With the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Bierkenau nigh upon us, I find my thoughts travelling to the memory of two survivors of the death camp, and the hugely divergent paths their lives took as free men. More to the point, the hugely different ways in which each of them coped - or didn’t [...]
Dear Organizers of Auschwitz-Birkenau Tours,I’m writing to you as someone who, several decades ago, visited Auschwitz for the first time and had an experience that profoundly shaped my understanding of history. I have been back several times since then, but that first visit is what left the deepest impression on me. The silence, the sombre [...]
I haven’t seen the recently released series of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, but I did read the book when it was first published. So let me be clear from the outset: this blog post is about the book, not the series. The trouble is, how can anyone dare to criticise a novel which is based [...]
The story I’m about to relate might at first seem a tad inappropriate, in view of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. But it’s a true story. And if you can’t be honest in the light of everything that the word ‘liberation’ stands for, then what’s the point in having been liberated in [...]
First of all, let me emphasise that this truly is a noble book. Really, I mean it. I’m not being facetious. Even though I’m about to embark upon a few critical thoughts, I still fervently maintain that this is a noble book. And for that reason alone, I say Hats off to the author, Heather Morris. [...]
Wendy Skorupski 