My Hometown Concentration Camp: A Survivor's Account to Life in the Krakow Ghetto and Plaszow Concentration Camp (Library of Holocaust Testimonies) First Edition

by Bernard Offen (Author), Norman Jacobs (Author)

3 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0853036364

ISBN-10: 0853036365

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My Hometown Concentration Camp tells the story of the young Bernard Offen's endurance and survival of the KrakÃ³w Ghetto and five concentration camps, including PlaszÃ³w and Auschwitz-Birkenau, until his liberation near Dachau by American troops in 1945. The author tells of his experiences in the ghetto and camps and how he set out, after the war, in search of his brothers, eventually finding them in Italy with the Polish Army. Having returned to the United States, Bernard Offen was drafted into the US Army to serve in the Korean War. After the war, he founded his own business and built a family, both helping to restore a sense of normality to his life. This was the start of his own unique process of healing that led, ultimately, to his retirement and decision to dedicate his life to educating audiences around the world about his experiences during the Holocaust. Bernard Offen's story recounts his one-man journey across America, Europe, Israel, and back to his native Poland, and his development as a filmmaker, educator, and healer. My Hometown Concentration Camp will touch readers through the strength of the author's self-determination to attempt to confront and conquer the traumatic experiences he witnessed as a young man.

My Hometown Concentration Camp: A Survivor's Account to Life in the Krakow Ghetto and Plaszow Concentration Camp (Library of Holocaust Testimonies)

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Norman Jacobs was educational director of Taminent Institute, which sponsored the conference for which these papers were originally given.

Paperback: 133 pages
Publisher: Vallentine Mitchell; First edition (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0853036365
ISBN-13: 978-0853036364
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #812,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #665 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Jewish
- #1638 in Books > History > World > Jewish > Holocaust
- #16468 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History

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Excellent, informative and deeply touching account of one man's experience of the Holocaust

ByChacheon January 9, 2011

Format: Paperback

Bernard Offen's account of the years he spent as a child in the Kraków Ghetto and in a hideous run of concentration camps is all the more astonishing for the quiet, colloquial manner in which it is recounted. It is as if the author is standing by your side sharing his memories with you, encouraging you to accompany him on this most painful and extraordinary journey, talking you through some of the most unimaginable experiences in his simple and direct style.

Throughout the journey he acts as what feels like your very own guide on a tour of the Kraków Ghetto, the camps and a period of history that I have always tried to avoid reading about for fear of being `exposed' to horrors I would rather not contemplate. It's certainly true that parts of the book left me shaking my head in revulsion and near-disbelief. However, having just finished it, my overall feeling is that it's as inspiring as it is devastating.

Bernard Offen's reflections on the long journey of healing that he has undertaken since the war are deeply moving and inspiring and are a testament to the power of the human spirit at its most admirable. This is in stark contrast to the dark testament to its extreme opposite contained elsewhere within these pages.

The book includes an excellent preface by Norman G. Jacobs which sketches a backdrop to the events of WWII in Poland and provides an informative account of Jewish life in the country both before and after the war. At 117 pages it's very manageable in terms of length and I believe it would act as a good accompaniment to high-school level history courses, particularly since the language is so straightforward and the perspective one of a very young man.

I would recommend the book to anyone interested in WWII, the Holocaust, or in questions about war, survival and healing. I would also recommend it to anyone like myself who has hitherto been reluctant to delve into this area of history. I can't think of a better introduction.

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A generous book

ByV. K. Smallwoodon January 18, 2011

Format: Paperback

I was hoping to experience, through Bernard Offen's words, something candid, direct and real about a life that has been lived under such utterly different circumstances to mine. In fact, I have received much more. Bernard Offen's story has brought alive for me not only the details of the horrors of his survival in Poland, but also something of what it is like to grapple with that experience years on. It has brought alive the process of healing that caused Mr. Offen to write the book.

It has been a privilege to have Mr Offen let me walk by his side while he remembers, and to let me see so tangibly places such as the house where he and his family first lived, and later Krzemionki Cemetery where he hid after escaping Plaszow concentration camp. The significance of these places was underpinned by having read the preface, by Norman Jacobs, which is original, informative and drew me into the stark reality of Polish life at the time Bernard Offen was growing up.

I enjoyed the uncomplicated, natural and gentle tone of Mr Offen's voice. Above all, I feel the whole book comes together as a great demonstration of courage. I am left feeling inspired and humbled by the story and hopeful that the 'journey of healing', which Mr. Offen refers to in his introduction, is possible, for all individuals and humanity as a whole.

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If all memoirs read like this one...

ByAgnes Osinskion June 23, 2008

Format: Paperback

The realm of Holocaust History and the realm of memoir come togther smoothly in 'My Hometown Concentration Camp.' The book is precise in its historical details without ever straying into uncessary digression. Mr. Bernard Offen provides details of his life that give the reader the essential qualities of his family members, the camp administration and fellow survivors. Mr. Offen never unleashes an ounce of criticism towards his captors; rather, he speaks like a humanist and brings ideas from psychology in attempt to lead the reader towards awareness and understanding of our inner motives. Like the historical details, the departure towards psychology is not heavy-handed or pretentious. The book is not only a good introduction to the subject of the Holocaust but also Polish/Jewish history.

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