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Shmuel's Bridge: Following the Tracks to Auschwitz with My Survivor Father
A moving memoir of a son’s relationship with his survivor father and of their Eastern European journey through a family history of incalculable loss.
Jason Sommer’s father, Jay, is ninety-eight years old and losing his memory. More than seventy years after arriving in New York from WWII-torn Europe, he is forgetting the stories that defined his life, the life of his family, and the lives of millions of Jews who were affected by Nazi terror. Observing this loss, Jason vividly recalls the trip to Eastern Europe the two took together in 2001.
As father and son travel from the town of Jay’s birth to the labor camp from which he escaped, and to Auschwitz, where many in his family were lost, the stories Jason’s father has told all his life come alive. So too do Jason’s own memories of the way his father’s past complicated and impacted Jason's own inner life.
Shmuel's Bridge shows history through a double the memories of a growing son’s complex relationship with his father and the meditations of that son who, now grown, finds himself caring for a man losing all connection to a past that must not be forgotten.
Jason Sommer’s father, Jay, is ninety-eight years old and losing his memory. More than seventy years after arriving in New York from WWII-torn Europe, he is forgetting the stories that defined his life, the life of his family, and the lives of millions of Jews who were affected by Nazi terror. Observing this loss, Jason vividly recalls the trip to Eastern Europe the two took together in 2001.
As father and son travel from the town of Jay’s birth to the labor camp from which he escaped, and to Auschwitz, where many in his family were lost, the stories Jason’s father has told all his life come alive. So too do Jason’s own memories of the way his father’s past complicated and impacted Jason's own inner life.
Shmuel's Bridge shows history through a double the memories of a growing son’s complex relationship with his father and the meditations of that son who, now grown, finds himself caring for a man losing all connection to a past that must not be forgotten.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
224 pages, Hardcover
Published March 15, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 22, 2022
This is quite a fascinating story about a father, who was a Holocaust survivor, and his son, traveling through Europe to locate sites where the father experienced significant events during the war. The son, who wrote the story, learned a lot about his father and about himself on the trip. Their focal point was finding the bridge on which the father's brother died while en route to Auschwitz--could they possibly identify the place, since neither had ever seen it and had no names to go by? The description of their day in Auschwitz really moved me. I just read a book about Corrie Ten Boom, and to hear a first-hand description of what it is like today was quite touching.
I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
March 15, 2022
This book is a moving memoir, written from quite a different perspective to similar books. This is not the story of what happened "then", those memories are locked into hearts & kept in the past. The family are curious, but respect the fact that the survivors want to move on & leave that part of their lives behind. This is the story of finding closure to one part of the story - what happened to the youngest brother Shmuel - where exactly did he lose his life?
Commemoration and remembrance is a large part of Jewish culture, but Meilech Steinberger had never been able to remember his brother because he never knew the date of his death or where exactly he died. A chance comment from his sister-in-law over Thanksgiving dinner put them on a new track, one that would lead to a journey that father & son would take together through Eastern Europe. A pilgrimage of sorts, to find Shmuel's bridge. The bridge where young Shmuel attempted to escape from the train taking him & hundreds of other Jews to Auschwitz, where he was shot for his attempt.
As his father is now losing his memory, Jason is sharing the memories of their trip with his father & we get a glimpse into those memories. As a photo is carefully studied or a piece of video footage plays on a laptop screen to the old man, Jason recounts the trip that he took with his father in 2001, a trip that would change them both as old memories came to life and fragments of family stories come together like pieces of a jigsaw. Throughout the book we discover a relationship between son & father that has not always been easy but together they find a new understanding which enables them both to understand how the father's complicated past impacted the son's life, and what the future might hold.
The addition of the maps & the railway line helped the story come to life, a new section of map was added as the story moved along helped me to visualise not only where in Europe they were, but where in the story we were.
This book has made me realise that whilst we must not ignore the stories of the Holocaust survivors & the atrocities of the camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, there is so much more that we are rarely told. The stories of the Eastern Europeans in the days preceding the war, the poverty, the way that friends & neighbours ostracised families they had known for years, the pogroms, the Russian influence, the difficulties still being faced by people in 2001 who wanted to move between Ukraine and Slovakia. This book is a new look at stories we thought we knew, and as an outsider it really moved me to find out more, to listen, to learn, to not assume that I knew the story before it had been told!
