Road to Hell: Recollections of the Nazi Death March

by Joseph Freeman, Donald Schwartz (Editor)

This is the story of Joseph Freeman -- one of the few survivors of the infamous death marches that took place in the last months of World War II, when the Russians from the East and the other allies from the West were closing in. Panicked, and yet still ruthlessly attempting to bring about the Final Solution, the Nazis forced their prisoners out of their killing centers on Polish soil -- Auschwitz-Birkenau among them -- and marched them westward. Half-starved and weakened by the horrors they had endured in the camps, many more prisoners died in the grueling marches.

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1998

Reviews

[gemsbooknook Geramie Kate Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Job: The moving personal narrative of a Polish Jew who survived the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis.

The Road To Hell: This is the story of Joseph Freeman — one of the few survivors of the infamous death marches that took place in the last months of World War II, when the Russians from the East and the other allies from the West were closing in. Panicked, and yet still ruthlessly attempting to bring about the Final Solution, the Nazis forced their prisoners out of their killing centers on Polish soil — Auschwitz-Birkenau among them — and marched them westward. Half-starved and weakened by the horrors they had endured in the camps, many more prisoners died in the grueling marches.’

These books were incredibly moving.
I have grouped these books together because the second book; The Road To Hell actually takes place towards the end of Job. At the time of writing Job, Joseph Freeman wasn’t ready to relive the traumas of the death march so he left that out of the story. After reading The Road To Hell I can completely understand why he made this decision at the time. But now that I have both books I decided to review them as one.

As someone who has read a lot about WWII and the Holocaust, I am always interested to read about individual people’s experiences during that time. Every time I pick up a memoir about the Holocaust I am always shocked and overwhelmed by the horrific things the authors went through and the strength they had not only to survive but to tell their stories.
These books had so much emotion poured into them that I had to keep putting them down in order to compose myself before I continued reading. Given the fact that these books aren’t very long, the ratio of trauma and suffering is difficult to comprehend.
Joseph Freeman has done a fantastic job with these books. They tell his story with clarity and heart without skipping over any of the difficult situations. The way he has written these books makes you feel like you are sitting with him as he tells you his story rather than reading a book. The connection between Joseph Freeman and the reader is so strong it makes the story leap off the pages.
Job & The Road To Hell by Joseph Freeman are must-read books for everyone.

Geramie Kate Barker
gemsbooknook.wordpress.com

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry in the middle of Barnes and Nobles! I read it all in one sitting. It's about one man's hope to live during the most difficult times in history. As he walks with his fellow Jews in the Nazi Death camp during Hitler's reign, he collects stories of the injustice and torture inflicted upon him and his beloved friends. He eats vomit to stay alive and basically loses his identity as a human being. It's amazing how some people with such strong minds manage to survive such catastrophic moments.

[Bram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read many accounts of the horrors of concentration camp life with their familiar tropes, this glimpse into an altogether different Hell was quite the revelation. A must read to understand the full extent of the Nazi machine, especially in its dying days.