Customer Reviews

Escape from the Holocaust (Roseman, Kenneth. Do-It-Yourself Jewish Adventure Series.)

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I can't hold on to copies of this book...whenever someone discovers that there really is a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book about the Shoah, they borrow it and don't return it. Roseman is well-meaning, but casting this incredible tragedy as an "escapable" tragedy insults the millions who died. I have not shown this book to anyone who didn't consider it to be a sick exercise and totally inappropriate. There's a spirited debate -- "How do we tell our children about the Holocaust" and a variety of opinion about age-appropriate literature. This sort of minimizing is just not cool, however.

All that aside, it's not a very well written book. Nearly arbituary choices lead to death or emmigration to Israel. You're given four or five opportunities to flee Berlin, but the timing has drastic implications for "you." The author has also crammed so much Zionist propoganda that it cheapens his supposed intent.

This book is worthy buying (multiple times), because it is so sick. It is a cautionary tale, but don't let it fall into the hands of a sensitive teenager.

An outstanding title in the unique UAHC "Do-It-Yourself Jewish Adventure" series for young readers, Escape From The Holocaust by Rabbi Kenneth Roseman (Temple Shalom, Dallas, Texas) is a thrilling adventure story that is also an accurate portrayal of the horrific events arising from the Nazi holocaust of World War II. On every page the young reader confronts the kinds of real life choices that once meant the difference between freedom or slavery, survival or death for thousands of other young people and their elders. The protagonist is a young medical student in Berlin during the 1930s who is confronted by the rise of Hitler and the Nazi's with a choice of returning to his native Poland or remaining to finish his studies. When the holocaust begins, the choices offered are to flee south to Italy or west to Holland. When escape isn't possible any longer, the alternatives are to go into hiding or to obtain false identity papers. Every decision embodies risks in an attempt to survive what is happening around him. Also very highly recommended are two other titles in this outstanding historical series written by Rabbi Roseman: The Tenth Of Av (0807403598, [price]) and The Melting Pot: An Adventure In New York (0807402699, [price]).

I really enjoyed this book because of the accuracy of the information. It was interesting to see how I would react to the problems that would come up in the book. I also like the idea behind the book. It really gives you the since of being there because of the interaction.