Commemoration and remembrance is a large part of Jewish culture, but Meilech Steinberger had never been able to remember his brother because he never knew the date of his death or where exactly he died. A chance comment from his sister-in-law over Thanksgiving dinner put them on a new track, one that would lead to a journey that father & son would take together through Eastern Europe. A pilgrimage of sorts, to find Shmuel's bridge. The bridge where young Shmuel attempted to escape from the train taking him & hundreds of other Jews to Auschwitz, where he was shot for his attempt.
As his father is now losing his memory, Jason is sharing the memories of their trip with his father & we get a glimpse into those memories. As a photo is carefully studied or a piece of video footage plays on a laptop screen to the old man, Jason recounts the trip that he took with his father in 2001, a trip that would change them both as old memories came to life and fragments of family stories come together like pieces of a jigsaw. Throughout the book we discover a relationship between son & father that has not always been easy but together they find a new understanding which enables them both to understand how the father's complicated past impacted the son's life, and what the future might hold.
The addition of the maps & the railway line helped the story come to life, a new section of map was added as the story moved along helped me to visualise not only where in Europe they were, but where in the story we were.
This book has made me realise that whilst we must not ignore the stories of the Holocaust survivors & the atrocities of the camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, there is so much more that we are rarely told. The stories of the Eastern Europeans in the days preceding the war, the poverty, the way that friends & neighbours ostracised families they had known for years, the pogroms, the Russian influence, the difficulties still being faced by people in 2001 who wanted to move between Ukraine and Slovakia. This book is a new look at stories we thought we knew, and as an outsider it really moved me to find out more, to listen, to learn, to not assume that I knew the story before it had been told!
February 26, 2022
Shmuel’s Bridge: Following the Tracks to Auschwitz with My Survivor Father (Charlesbridge, 2022) by Jason Sommer
Reviewed by Shira Yael Klein
This is a Holocaust memoir that is very different from other books of the genre, in that it does not tell a chronological story about what happened to the author’s father. It really explores how different people relate to Holocaust memories, i.e., how the father related to his own memories and how the son and the mother related to his father's memories. Instead of being organized in a sequential, chronological order, this book is presented as a swirl of memories and flashbacks. The narrative is structured by juxtaposing different scenes and images with others that are thematically similar — all the while jumping back and forth across history. Basically, this book is a sort of postmodern reflection on the memory of memory.
The author’s father grew up in a little town next to Munkatch (in Czechoslovakia) and then moved to Munkatch, and later, perhaps as a young adult, spent some time in Budapest. As far as I can reconstruct the history, the family was Orthodox and quite impoverished. The father's mother had been previously married and there were step-siblings from that marriage, most notably a brother Harry, who survived the Holocaust and features fairly prominently in the book. The father’s mother remarried to an alcoholic no-goodnik type, who, at some point, left her as a single mother raising her children. I'm not quite sure how many children were in the family, because at one point the book mentions many step-siblings in passing.
When the Holocaust reached Hungary, the author’s father and his siblings were young adults. The older brother Harry was sent to forced labor. There was also a younger brother named Shmiel/Shmuel who figures prominently in the book. When Shmuel was 17 years old, he was deported to Auschwitz. But on the way, he realized that nothing good was waiting for him at the end of that train ride, so he jumped out the train’s window while the train was passing over a bridge. Although Shmuel managed to escape through the window, jump into the river, and run to the shore, he was shot by the SS guards and died there in the field.
For the author of this book, Shmuel was particularly significant. Apparently, the author had some sort of resemblance to Shmuel both physically and in his mannerisms. The bulk of the book reflects on a trip to Poland that that the author took with his father, where the author embarked on a quest to find the exact bridge where Shmuel had jumped out of the train and been shot.
In this book, the author was trying to give us the experience of different pieces of the past floating around and trying to connect them. I am used to reading a finished product after all the research has been done and the author has done their best to fit the pieces together. But here, the author wanted us to share in his experience of memory, as opposed to just telling us the facts.
In fact, a lot of the facts are actually omitted, like exactly what happened with the mother's previous marriage. Although the author’s father clearly survived the war and this is a Holocaust story, the exact circumstances about how he survived are not fully fleshed out, because the author is not trying to present us with a chronological narrative; he's trying to present us with the experience of memory.
Interestingly, the book makes this whole dramatic buildup to the fact that Sommer is not really the author’s original surname. The author’s uncle lets it slip that that Sommer is not really his name, but is somebody else's name. But then the book never explains what was going on. Throughout the narrative, it casually uses the name Steinberger as the father's last name, but never explains how Steinberger turned into Sommer.
