The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter - The Sunday Times Bestseller

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The body is the first element to break out of this stage, responding by big appetites of eating and wanting more sleeping. Only after the partial replenishing of the body is the mind finally able to respond, as "feeling suddenly broke through the strange fetters which had restrained it" (p. 111). German forces had begun evacuating many of the death camps in the fall of 1944, sending inmates under guard to march further from the advancing enemy’s front line. These so-called “death marches” continued all the way up to the German surrender, resulting in the deaths of some 250,000 to 375,000 people. At only sixteen years old, Josef Lewkowicz became a number, prisoner 85314. Following the Nazi invasion of Poland, he and his father were separated from their family and herded to the Kraków-Plaszów concentration camp. Forced to carry out hard labour in brutal conditions, and to live under the constant threat of extreme violence and sudden death, before the war was over Josef would witness the unique horrors of six of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Mauthausen and Ebensee.

The book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" Part One constitutes Frankl's analysis of his experiences in the concentration camps, while Part Two introduces his ideas of meaning and his theory called logotherapy. Later German editions prefixed the title with Trotzdem Ja zum Leben Sagen ("Nevertheless Say Yes to Life"), taken from a line in Das Buchenwaldlied, a song written by Friedrich Löhner-Beda while an inmate at Buchenwald. [4]So much has been written about the various facets of the War, and those who were part of the Holocaust. Josef begins the tale when he was sixteen years old, taken from his family and sent to the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp. He never saw his family again, knowing they were victims of the Nazis and their campaign to wipe off the face of the earth anyone who was Jewish. Josef relates the brutal conditions that continued during the entirety of the War. He saw men, women, small children, and even babies killed without emotion, by those in command of the camps. People were killed on a whim if they walked too slowly or looked at some of the commanding officers the wrong way. Josef was sent to six concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Ebensee. He was known not by name but by a number, 85314. Josef recounts the horrors he endured through six different camps until the last camp he was in (Ebensee) was liberated in May 1945. His story is gory and disgusting and hard to read but I feel an obligation to do so in deference to the man who lived through these tortures. If he could endure these abominations who am I if I can’t read his words? Life Is Beautiful (1997), film on how a positive attitude can be maintained in the worst of circumstances, including a concentration camp

Josef did survive when troops came to free the survivors at the Ebensee camp, and he made it his life’s goal to bring Goeth to justice. He did just that, pointing him out, confronting him, and telling exactly what Goeth had done to innocent people. He wanted to do it for himself and the victims, including his extended family of 150, of which he was the sole survivor.Polish youth Josef Lewkowicz was separated from his entire family at the beginning of the Holocaust and was shuffled from camp to camp under the most horrific circumstances. Josef erzählt gern und ehrfurchtsvoll von dem Einen, der in schweren Zeiten sein Halt und seine Hoffnung war. Der Glaube an diesen Gott ist ihm ebenso wichtig, wie die Bewahrung jüdischer Traditionen und Kultur.

De overlever is een ontzettend hard, en ruw verslag van de gebeurtenissen die Josef meemaakte in de concentratiekampen. Het is een verhaal dat vertelt moet worden, gezien het een rechtstreeks ooggetuigenverslag betreft van de gruwelen die zich in de concentratiekampen afspeelden. This is not historical fiction, this is a firsthand account of one man who, by the grace of God, survived the horrors of not one but six Nazi camps. Josef attributes his survival to ‘miracles’ and I suspect he must be right. Though the Nazis tried to keep operation of the camps secret, the scale of the killing made this virtually impossible. Eyewitnesses brought reports of Nazi atrocities in Poland to the Allied governments, who were harshly criticized after the war for their failure to respond, or to publicize news of the mass slaughter. Pytell, Timothy (June 3, 2003). "Redeeming the Unredeemable: Auschwitz and Man's Search for Meaning". Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 17 (1): 89–113. doi: 10.1093/hgs/17.1.89– via Project MUSE. Michael Calvin heeft een mooie carrière als journalist opgebouwd en schreef onder andere voor The Daily Telegraph, The Times en de Sunday Mirror. Hij schreef vooral over sport en won meerdere prijzen als sportjournalist waaronder de Sports Journalists’ Association- Sports writer of the Year Prize 1992. Hij is coauteur van De overlever, die hij samen schreef met Josef Lewkowicz. Voor Josef is het een autobiografisch werk, over hoe hij de concentratiekampen overleefde en de gebeurtenissen erna. Het grootste deel dicteerde hij aan Michael, die er dan een afgewerkt boek van maakte.In lesser known camps such as Krakow-Plaszow Mauthausen- Ebensee and Melk he encountered monsters like Julius Ludolf and Amon Goeth (Goeth was portrayed in “Schindler’s List” by Ralph Finnes). At Auschwitz alone, more than 2 million people were murdered in a process resembling a large-scale industrial operation. A large population of Jewish and non-Jewish inmates worked in the labor camp there; though only Jews were gassed, thousands of others died of starvation or disease.