Customer Reviews

House of Dolls

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
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An essential & compelling piece Holocaust literature, but not much value for JD/NO fanatics.

This book is hard to find, and is also a hard read. If you have come this far then your search is just beginning. Most booksellers list it as delated or out-of-print. I found a copy at my local library, of all places. But if you persevere, then you will be rewarded with a book that tells you everything you every wanted to know (and probably didn't) about life in a German concentration camp. It recounts the true story of a fourteen year-old Polish Jew schoolgirl who eventually arrived at the infamous "Joy Divsion", which was part of a camp that housed prositutes for the pleasure of German officers.

It ranks alongside "A Clockwork Orange" as one of the two most graphic and haunting books I've ever read. I think some of the imagery will remain with me a long time. There are also many allusions to Orwell's world of "1984", and there are recurrent (and sadly true) references to the Germans' twisted terminology. Even the concept of a barrack of prositutes being a "Joy Division" seems a perfect example of Orwell's "doublespeak".

I had hoped to ascertain a bit more knowledge about Joy Division's influences, but apart from the title, there is little relevance. So by that criteria, there was not much gained by reading the book, but the book became compelling in its own right, and I am glad to have read it, and might read more of his work and the genre. But note, that if your crazy about the band, and don't have the broader interest or think you could stomach this sort of thing, then there might not be much point in reading it in the first place.

Ka-Tzetnik's books are novels, in that they draw on the author's experiences and those of other inmates, but do not necessarily depict actual events and actual people. However, regardless of the context, House of Dolls is not for the faint-hearted; it makes Anne Frank's confinement seem like a Sunday School picnic.

The first link (listed below) is the best if you want info on Ka-Tzetnik & the House of Dolls. It's written as apart of an academic essay, but still quite informative and readable. My major query concerned how the author fitted into the picture, so to speak. The essay explains that it is his sister whom is the central character in the book, which is based on her diary. His character in the book is known as "Harry". The book also mentions his younger brother, Moni. Ka-Tzetnik has also written, seperately, about Moni's miserable and tortured life at Auschwitz. Ka-Tzetnik covers his own story in his book "Atrocity", apparently.

Ka-Tzetnik 135633, House of Dolls (Simon and Schuster, 1955)

Ka-Tzetnik 135633, Nazi-assigned pen name of an Auschwitz survivor (oddly, there seems to be some controversy as to who Ka-Tzetnik 135633 was; some say it was Yehiel De-Nir, others Karol Cetynski), here gives an account of life in a Nazi prison camp, but in the most roundabout of ways. This seemingly autobiographical novel (viz. Shvitti: A Vision, where he speaks of his own sister in Daniella's role) deals mostly with the stories of Harry and Daniella, a brother and sister living in the Jewish quarters of an unnamed town on the border of Germany and Poland. Roughly the first half of the book is a simple depiction of trying to get along day to day in the Jewish quarters, told mostly from Daniella's viewpoint. To be blunt, it's slow as molasses. The book picks up (and becomes the highly-recommended-by-the-underground book it is) when Daniella, not long after Harry, is taken to a concentration camp and ends up working in the House of Dolls, a camp brothel. Harry, in the next camp over, has been made the camp medic for no reason anyone can discern. There is little plot to the latter half of the novel; instead, Ka-Tzetnik 135633 infuses the whole mess with a painful sense of irony. Imagine an O.Henry story that runs 250 pages and has a far, far darker cast to it than anything O.Henry ever wrote.

There is much to be gained from reading this book beyond the prurient; don't get me wrong. However, I'm guessing that its audience is going to be an exceptionally narrow one; those who both revel in (or are horrified by, but cannot turn their eyes from) degradation (Daniella, I should mention, is fourteen when the novel takes place; this is the dark and ugly flip side of Duras' wonderful novel The Lover) and are willing to put up with the diction that one had thought went extinct with the death of Henry James. Still, it is the literary equivalent of, say, Shoah, the excellent and painful nine and a half hour film that still stands as the be-all and end-all of concentration camp documentaries. It is brutal and unflinching, for all its slowness, and deserves a wider audience than that which it has already captured. ** ½

First and foremost the book is incredibly hard to find.
An addictive read which makes you cry and be appalled by the horrors and utter sadness.
The personal characters make it a more compelling read where you feel as if you are in their position as opposed to simply a recount.
Sensationalised and exaggerated history where there are no other such recounts of certain aspects.