The author engages quite frequently in psychoanalysis. There is a lot of description, with painstaking detail of where he and his father went, and what exactly happened at each juncture, along with what the author was thinking and what he thinks his father was doing and thinking and why the author thinks that the father was acting that way.
There are various themes that comes up as undertones that the book discussed in a muted way but did not expand upon, like how the Holocaust was a pretty miserable experience for anybody who was in the region, Jewish or non-Jewish. Another theme that was not focused on but does come up is the author’s father being bothered that his son is not as observant as he would like him to be. And, conversely, the author wondering how his father could still trust in a God that betrayed him.
All in all, these different memories, scenes, and thoughts are presented very deliberately; they are artfully juxtaposed to elicit a certain connection between them. This is quite unlike the typical chronological front-to-back prose that readers might be used to. It more closely reflects real life, a person's real-life experience as a medley of different memories, different flashbacks, free stream of consciousness. The author of this novel is an accomplished poet, so it’s no wonder that the tapestry of memories that this book presents is almost poetic in nature.
Shira Yael Klein (nee Deifik) is a freelance editor who lives with her family in the West Bank city of Beitar Illit. She reviews books for the Rachack Review and can be reached via email at songbeat@sbcglobal.net
Reviewed by Shira Yael Klein
This is a Holocaust memoir that is very different from other books of the genre, in that it does not tell a chronological story about what happened to the author’s father. It really explores how different people relate to Holocaust memories, i.e., how the father related to his own memories and how the son and the mother related to his father's memories. Instead of being organized in a sequential, chronological order, this book is presented as a swirl of memories and flashbacks. The narrative is structured by juxtaposing different scenes and images with others that are thematically similar — all the while jumping back and forth across history. Basically, this book is a sort of postmodern reflection on the memory of memory.
The author’s father grew up in a little town next to Munkatch (in Czechoslovakia) and then moved to Munkatch, and later, perhaps as a young adult, spent some time in Budapest. As far as I can reconstruct the history, the family was Orthodox and quite impoverished. The father's mother had been previously married and there were step-siblings from that marriage, most notably a brother Harry, who survived the Holocaust and features fairly prominently in the book. The father’s mother remarried to an alcoholic no-goodnik type, who, at some point, left her as a single mother raising her children. I'm not quite sure how many children were in the family, because at one point the book mentions many step-siblings in passing.
When the Holocaust reached Hungary, the author’s father and his siblings were young adults. The older brother Harry was sent to forced labor. There was also a younger brother named Shmiel/Shmuel who figures prominently in the book. When Shmuel was 17 years old, he was deported to Auschwitz. But on the way, he realized that nothing good was waiting for him at the end of that train ride, so he jumped out the train’s window while the train was passing over a bridge. Although Shmuel managed to escape through the window, jump into the river, and run to the shore, he was shot by the SS guards and died there in the field.
For the author of this book, Shmuel was particularly significant. Apparently, the author had some sort of resemblance to Shmuel both physically and in his mannerisms. The bulk of the book reflects on a trip to Poland that that the author took with his father, where the author embarked on a quest to find the exact bridge where Shmuel had jumped out of the train and been shot.
In this book, the author was trying to give us the experience of different pieces of the past floating around and trying to connect them. I am used to reading a finished product after all the research has been done and the author has done their best to fit the pieces together. But here, the author wanted us to share in his experience of memory, as opposed to just telling us the facts.
In fact, a lot of the facts are actually omitted, like exactly what happened with the mother's previous marriage. Although the author’s father clearly survived the war and this is a Holocaust story, the exact circumstances about how he survived are not fully fleshed out, because the author is not trying to present us with a chronological narrative; he's trying to present us with the experience of memory.
Interestingly, the book makes this whole dramatic buildup to the fact that Sommer is not really the author’s original surname. The author’s uncle lets it slip that that Sommer is not really his name, but is somebody else's name. But then the book never explains what was going on. Throughout the narrative, it casually uses the name Steinberger as the father's last name, but never explains how Steinberger turned into Sommer.
The author engages quite frequently in psychoanalysis. There is a lot of description, with painstaking detail of where he and his father went, and what exactly happened at each juncture, along with what the author was thinking and what he thinks his father was doing and thinking and why the author thinks that the father was acting that way.
