Saving Children: Diary of a Buchenwald Survivor and Rescuer [Hardcover]

Jack Werber (Author), William B. Helmreich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996 | ISBN-10: 1560002506 | ISBN-13: 978-1560002505

This is a remarkable story of survival, resistance, and courage. Jack Werber spent five and a half years in Buchenwald, one of Hitler's most notorious concentration camps. More than 56,000 inmates were put to death there and, out of 3,200 Polish prisoners who entered the camp together with Werber, only eleven were alive by war's end. Of those, he was the only Jew. But Werber did more than survive; he helped others survive. In what is truly one of the most amazing stories to come out of the Holocaust, Jack Werber helped to save the lives of some 700 Jewish children who had arrived at Buchenwald in late 1944. Shortly before that Werber had learned that his entire family his wife, daughter, parents, and seven brothers and sisters had all been murdered by the Nazis. "There was no reason to go on," he had thought, but seeing the children transformed his outlook. He resolved to do everything in his power to prevent them from meeting his daughter's fate. Werber is one of the very few Jews to belong to the camp underground. Together with several other Jews, he made saving children his special mission. At great personal risk, he arranged for them to be hidden in various barracks and to be given false working papers. Incredibly, he and his group actually started a school where the children studied Jewish history, music, and the Hebrew language. These activities gave the youngsters hope that they might survive and ultimately most of them did. This story of resilience and courage has never been told before, despite the thousands of books that have appeared about the Holocaust. In Saving Children, we learn how it was achieved. Werber describes in fascinating detail what life in Buchenwald was like, providing much new information about the daily struggle for existence that characterized life in the camp. Above all, he shows how it was possible to remain human and to act with compassion, even in the face of enormous cruelty and barbarism.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jack Werber is a successful businessman. He lives in New York City with his wife Millie. They are the parents of two children, Martin and David, and have six grandchildren.

William B. Helmreich is professor of sociology at CUNY Graduate Center and City College of New York and served as director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Queens College. He is author of eleven books, including The World of the Yeshiva: An Intimate Portrait of American Orthodoxy and Against All Odds: Holocaust Survivors and the Successful Lives They Made in America, which won the 1993 National Jewish Book Award.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 129 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560002506
• ISBN-13: 978-1560002505
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,938,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He rescued eight- hundred children from death, November 24, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Saving Children: Diary of a Buchenwald Survivor and Rescuer (Hardcover)

Jack Werber wrote this book with the assistance of the distinguished scholar William Helmreich. Werber whose wife and three year old daughter were murdered by the Nazis risked his life to save Jewish children. In his obituary which appeared in the NY Times in Nov. 2006 his action is described in this way.

"Mr. Werber, a son of a Jewish furrier from the Polish town of Radom, was the barracks clerk at Buchenwald in August 1944 when a train carrying 2,000 prisoners arrived, many of them young boys. By then, with the Russians advancing into Germany, the number of Nazi guards at the camp had been reduced. Working with the camp's underground -- and with the acquiescence of some guards fearful of their fate after the war -- Mr. Werber helped save most of the boys from transport to death camps by hiding them throughout the barracks."

Among those he saved was the later Chief- Rabbi of Israel Israel Meir Lau.

After the war Werber came to the United States married for the second time, and had two sons. When he passed away he was also survived by six grandchildren and two- great grandchildren.

In America he became a successful businessman as manufacturer of clothing, primarily coonskin hats which were very popular during the Davy Crockett age.

May the memory of this righteous Jew and human being be for a blessing.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable personal account worth your time and money, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Saving Children: Diary of a Buchenwald Survivor and Rescuer (Hardcover)

A truely remarkable personal account of life in Buchenwald both before and during WW2. Although a little dry at first, I soon grew to appreciate the direct, frank writing style of the author as it helps the reader understand that the most horrific events and conditions were simply a matter of day to day life in a NAZI concentration camp. Well worth your time and money.