The Unfinished Road: Jewish Survivors of Latvia Look Back [Hardcover]

Gertrude Schneider (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0275940934 | ISBN-13: 978-0275940935

During the Holocaust, thousands of Jews from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and later Hungary were transported to Latvia, where they were concentrated in the Riga Ghetto and in extermination camps--joining the thousands of Latvian Jews who were already interned there. Only a few hundred survived. Gertrude Schneider, herself a survivor of the death camps, traveled Eastern Europe, Israel, and the United States to collect statements of other survivors as well as documentary evidence on the lives of the inmates, guards, and others who witnessed the Latvian Holocaust. Collected in The Unfinished Road are the remembrances of survivors. Each personal account is combined with a note on the individual's subsequent life. The volume concludes with a general bibliography and index. To begin to understand the Holocaust, one must somehow personalize the numbing statistics of the millions who were transported, concentrated, and killed. This volume moves in that direction by providing the reader with the unique human responses of those who actually witnessed the atrocities, from the Jewish SS guard in the camps to the Latvian-Swedish businessman-humanitarian, himself a Jew, who negotiated with Himmler to save concentration camp inmates; from those whose fate and cunning enabled them to survive to and later lead fulfilling lives; and to those broken by the experience. Above all, it combines a portrait of unbelievable courage and endurance with one of unspeakable brutality. Scholars and general readers alike will find Schneider's collection a valuable reminder.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a useful book for young adults, as well as adult readers, as it is written clearly.”–Jewish Book World

About the Author

GERTRUDE SCHNEIDER is Associate Placement Director and President of the Ph.D. Alumni Association at the City University of New York Graduate School.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (November 30, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275940934
• ISBN-13: 978-0275940935
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,811,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > History > Europe > Latvia