understanding why there was all that hate... and well... reading a holocaust book always makes me wanting to read more...

In this particular book, I kept wondering if the author had returned to one of the camps to retrieve the cigarette box that she buried which had her father's passport and her mother's photo. I wondered what happened to the married couple that gave her food and a pair of shoes...

So many things this has made me want to know...