My Fathers Testament [Hardcover]

Edward Gastfriend (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 1999

This first-person account, by the youngest of eight children of a pious Jewish family from Sosnowiec in Poland, is remarkable for the faith shown by a teenager faced with the horrifying realities of the Holocaust. Edward Gastfriend, known as Lolek as a boy, remembers in heart-wrenching detail, the seven years he survived in German-occupied Poland. "My Father's Testament" is an intimate portrait of a teenage boy trying to stay alive without losing his humanity in hiding, in the camps, and during the death marches at the end of the war. It will engage readers interested in the study of history, the Holocaust, and religion. Embedded in this unique memoir are two other stories of fathers and sons. One lies in the moving Foreword by David R. Gastfriend, Edward's son, now a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School. The other lies in Bjorn Krondorfer's Afterword. Years after he met Ed Gastfriend, Krondorfer was startled to hear his father mention Blechhammer as one of the places he was stationed as a young German soldier. Blechhammer was where Lolek was held in a slave labor camp. The coincidence led this German father and son to travel back to the site to confront the Holocaust. Author note: Edward Gastfriend and Bjorn Krondofer are active in Holocaust education. Chairman of the Jewish Holocaust Survivors in Philadelphia, Gastfriend spearheaded a project to memorialize the millions who perished during the Holocaust. Krondorfer, who teaches in the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department as St. Mary's College of Maryland, is the author of several books, including "Remembrance and Reconciliation: Encounters Between Young Jews and Germans".

Editorial Reviews

Review

"My Father's Testament is a remarkable Holocaust memoir, written in a style of Biblical simplicity that evokes a child's voice of family love and kinship brutally interrupted, and an incredible determination to survive and retain, in adulthood, the ethical imperatives of his parental home. An altogether riveting and memorable narrative." --Chaim Potok

About the Author

Edward Gastfriend and Björn Krondorfer are active in Holocaust education. Chairman of the Jewish Holocaust Survivors in Philadelphia, Gastfriend spearheaded a project to memorialize the millions who perished during the Holocaust. Krondorfer, who teaches in the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at St. Mary's College of Maryland, is the author of several books, including Remembrance and Reconciliation: Encounters between Young Jews and Germans. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 187 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (December 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566397340
• ISBN-13: 978-1566397346
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,184,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An authentic story of faith,survival and values, February 17, 2000

By 

Howard Salasin (Fort Washington, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Father's Testament: Memoir of a Jewish Teenager, 1938-1945 (Paperback)

This book proves that all Holocaust stories are not the same. It is unusual in that it is written by an adult through the eyes of the young boy he once was. Because of that it is an emotionally wrenching account in straightforward simple terms. The truth is often like that. The book names places, people and occurrences in such detail that is totally convincing.

"My Father's Testament" is a must read to help understand the enormity of man's inhumanity to fellow man juxtaposed with man's ability to survive with faith in God, family and fundamental values of right and wrong.

This is a story for young and old and people of all races, religions and ethnic backgrounds who seek to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the human condition.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find Yourself A Teacher, March 26, 2000

By 

STEVE BRONSTEIN "sbinside" (New York, ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Fathers Testament (Hardcover)

Find yourself a teacher and go study...--Pirke Avot. It is obvious to me, that Edward Gastfriend was influenced by the teachings of his generation and the leadership of the youth resistance fighters. This is what helped him survive the concentration camps against all odds. I challenge each and every one of you to- " find yourself a teacher ( a leader) or become a leader yourself." This is what our generation seems to be lacking. I congratulate Edward Gastfriend on his book, and I give him 5 stars for his bravery and courage in writing this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Will Say Kaddish for Them?, March 10, 2000

By 

Mrs. Ada Minkin (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Father's Testament: Memoir of a Jewish Teenager, 1938-1945 (Paperback)

With so many survivors aging and passing on while revisionists and hate-mongers grow in ranks, Edward Gastfriend has performed a personally courageous and vitally important public service by recounting his shattered youth to bear witness to a tragedy that still defies description. The author bravely strips away the superficially protective veneer of passing time to bare wounds that have never truly healed: the cruelly inexplicable and untimely loss of his parents, his sisters and brothers, his youth, and his own innocence. And for what reason did he have to suffer this undeserved and inordinate pain? Simply because human silence - not just Nazis' and Poles', but every human's - sanctioned or ignored the beastly hatred which consumed millions of lives during the darkest epoch known to man. I wish to personally thank Mr. Gastfriend for his courage in writing his memoir: who will speak for the dead, if not the living.