I recently published this article: Fake Holocaust Memoir Trend - Is History Comprised? To my surprise and delight, it received many responses. A few, in fact, from Peter Kubicek, Holocaust survivor and memoir author of his time in German concentration camps. In a private email exchange with Mr. Kubicek, it confirmed my original thought that truth must be at the forefront of Holocaust history. Anything less is simply a fake.
Therefore, I would like you to erase the images of Angel at the Fence, the fake memoir that even scammed Oprah Winfrey. The Holocaust was not romantic, nor was it a love story of any kind. And there was certainly not a little girl throwing apples over a barbed wire fence as the Nazis looked on.
The real Holocaust was one of ethnic cleansing, inconceivable brutality and a time period that cannot be forgotten by its survivors, the next generations and people around the world. I'm sure we can all agree that the Holocaust sells, whether in books or on the Hollywood screen. Look at Martin Scorsese's last big hit Shutter Island. It had a storyline that included both Auschwitz and Dachau. In other words, the Holocaust never dies.
In order to keep the truth alive for the next generations, I will discuss three Holocaust memoirs that claim to be 100 percent true. Researchers and academics do not dispute these following memoirs. These memoirs embody what really happened during the Holocaust.
The Diary of Anne Frank
I read The Diary of Anne Frank as a child, and to this day, I simply cannot forget the book. As a young girl, I admired Anne's whimsical ways. Though she had some good memories in the attic, there was always an underlying monster waiting to capture her and her family. I did not understand that monster from personal experience, but through Anne's writing, I felt the heightened emotion as she and her family hid from the Nazis. The book captured not the concentration camp experience, but the experience of waiting in fear. The fear of what could happen. And, unfortunately, it happened. If only Anne's life had a different ending.
I do not see this book as romanticizing the Holocaust, but as a young girl's understanding of what was happening in the outside world. Her account of what occurred in that attic serves as a historical document of the Holocaust. Though literary expert Francine Prose claims that Anne's diary is heavily edited, this does not take away from the fact that it is, indeed, the truth.
Real Holocaust Survivor Stories and Holocaust Facts
The author who wrote to me, Holocaust survivor Peter Kubicek, penned his memoir entitled 1000: 1 ODDS, Memories of a World War II Childhood. Kubicek serves as a docent in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In May 2010, he led a tour at the Met to help raise funds for elderly Holocaust survivors. Kubicek believes in bringing the truth of the Holocaust to the masses.
In 1000: 1 ODDS, he discusses his time in the German concentration camp system. He lived in eight camps, including Haselhorst and Sachsenhausen, which were located a short train ride from Berlin's center. Kubicek's memoir takes place in his teenage years as he reports on the horrors of being a prisoner, including how he spent his fifteenth birthday as a juvenile prisoner. Away from his native Slovakia, friends and family, he discovered a world of hierarchy i.e. German political prisoners were the highest ranking prisoners vs. the lowly gypsies. And where did the Jews fit in? Not much higher than the gypsies.
Like Anne Frank, Kubicek tells of the Holocaust from a young person's perspective, reminding us that many of the prisoners were defenseless children.
There is also a new memoir by Judith Schneiderman called I Sang to Survive. This memoir has the elements of the hope, despite the despair and horror of the events surrounding a young Judith. Schneiderman claims that her memoir is 100 percent true.
In I Sang to Survive, Schneiderman discusses her upbringing in a small Czechoslovakian village until Hitler's regime captured her family, separated them and left Judith in the infamous Auschwitz. For a means of survival, Judith used her lyrical voice to sing national songs for the Nazi officers. She also befriended an S.S. woman in the camp.
I came across Schneiderman's memoir as my mother forwarded me an article from my hometown newspaper. It brought up memories of a childhood neighbor's house, and how my friend's grandmother would cry hysterically when she caught a glimpse of a Holocaust documentary on television. She was a survivor after all. It was the first time I saw a serial number tattoo.
These three memoirs enable all of us to read the truth about Holocaust history. History, after all, is a search for the truth. And I, for one, would like to know the complete and honest truth for generations to come.
Check out the Suite 101 Eastern European History blog, where you can find more Holocaust historical articles.
Sources
"Peter Kubicek Docent Tour ..." Northward Ho -- viewed September 6, 2010
Jennifer Ciotta - Jennifer Ciotta is the author of I, Putin (Vladimir Putin novel): http://vladimirputinnovel.com.
Join the Conversation