Survivors Club

January 16, 2017
After Bornstein discovered an image of himself as a child and other young Auschwitz survivors being used as Holocaust-denying propaganda, he resolved to research his history and share his memories. Assisted by his daughter Debbie, a news producer, he learned that out of 3,400 Jews living in Zarki, Poland, before the Holocaust, fewer than 30 survived, almost all from his family. Enhanced by meticulous archival research, Bornstein’s story unfolds in novelistic form, beginning with the arrival of Nazi soldiers in Zarki in 1939. Through the retelling of harrowing eyewitness stories, the authors recount the increasing degradation, deprivation, and terror of Zarki’s Jewish citizens, and the courageous attempts of Bornstein’s father to save many neighbors from death. Bornstein’s family’s fight for
survival included his aunt and uncle leaving their three-year-old daughter
at a Catholic orphanage while hiding in a neighbor’s attic; in Auschwitz, Bornstein’s mother hid him in her barracks. The story of a silver kiddush cup, which Bornstein’s father buried and his mother recovered after the war, bookends this moving memoir, an important witness to the capacity for human evil and resilience. Ages 10–14. Agent: Irene Goodman, Irene Goodman Literary.

January 1, 2017
Michael was only 4 when he miraculously survived the liberation of Auschwitz in January 1945.Filmed by Soviets liberating the camp, he saw his image years later, but he was not ready to tell his story until he saw his picture on a Holocaust-denial website. He enlisted his daughter, a TV journalist, to help him uncover further information and to co-author this book. In the preface, Holinstat writes: "we tried to keep the book as honest as possible. While the underlying events are entirely factual, there is fiction here." The father-daughter pair found documents, diaries, and survivors' essays to supplement the limited memories of a very young child, and they write about this process in the preface. The first-person narrative begins with the events of September 1939, even though Michael was not born until May 1940, which feels artificial. Horrific as the experience was, the Auschwitz chapters are just part of Michael's journey. Living in an open "ghetto" in his hometown, moving to a forced-labor camp, then to the extermination camp where his older brother and father die, returning home where Jews are not welcomed, and then living in Munich as a displaced person for six years until he can emigrate to the United States with his mother, the chronicle of Bornstein's first 11 years parallels the experiences of many other surviving victims of the Final Solution. In today's world, it remains more important than ever to remember these survivors. (afterword, photos, characters, glossary) (Memoir. 11-14)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 6-8-Middle schoolers will be engrossed by Bornstein's account (written with the help of his daughter) of his and his family's survival during the Holocaust. Bornstein was born in the town of Zarki, Poland, which had largely become a Jewish ghetto after the Nazi invasion. For years, his parents survived through bribery and good fortune, but ultimately they, along with the entire Jewish population of the town, were sent to concentration camps (the Bornsteins to Auschwitz, specifically). When the Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz, Bornstein was four years old and accompanied only by his grandmother. (His father and brother were dead, and his mother was presumed dead.) The remaining Bornstein clan would eventually immigrate to the United States. The book is written in a soothing tone, which helps balance some of the grim details of Jewish life under the Nazi regime. In the preface, Bornstein explains why he chose to finally chronicle his experiences (a picture of him during the camp's liberation was being used by Holocaust deniers). The storytelling is fast-paced, and readers will be fascinated by this family's survival and endurance. VERDICT Few Holocaust survivors are still alive; Bornstein's account is an excellent addition to middle school collections.-Esther Keller, I.S. 278, Brooklyn

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2017
Grades 5-8 In 1940, Michael Bornstein was born in Zarki, Polandthen a Nazi-occupied ghetto. In 1944, Michael and his family arrived at Auschwitz. Miraculously, in 1953, Michael celebrated his bar mitzvah in New York City. Here, with the help of his television news producer daughter, he recounts the spectacular story of his survival. The duo chronologically document the Germans' ruthless occupationand eventual liquidationof Zarki; the Bornsteins' compulsory stint at an ammunitions factory; their tragic trek to Auschwitz; and the aftermath of the war in a land ruptured by unconscionable brutality and bigotry. But this account is shaped less by events than it is people: Michael's father, Israel, with his dangerous devotion to a crumbling community; Michael's infinitely courageous Mamishu; his ever-resilient grandmother; and his stubbornly spirited slew of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Sprinkled with Yiddish and appended by an informative afterword, captioned photos, and brief glossary, the first-person narrative is a tenderly wrought tribute to family, to hope, and to the miracles both can bring. A powerful memoir for the middle-grade set.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
The book's cover is a photo of death-camp survivor children--including four-year-old Michael Bornstein--just after the Russians liberated Auschwitz. The story of Bornstein's remarkable survival is told in this engrossing volume with the help of his journalist daughter, Holinstat. Research leading to documents, diaries, and other survivors' essays supplements Bornstein's memory.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)