There are various themes that comes up as undertones that the book discussed in a muted way but did not expand upon, like how the Holocaust was a pretty miserable experience for anybody who was in the region, Jewish or non-Jewish. Another theme that was not focused on but does come up is the author’s father being bothered that his son is not as observant as he would like him to be. And, conversely, the author wondering how his father could still trust in a God that betrayed him.
All in all, these different memories, scenes, and thoughts are presented very deliberately; they are artfully juxtaposed to elicit a certain connection between them. This is quite unlike the typical chronological front-to-back prose that readers might be used to. It more closely reflects real life, a person's real-life experience as a medley of different memories, different flashbacks, free stream of consciousness. The author of this novel is an accomplished poet, so it’s no wonder that the tapestry of memories that this book presents is almost poetic in nature.
Shira Yael Klein (nee Deifik) is a freelance editor who lives with her family in the West Bank city of Beitar Illit. She reviews books for the Rachack Review and can be reached via email at songbeat@sbcglobal.net
August 29, 2025
The author takes us on a great journey following in the footsteps of his father and uncle.
January 1, 2022
Shmuel's Bridge: Following the Tracks to Auschwitz with My Survivor Father
Jason Sommer
Release date: 15 Mar 2022
Description:
"A moving memoir of a son’s relationship with his survivor father and of their Eastern European journey through a family history of incalculable loss.
Jason Sommer’s father, Jay, is ninety-eight years old and losing his memory. More than seventy years after arriving in New York from WWII-torn Europe, he is forgetting the stories that defined his life, the life of his family, and the lives of millions of Jews who were affected by Nazi terror. Observing this loss, Jason vividly recalls the trip to Eastern Europe the two took together in 2001.
As father and son travel from the town of Jay’s birth to the labor camp from which he escaped, and to Auschwitz, where many in his family were lost, the stories Jason’s father has told all his life come alive. So too do Jason’s own memories of the way his father’s past complicated and impacted Jason's own inner life.
Shmuel's Bridge shows history through a double lens: the memories of a growing son’s complex relationship with his father and the meditations of that son who, now grown, finds himself caring for a man losing all connection to a past that must not be forgotten."
Review:
True story of a father and son (also the author) who journey to Eastern Europe in 2001 to revisit the atrocities of the Second World War. Jason, a poet, seems to have had a complicated life growing up with his father but other than a few occasional quips, I don't think this angle was thoroughly explored, however. As with most books dealing with the Holocaust, it was an unbelievably horrendous time to be alive. And, if you were Jewish, life only got worse. The Sommers went on the trip with the purpose of finding where exactly Uncle Shmuel died, but in the process, they discovered so much more. I enjoyed their trip through Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland. Trips like this need to be taken by everyone so that we never, ever, forget what happened when Nazi Germany was in power.
I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
Jason Sommer
Release date: 15 Mar 2022
Description:
"A moving memoir of a son’s relationship with his survivor father and of their Eastern European journey through a family history of incalculable loss.
Jason Sommer’s father, Jay, is ninety-eight years old and losing his memory. More than seventy years after arriving in New York from WWII-torn Europe, he is forgetting the stories that defined his life, the life of his family, and the lives of millions of Jews who were affected by Nazi terror. Observing this loss, Jason vividly recalls the trip to Eastern Europe the two took together in 2001.
As father and son travel from the town of Jay’s birth to the labor camp from which he escaped, and to Auschwitz, where many in his family were lost, the stories Jason’s father has told all his life come alive. So too do Jason’s own memories of the way his father’s past complicated and impacted Jason's own inner life.
Shmuel's Bridge shows history through a double lens: the memories of a growing son’s complex relationship with his father and the meditations of that son who, now grown, finds himself caring for a man losing all connection to a past that must not be forgotten."
Review:
True story of a father and son (also the author) who journey to Eastern Europe in 2001 to revisit the atrocities of the Second World War. Jason, a poet, seems to have had a complicated life growing up with his father but other than a few occasional quips, I don't think this angle was thoroughly explored, however. As with most books dealing with the Holocaust, it was an unbelievably horrendous time to be alive. And, if you were Jewish, life only got worse. The Sommers went on the trip with the purpose of finding where exactly Uncle Shmuel died, but in the process, they discovered so much more. I enjoyed their trip through Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland. Trips like this need to be taken by everyone so that we never, ever, forget what happened when Nazi Germany was in power.
