Treblinka [Paperback]

Jean-Francois Steiner (Author), Simone de Beauvoir (Preface), Terrence Des Pres (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Plume; Reprint edition (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452011248
• ISBN-13: 978-0452011243
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 82 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, thought-provoking, important book. December 5, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I have a morbid facsination with the Holocaust and Holocaust literature so I picked up Treblinka. I was not prepared for what was in it, how it would make me feel. I couldn't put it down. For two days I lived and breathed Treblinka, for two days I was beaten, starved, tortured, I saw my family gassed, I saw my fellow inmates hang themselves because death was better than this hell on earth. For two days I was an inmate of Treblinka because Jean-Francois Steiner put me there. Treblinka is quite possibly the most important piece of Holocaust literature ever written. It is non-fiction but it reads like a novel. It told me more about the death camps and Nazi regime than all of the books I have read combined. The most amazing thing about Treblinka though was the psychology behind it all. It gave answer to my question: Why did they not revolt before this? Why did they simply allow themselves to be led to death? On the third day I rose from the bottom of the abyss, I revolted, I left Treblinka along with 700 Jews, survivors of hell. I left but I didn't escape, no one escapes Treblinka. Like how Treblinka will always hold it's prisoners, Treblinka will always hold it's readers in it's mental grasp.

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An overpowering work. This book puts you inside the camp. August 8, 2000

By J. Easter

Format:Hardcover

A chance meeting with a university professor in NY years ago caused me to ask the question of what was it really, really like to exist in a place of complete insanity; where you were placed at risk of death at every moment, where every act, every gesture could be your last. What sort of social structure could possibly evolve in such indescrible conditions where inmate sometimes turned on inmate for a crust of bread. And yet in this dark chaos an order did evolve. The inmates organized themselves to such an extent that they ultimately rose up in rebellion, overpowering their opressors and a small number actually escaped.

I have read numerous books on the Holocaust but none of those prepared me for Steiner's superb work. Many of the works I've read concerned Auschwitz. Frankly, I never focused on Treblinka. As there is a relatively large number of Auschwitz survivors, I suspect scholars tend to focus on them. As far as Treblinka survivors go... there were only 75. Steiner's descriptions are so overwhelming; his imagery so clear and lucid that you can see in your own mind, the acts of brutality and barbarism, as well as small acts of kindness as if you are actually there. I found myself cringing at the blows of the clubs and the slash of the whips. And yet he takes pains to describe acts of heroism one can hardly imagine. You see how exposure to this inhumanity affects the inmates. Some degenerate while others work at mostly futile individual escape attempts in order to warn the remaining Jews of what ultimately lies in wait at the railhead at Treblinka Station.

This is strong stuff and is not for everyone. This is not a book that compiles statistics but rather paints a searing description of day-to-day life with the inmates, their struggles to make it another day, their planning and finally their courageous attempt to escape.

If you make it through this book, read Kogon's "The Theory and Practice of Hell" and then the next time you see "ethnic cleansing" taking place in some remote venue such as the Balkans, Rawanda or Timor ask yourself just how far we've really come and how easily we've learned to mouth the words "never again".

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars From Dehumanization to Survival in order to Bear Witness. May 18, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Treblinka is an incredible recreation of the human elements of the Holocaust. It portrays real, historical people who as innocent victims and against all odds, not only stayed alive but were able to organize a suicidal uprising, with the sole objective being the successful escape and survival of just One human being, in order to bear witness and testify to the hell and death of the infamous Treblinka. As a historian of the Holocaust I'm certain that this is the most important literary piece that one could find. This book will shock and infuriate you, but ultimately you will find it to be about hope and life. It is a must read for anyone who wants to be an additional witness to the most horrific chapter in the history of our world! This is one of those rare treasures that is truly capable of positively influencing one's life!