Holocaust Journey: Traveling in Search of the Past FROM THE PUBLISHER
In 1996 Martin Gilbert, England's leading historian of the Holocaust and World War II, was asked by a group of his graduate students to lead them on a tour of the places in Europe that were the setting for one of humanity's darkest moments. This powerful travel narrative is the culmination of their two-week journey. Gilbert skillfully interweaves the day-to-day experiences of the group and his extraordinary knowledge of Jewish European history with the personal memories of Holocaust survivors and victims -- drawing on diaries, letters and memoirs, many of which are revealed here for the first time. Their journey also includes stops in Berlin, at the site of the 1933 Nazi book burning; the railway line to Auschwitz; Oskar Schindler's factory in Cracow, Poland; and the memorial site in Treblinka. More than 50 maps tracing the group's route and a rich selection of photographs add an arresting visual dimension to the story.
SYNOPSIS
In 1996 an English Holocaust scholar led a group of graduate students on a tour of the European sites that were the setting for possibly the darkest chapter in the history of humanity. Here the travelers share their responses.
FROM THE CRITICS
America
A powerfully moving narrative that reveals the deepest thoughts and feelings of 13 travelers during the summer of 1996. . . . Without overpowering his readers, [Gilbert] juxtaposes the histories of the places visited with descriptions of what they look like today. The overall effect is to make the past live by transferring it to the present, where it can be handled and evaluated anew.
Los Angeles Times Book Review
Gilbert. . . . is a dedicated guide to this difficult material. We can be grateful for his thoroughness, courage and guidance.
Literary Review UK
The achievement of Gilbert's Holocaust Journey is to reduce to comprehensible, human terms, the scale of genocide that to many is still unimaginable.
Booknews
Documents a 1996 journey that Gilbert (Holocaust studies, U. College, London) took 13 of his graduate students on to the places in Europe that were the settings for the Holocaust. He juxtaposes the experiences and reactions of his students with the stories of the victims and survivors from the ghettos and camps, on the run from Nazi terror, or in revolt against it. Black-and-white photographs and detailed maps support the narrative. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
LA Times
We can be grateful for [Gilbert's] thoroughness, courarage, and guidance.Read all 7 "From The Critics" >
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