I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
February 16, 2022
Seven decades after arriving in New York from war-torn Europe, Jay Sommer is losing his memory, erasing stories of his family, his escape from a labor camp, the important memories of his past. This has his son, Jason Sommer, reflecting on the trip he took with his father in 2001 to retrace his father’s steps across Eastern Europe and to visit the place where members of his family were murdered, Auschwitz.
This is an incredibly touching memoir that seeks to serve two purposes. The first is to preserve the story of Jay Sommer, a survivor the Holocaust. The second is a son’s search for understanding of and connection to his father. A relationship made more complex as the result of generational trauma.
It was very moving to see the growth in connection between father and son as they made their way across Eastern Europe, as they made discoveries and recovered Jay’s buried memories of lost family members.
I’d like to thank the author for the free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Shmuel’s Bridge is scheduled for release on March 15, 2022.
This is an incredibly touching memoir that seeks to serve two purposes. The first is to preserve the story of Jay Sommer, a survivor the Holocaust. The second is a son’s search for understanding of and connection to his father. A relationship made more complex as the result of generational trauma.
It was very moving to see the growth in connection between father and son as they made their way across Eastern Europe, as they made discoveries and recovered Jay’s buried memories of lost family members.
I’d like to thank the author for the free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Shmuel’s Bridge is scheduled for release on March 15, 2022.
March 18, 2025
A very moving telling of a father, a Holocaust survivor, and his son on a journey to revisit a route taken to Auschwitz by an uncle who did not survive the journey. Along the way they pair also visit places that bring back some painful memories, but provide a chance to maybe enable the son to
become closer to a father he seems never to have understood very well. Very well written, it provided another viewpoint of a sad chapter in our history and the affect it had on so many.
become closer to a father he seems never to have understood very well. Very well written, it provided another viewpoint of a sad chapter in our history and the affect it had on so many.
October 13, 2024
Ihm, I don't even know what I just listened to. I didn't understand much, not because of the words but because the author didn't really explain things. I'm confused as to what he felt towards his dad and other things. It feels like there was quite a bit of information missing, that would've been important. I read all that, yet I can't tell you what happened and there's nothing much I can take away from it
September 27, 2023
A heartfelt message of the fragility of love between father and son. A recounting on tragedy. Well done.
March 14, 2022
Shmuel's Bridge is a riveting memoir describing author Jason Sommer's complicated relationship with his father and Jewish Holocaust survivor, Jay. In particular he addresses Jewishness and horrors inflicted by humankind upon others during WWII in Eastern Europe. But it is more than the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is a story about the enduring physical and (mostly) mental effects of Jewish persecution and genocide through the eyes of father and son (his mother was American and was not involved in the war, though she visited Eastern Europe with her husband earlier). Prefacing each chapter is poetry written by Sommer, also a poet who writes frankly, introspectively and thoughtfully. Blessed with an intellectual family, he has a beautiful and poignant way with words. Jay spoke many languages and was a recognized master teacher.
At the age of 98, Jay understandably had trouble remembering things. Jason frequently showed him pictures and videos including those of their 2001 trip to Eastern Europe where they visited Jay's childhood home, the labour camp in Budapest from which he escaped, the search for Shmuel's bridge and visiting killing camps. Their trip took them to Hungary, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. Jason's aunt and uncle are survivors as well, against all odds. However, Uncle Shmuel did not. The topic was hushed at home but discovered further details when he asked questions once at the dinner table and later in situ in Europe.
Those interested in WWII history and reflections on its multigenerational effects ought to read this. I really liked the inclusion of family photographs and maps.
My sincere thank you to Charlesbridge, Imagine and NetGalley for the honour of reading this compelling and harrowing book.
At the age of 98, Jay understandably had trouble remembering things. Jason frequently showed him pictures and videos including those of their 2001 trip to Eastern Europe where they visited Jay's childhood home, the labour camp in Budapest from which he escaped, the search for Shmuel's bridge and visiting killing camps. Their trip took them to Hungary, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. Jason's aunt and uncle are survivors as well, against all odds. However, Uncle Shmuel did not. The topic was hushed at home but discovered further details when he asked questions once at the dinner table and later in situ in Europe.
Those interested in WWII history and reflections on its multigenerational effects ought to read this. I really liked the inclusion of family photographs and maps.
My sincere thank you to Charlesbridge, Imagine and NetGalley for the honour of reading this compelling and harrowing book.
