The Last Sunrise : A True Story [Paperback]

Harold Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1992

This is a true story of a ten year old boy who survived almost (5) years in Nazi Concentration Camps with a positive attitude. A child who lost everyone whom he loved and everything he owned and emerged healthy in body and in mind. He achieved success by letting go of ANGER and RESENTMENT while focusing future and forgiveness.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

If anyone has a right t hate, Gordon does. Behind snapping teeth of German Shepherds, and the points of bayonets, Nazi guards forced his mother 31, and his brother,9,into a chamber where they and others were suffocated.

A book by Salinas Holocaust survivor Harold Gordon helps students in Japanese colleges and universities learn English. It's the latest chapter in the expending influence of "The Last Sunrise," a self-published effort in which Gordon details who he and his father survived Hitler's concentration camps. The author has spoken to thousands of students at Stanford University, University of California at Santa Cruse, as well several Colleges, High schools, middle school,about his experiences. He has been invited to appear on "The Grandmaster Kim Show,: a motivational program reaching 5 million households. What propels the effort are not only the dramatic events of Gordon's story, but also his philosophy emerging from those events. Though he is 76 today, that distant image is but a hart beat way. There is the pale concentration camp ID number, "B-2209." tattooed to his forearm ,too. The images of electrified barbed wire, of flames sparking from the chimneys of crematorium ovens, of the smell of burning flesh and bone - "like when a dentist drills your tooth with a high speed drill - must not be forgotten. For awhile, Gordon wanted nothing more than revenge. But when the ear ended, he began to think differently. He decided to focus instead on building a life of which his mother would have been proud. He would get married, raise a family, have a career and grandchildren. He would write down events as he had lived them so others could see what had happened and know that his mother and his brother had walked this earth, also. HE CALLED HIS PHILOSSOPHY "PUTTING HATE ON HOLD".

THE BOOK ALSO SHOWS THAT YOU CAN FORGIVE AND GO ON, AND THAT REVENGE IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST WAY !!!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 261 pages
• Publisher: H & J Publishing Co. (August 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963258915
• ISBN-13: 978-0963258915
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > History > Asia > Belarus
  • #52 in Books > History > Europe > Poland

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book about the indomitable human spirit, December 5, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Silicon Valley, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Sunrise: A True Story (Hardcover)

This book should be required reading for everybody. It is the story of a child caught in the insanities of war, and experiencing man's inhumanity to man. This is the story of little boy Harold Gordon, who went through the Holocaust at age 10 and miraculously survived several concentration camps and incredible horrors. Torn from a very poor, but adequate life, he experienced starvation, freezing, violent deaths in the family and all other kids of indescribable cruelties. The book takes us along on an impossible journey of tragedy, cruelty, and finally, triumph of the indomitable human spirit. This book is not about despair, but one of overcoming and forgiving, and most importantly, of the incredible strengths we have inside. This is a book you won't be able to put down until you finish. It's a book that will move you to tears as you go through it, and will have you smile and cheer when you are finished.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a grandaughters view, March 13, 2000

By 

melissa Gordon (California, U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Sunrise : A True Story (Paperback)

I first read this book when I was in the fourth grade and was very surprised that it was my grandpa that went through all of the trials described. I could not put the book down until I had finished it. When I finally did, my whole perception of this horrible war had changed. It was hard to grasp that these horrible circumstances had surrounded my grandpa's childhood. This book and his wise teachings have taught me forgiveness, hope, and faith. This book is an alternate for The Diary of Anne Franke. You get a different view, not one of growing up in hiding but one of growing up in concentration camps.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating! Should be mandatory reading for everyone., February 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Sunrise : A True Story (Paperback)

This was an absolutely unforgettable book which I read cover-to-cover in one sitting. My range of emotions went from laughing out loud -- to crying out loud. It made me realize how truly insignificant my minor "life's little inconveniences" have really been, and forced me to reevaluate my set of values and morals. I have rarely been as touched and moved as I was by Mr. Gordon's story. It's a book I will never forget!