It is interesting to consider the band "Joy Division" took their name from this book.
With their song "No Love Lost" containing a passage.
This double meaning of the word leaves an indelible reminder whenever one hears their songs.

I am happy I read it even though the $50 price I paid was not very welcoming.

He has written other books.

The names can sometimes get a bit confusing and the random references back to past poems and memories require multiple re-reads of those sections.

I will never forget this book and will definitely read it again.
I have recommended it to many.
Not a simple read but still extremely rewarding.

Probably one of the most painful Holocaust books I've read. Even now years after reading this, my heart thuds remembering. House of Dolls describes a Nazi prostitution camp; where young Jewish women were forced into sexual slavery. The girls and women who weren't chosen as prostitutes were brutalized through arduous, back-breaking physical labor.

I wish no one would have to read a book like this -- but because hate and intolerance still exist no matter what history teaches -- perhaps reading House of Dolls will shock and appall us to stop degrading and destroying each other, and reach higher as human beings.

This book was pretty good. Not as many details as I had hoped regarding the "really gross" stuff one anticipates when one orders/reads this book. What threw me off was the fact that this book is supposed to be based on the diary of Daniella Preleshnik, however; it is noted that the diary could not be produced for proof. I believe that when most true things are disputed, especially something with as sensitive of subject matter as this, the holder of the proof would come forward & want to show the validity of the story - especially when much of the Holocaust happenings were all being disputed by many. Also, the book is not written in jounral style - dates etc.

Anywho, It was a pretty good read.

"House of Dolls" by Ka-Tzetnik 1355633, New York, Lion Library, 1957 (PB), 4 1/4" x 7", 222 pgs.

Translated from Hebrew, this novel describes the 1942 plight of Daniella Preleshnik, 17-year-old Jewess forced by Nazi's into a women's labor camp with motto: Labor Via Joy". Between her breasts she was shamefully emblazoned & tattooed as "Feld Hure" (field whore) with SN A135633. The camp had both Labor & Joy Divisions where she was forced to watch "Public Chastisement" in Execution Square where 20 nude girls, strapped onto chairs, were bludgeoned to death upon order of Master (Mistress) Kalefactress, a criminal prison releasee overseer for Nazis.

Daniella is transferred to Joy Division, sterilized & used as sex slave or Pleasure Maiden in the "Doll House" which holds 50 inmates. These girls are required to provide sex to Nazi soldiers before their departure to the Russian front. During "Enjoyment Duty" they are instructed to smile and act happy - if not, & they accrue 3 bad reports, they are beaten & executed. The 50 inmates are depicted as being arranged into 2 rows of 25 girls each, back to back, & awaiting the ingress of German Nazi soldiers who then arrive & assemble with agonizing fevor at distinctly 2:00 PM daily. Throughout, the Master Kalefactress observes lewd acts.

There is a perfunctory introduction & an inglorious conclusion which is scummy, unsuccessfully written and/or poorly translated, but even if meant to merely mimic a depraved person's thoughts -- it absolutely falls short. Totally lacking is some level of explanatory preface to indicate fantasy, fiction or a level of genuineness or authenticity where "names & places were changed to...", etc.

I was rather disappointed with this book. The author is describing her time during he holocaust and in the camps. She was made to become a prostitute. I know that stating that I was disappointed in the book is probably not politically correct, but it is honest. Sure the book is full of heart breaking stories of what she and millions more went through. There are some details of here personal experiences. I just felt that the author was scratching the surface, I wanted a richer, more detailed account of her time there. Overall I thought it was an average book, but about 100 pages too short.