January 13, 2025
Do any of us really know our parents as people, outside of their official roles in our lives? Probably not. Those of us who are of a certain age will have noticed that our parents had no intention of being our friends and thus didn't confide in us as kids. But what if one of your parents had lived through a horrific event and you knew about it but not MUCH about it? You'd be curious.
"Shmuel's Bridge" is a memoir about poet Jason Sommer's journey to the location of a pivotal moment in his Holocaust survivor's father's life. As a highly educated academic, and in the tradition of the Jewish talent for analysis, Sommer is constantly aware of his relationship to his father, if not the other way around. The central theme of this book creates a tension between them that keeps the reader engaged. There are three or four places where the author becomes aware of some gut-wrenching truths about his father and about himself.
As a convert to Judaism myself, I began to learn about the experiences of Jewish friends and, for many, their upbringings by survivors of the Holocaust. Jews not connected to the Holocaust in a direct way still live under the slight unease all Jews sense. The children of survivors have questions that may never be fully answered.
Is this a Holocaust book? Yes, in that it takes place in central Europe where the Holocaust played out. (If you are a fan of history, this book will be a treat.) It is a Holocaust book because it illuminates how that kind of horror is passed to the next generation, and the next, and the next.
Will non-Jews enjoy this book? Absolutely. Everyone has parents and has had issues with those relationships; they will identify with this writer's attempts to understand and to repair. That is certainly worth reading about.
"Shmuel's Bridge" is a memoir about poet Jason Sommer's journey to the location of a pivotal moment in his Holocaust survivor's father's life. As a highly educated academic, and in the tradition of the Jewish talent for analysis, Sommer is constantly aware of his relationship to his father, if not the other way around. The central theme of this book creates a tension between them that keeps the reader engaged. There are three or four places where the author becomes aware of some gut-wrenching truths about his father and about himself.
As a convert to Judaism myself, I began to learn about the experiences of Jewish friends and, for many, their upbringings by survivors of the Holocaust. Jews not connected to the Holocaust in a direct way still live under the slight unease all Jews sense. The children of survivors have questions that may never be fully answered.
Is this a Holocaust book? Yes, in that it takes place in central Europe where the Holocaust played out. (If you are a fan of history, this book will be a treat.) It is a Holocaust book because it illuminates how that kind of horror is passed to the next generation, and the next, and the next.
Will non-Jews enjoy this book? Absolutely. Everyone has parents and has had issues with those relationships; they will identify with this writer's attempts to understand and to repair. That is certainly worth reading about.
April 18, 2024
Jay is ninety eight years old and extremely accomplished. He speaks ten languages, taught gymnastics and dance. He was awarded New York's teacher of the year and the national teacher of the year . Jay was also a Holocaust survivor. He told Jason, his son, many memories of his horrific experience. The memories were getting harder for Jay to recall and so Jason decided they needed to visit the places in his memories.
You are going to love this book. It tells you and takes you to some of the most horrific places. It's very well written and should be in your must read pile. You will experience the Holocaust first hand in this book. Mr. Sommer's tells the story in such clear and haunting terms you'll feel like you are there. I love that Jay and his son went back to the places he spent time in. As Mr. Sommers relives those memories you get a first hand "look" at Auschwitz.
I did find one issue. The book's title is about Jay's brother yet he isn't mentioned much at all. I feel to be true to the title, prying the information about Shmuel from family members memories.
I gave this one 5 cheers because I enjoyed the book so much. You will as well so get your copy today.
The author provided a copy of the book but I chose to review it.
You are going to love this book. It tells you and takes you to some of the most horrific places. It's very well written and should be in your must read pile. You will experience the Holocaust first hand in this book. Mr. Sommer's tells the story in such clear and haunting terms you'll feel like you are there. I love that Jay and his son went back to the places he spent time in. As Mr. Sommers relives those memories you get a first hand "look" at Auschwitz.
I did find one issue. The book's title is about Jay's brother yet he isn't mentioned much at all. I feel to be true to the title, prying the information about Shmuel from family members memories.
I gave this one 5 cheers because I enjoyed the book so much. You will as well so get your copy today.
The author provided a copy of the book but I chose to review it.
March 21, 2022
A very difficult subject written with lightness and respect that proved to be enlightening and educational as it provides more information on the Holocaust and WWII. Jason Sommer has done beautiful work with his words when putting this personal and poignant story together. I'll be looking forward to reading other books by this author.
August 5, 2022
Very good and thoughtful book.
March 13, 2023
moving, personal memoir. great use of maps and images
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews