Glimpses: Through Holocaust and Liberation [Hardcover]

Benjamin Bender (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1995

Holocaust survivor Bender was 11 years old when the German army invaded his native Poland. He lived in Czestochowa, a backward town steeped in medieval ideas and anti-Semitic attitudes--and thoroughly unprepared for the mechanized terror of the Nazis. When the SS arrived, Bender, his family, and the town's other Jews were soon segregated into a ghetto. Later, Bender and his brother were spared from the death camps because they could provide useful labor for Hitler's war machine. Forced to leave their parents behind, they moved from factory to factory, only to end up at Buchenwald.

Interspersed throughout are chapters about Bender's future wife, Sara, her struggle against Nazi occupation, and how she and Bender later met in an Israeli kibbutz. Glimpses is an extremely readable narrative that's both horrifying and uplifting.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Holocaust survivor Bender was 11 years old when the German army invaded his native Poland. He lived in Czestochowa, a backward town steeped in medieval ideas and anti-Semitic attitudes--and thoroughly unprepared for the mechanized terror of the Nazis. When the SS arrived, Bender, his family, and the town's other Jews were soon segregated into a ghetto. Later, Bender and his brother were spared from the death camps because they could provide useful labor for Hitler's war machine. Forced to leave their parents behind, they moved from factory to factory, only to end up at Buchenwald. Interspersed throughout are chapters about Bender's future wife, Sara, her struggle against Nazi occupation, and how she and Bender later met in an Israeli kibbutz. Though often informative, her story usually lacks the emotional punch of Bender's heartrending fight against fear and degradation. An extremely readable narrative that's both horrifying and uplifting. Brian McCombie

Review

"Written with passion and urgency...a dramatic life story. There is much anguish in this book, much despair, but also a powerful appeal for maintaining faith in Jewish memory and humanity."
-Elie Weisel, Nobel Laureate, author of Night

"An exceptionally powerful and poignant memoir...an invaluable contribution to the literature of the Holocaust. Few works convey such emotional impact."
-William Styron, author --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 239 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556432097
• ISBN-13: 978-1556432095
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,140,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best written personal holocaust narratives., January 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Glimpses: Through Holocaust and Liberation (Paperback)

I have just finished Glimpses and want to say it made a deep impression upon me. It's a moving account of the World War II experiences of the author and his wife. It's beautifully expressed and one of the best written personal holocaust narratives I have read.

While not a Jew myself, I have long had an interest in Jewish history and especially in that darkest of periods known as the holocaust. Every time I read a book like this it is painful to realize that for every person who survived, there were thousands who were less fortunate. To know that these two people have remained together for so many years and are now helping others to learn the truth about this period in history is especially satisfying.