In Evidence: Poems of the Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps (Pitt Poetry Series) [Paperback]

Barbara Helfgott Hyett (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 161 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Pittsburgh Pr (Trd) (May 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822953765
• ISBN-13: 978-0822953760
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,971,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book -- simple yet sophisticated, May 22, 2007

By 

TamarDC "tamardc" (Newton, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Evidence: Poems of the Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps (Pitt Poetry Series) (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book. The author has read the testimonies of Allied soldiers, who had liberated the concentration camps in Europe in WWII. Based on these testimonies, she created a set of vignettes in narrative poem form. Each mini-poem (all less than twenty lines long, with but a few words on each line) captures a thought or an experience. Since the author is recreating the experiences of others, I was worried that the poems would be derivative or schmaltzy. But such is not the case. The poems sound authentic and the voice of the soldiers comes through clearly. The poems are simple, but the ideas behind them quite sophisticated. These poems convey the confusing and painful experiences that the young men felt when confronted with the horrific suffering of Holocaust survivors. The poems deal with revulsion and pity, with fear and guilt, with beauty and horrifying ugliness.

I highly recommend this book both to the general reader and to teachers of classes about the Holocaust. Sections of the book would make good sources for discussion.