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Kinderlager: An Oral History of Young Holocaust Survivors

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Kinderlager presents the adult recollections of three women's childhood experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Dr. Nieuwsma has skillfully woven together three tragic stories into a disturbing perspective on man's ultimate inhumanity to his fellow man. Regardless of one's knowledge of the Holocaust, the reader cannot help but be moved by the horrific death camp experiences suffered by the inmates, as seen through the naive eyes of young children. Three girls were robbed of their families and their childhood, as were their entire generation, and they grew up surrounded by starvation, torture and death as their normality. Yet in the face of this ultimate adversity, these three children survived through a combination of fortitude and providence. Kinderlager forces us to ask ourselves very pointed and disagreeable questions. What kind of people could commit such atrocities against children? And how could the world let this happen?

The experiences of Tova, Frieda and Rachel serve as a grim reminder of what happened, and more importantly, what must never be allowed to happen again.

The author has given us an extraordinary and sensitive look into the lives of three children who were survivors of Nazi concentration camps. Afer reading the story of the first girl, I was compelled to continue reading each of the others. The reading is easy, and the author tied each of the child's stories together in such a way that I could not put the book down until I had read it all the way through! As I read it, I was struck, once again, by the inhumanity of the whole Auschwitz experience, but I was also encouraged by the incidents of kindness and strength that were skillfully woven into each child's story . This story of the experience and endurance of these young girls related to us at this point in their adult lives is a "must" reading for all of us who know who we must never forget........

This book is one of the few such non-fiction works thataccomplishes several goals while still reaching an audience that, inmy opinion, spans in age from the old to the very young. The graphicaccounts and descriptions may seem too harsh at first for youngreaders, however, the subtle tone and easy language turns a tragicstory into a recognizable tale of pain, perseverance, and ultimatestrength. I've been around these stories my whole life, and though Ifound it very hard as a child to read such accounts, I would recommendusing this book as a tool to teach children about the past so they canbetter direct their future...I hope you read my mother's story andhelp your children understand what happened, what can happen, and whatshould never happen again.

This book is great! Although the conditions of the Jews were horrible, I enjoyed reading this remarkable story. It is more like three stories, becuse three young survivers each tell about their time in Auchwitz. Their names are Rachel, Frieda, and Tola. I enjoyed this historic book and you will, too!

This is a great book! I read it for the first time about a year ago, and it is still one of my favorite books! It is very helpful for school projects!

Kinderlager was a great book. It dipped into all the senses. In the book the feelings of three different people were expressed in three different books. The books were all about the time they spent in the Holocaust. In some way or another they all met up with each other in the labor camps. The book explains these peoples' experiences and grieving in great detail. The reason why I liked this book so much was because it was real. Just knowing those people really lived through those harsh conditions... it made the book more effective. I recommend this book to anyone don't miss out on the chance to read it!

This book was a finalist for the 1999 Society of Midland Authors Annual Book Awards contest in the category of children's nonfiction.