As World War 2 was breaking out, people didn't regard the warnings that were given of bad things to come. They thought the Germans would continue to let them live in peace. Even when Jews were moved to Ghettos, there was still general contentedness with Jew self governance. However, that soon changed when they were hauled off to concentration camps. Survival often depended on lucky decisions. One had to be healthy enough to work, but not too healthy to have to put one's family in the furnace. The author jumped out of the infirmary when their camp was soon to be captured by the enemy, thinking all the sick would be killed. However, in that case, the sick were set free. (One can never know what will happen.) Sometimes small "bribes" given to a bully end up being for naught as the bully is soon chased away.The book has a feel somewhat like Schindler's list. The concentration camps were part of the "coming of age" of a youth. It was the horror he lived through. He feels some regret about the poor decisions he made, as well as guilt about being a survivor when others did not. He was deeply involved in religious training before. He desires that we acknowledge the history to prevent it from happening again. It didn't seem possible when it happened. We should be careful to spot the signs before they happen again.
