Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz by Yehuda Koren & Eilat Negev ~ Synopsis: During the 1930s and 40s the Lilliput Troupe, a beloved and successful family of singers and actors, dazzled with their vaudeville programme and unique performances. The only all-dwarf show of the time, their small stature earned them fame – and, ironically, ultimately saved their lives. As Hitler’s war descended, the Ovitz family – seven of whom were dwarfs – was plunged into the horrors of the darkest moments in modern history. Descending from the cattle train into the death camp of Auschwitz, they were separated from other Jewish victims on the orders of one Dr Joseph Mengele, the ‘Angel of Death’. Obsessed with eugenics, Dr Mengele carried out a series of loathsome experiments on the family and developed a disturbing fondness for his human lab-rats, so much so that when the Russian army liberated Auschwitz, all members of the family – the youngest, a baby boy just eighteen months old; the oldest, a 58-year-old woman – were still alive. Based on exhaustive research and interviews with Perla Ovitz, the troupe’s last-surviving member, and scores of Auschwitz survivors, authors Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev deftly describe the moving and inspirational story of this remarkable family and their indomitable will to survive.?
Alive by Piers Paul Read ~ Synopsis: LOST 1972. A plane has crashed in the Andes mountains. The passengers are hopelessly lost in one of the most isolated places on earth.
ABANDONED Almost three months later, two of the survivors, emaciated and frozen, reach the authorities and lead a rescue team to the remaining fourteen passengers.
ALIVE The rescue team are shocked when they reach the crash-site. Food supplies have long gone, and the remains of the dead lie scattered among the fuselage.
It is only too clear how these passengers have managed to stay alive …?
Tuesday’s with Morrie by Mitch Albom In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule…all her books are good (true crime). Anything by Elie Wiesel Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.
I think it might be a childrens/teen book, but I’ve just finished reading Judith Kerr’s ‘Bombs on Aunt Dainty’ based on her life when she had to flee Germany when the Nazis came to power. This book is about her life in England during WW2 and it has a very authentic voice. Part of a trilogy of which the first title is ‘When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit’ (I forget the concluding book title). She also wrote and illustrated the Mog books and ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’.
Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz by Yehuda Koren & Eilat Negev ~ Synopsis: During the 1930s and 40s the Lilliput Troupe, a beloved and successful family of singers and actors, dazzled with their vaudeville programme and unique performances. The only all-dwarf show of the time, their small stature earned them fame – and, ironically, ultimately saved their lives. As Hitler’s war descended, the Ovitz family – seven of whom were dwarfs – was plunged into the horrors of the darkest moments in modern history. Descending from the cattle train into the death camp of Auschwitz, they were separated from other Jewish victims on the orders of one Dr Joseph Mengele, the ‘Angel of Death’. Obsessed with eugenics, Dr Mengele carried out a series of loathsome experiments on the family and developed a disturbing fondness for his human lab-rats, so much so that when the Russian army liberated Auschwitz, all members of the family – the youngest, a baby boy just eighteen months old; the oldest, a 58-year-old woman – were still alive. Based on exhaustive research and interviews with Perla Ovitz, the troupe’s last-surviving member, and scores of Auschwitz survivors, authors Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev deftly describe the moving and inspirational story of this remarkable family and their indomitable will to survive.?
Alive by Piers Paul Read ~ Synopsis: LOST
1972. A plane has crashed in the Andes mountains. The passengers are hopelessly lost in one of the most isolated places on earth.
ABANDONED
Almost three months later, two of the survivors, emaciated and frozen, reach the authorities and lead a rescue team to the remaining fourteen passengers.
ALIVE
The rescue team are shocked when they reach the crash-site. Food supplies have long gone, and the remains of the dead lie scattered among the fuselage.
It is only too clear how these passengers have managed to stay alive …?
I added Giants to my wishlist. I try to read at least one or two Holocaust books every year.
@Stacey I hope you find it interesting, I did?
Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
Lilac Girls. Amazing story. ❤
I have this one in my stash! I think I’ll read it and maybe some of brothers that were recommended.
Joan Didion’s non-fiction.
Before we were yours by Lisa Wingate
I second this recommendation.
‘Tis by Frank McCourt
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Thunder of Giants by Joel Fishbane (one main character is real. One is not)
I liked The Glass Castle.
Loved The Glass Castle x
Half Broke Horses is the story of her grandma and also good.
Yes it is good to!
The nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Tuesday’s with Morrie by Mitch Albom
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule…all her books are good (true crime).
Anything by Elie Wiesel
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.
In Cold Blood. Disturbing but good x
@Paula the most famous non-fiction crime book of them all ? I was so shocked … thanks dad ?
I do want to read some by Ann Rule. I never have.
The Stranger Beside me is about Ted Bundy. Another good one, but they pretty much all are!
Before we were Yours. Excellent read.
Child called it….
I have read this one. It’s a ruff one but I would recommend it.
I haven’t read it yet but also heard it’s a tough read
Yep…but u must read…after reading it I couldn’t even sleep…such a cruel mum…
Oh his mum was awful, so horrible??
How can a mother called to her own son…IT…
@Sonali she was awful, she made me sick x
Yes….she made anyone sick…disgusting women…
@Sonali *spoiler* it was the fact she was so nice to the carers, then immediately changing as soon as her & her son were left alone.?
@Paula…u are correct…she wants her son to be alone…she has two faces.. One to the world and one to her own son…
@Sonali I just sat horrified at everything she did & I felt terrible because he was so alone, I was so happy when he told someone x
The Hiding Place.
recs anything by Karen Abbott
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
prisoner of tehran marina nemat
color of water james mcbride
glass castle jannette walls
Carve her name with pride
Angelas ashes frank mcourt
Still me cristopher reeve
Paula isabel allende
My invented country isabel allende
Devil in the White city.
I agree with Tis!
The Spy who Wore Red by Aline Romanones. She was OSS during WWII and stationed in “Neutral” Spain.
The Alice Network
Unbroken and Beneath A Scarlet Sky!
Beneath A Scarlet Sky was really good!
Yes beneath a scarlet sky is great
What is the What. You will definitely appreciate your life after reading this
Devil in the White City, Isaac’s Storm, Dead Wake, In the Garden of the Beast, Thunderstruck – all by Erik Larson
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Into the Wild I really loved …
Up in The Air by Jon Krakauer
I think it might be a childrens/teen book, but I’ve just finished reading Judith Kerr’s ‘Bombs on Aunt Dainty’ based on her life when she had to flee Germany when the Nazis came to power. This book is about her life in England during WW2 and it has a very authentic voice. Part of a trilogy of which the first title is ‘When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit’ (I forget the concluding book title). She also wrote and illustrated the Mog books and ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’.
Sounds good. I’ll have to look for these.
Life After Death by Damien Echols
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCort, All Over But the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey..
Before we were yours.
When breathe becomes air
Oh yes I loved this, fantastic memoir fantastic doctor.
Before we were Yours by Wingate. Part true, part fiction.