SeetheHolocaustthroughtheEyesofChildren.StefanandMarionHess’shappychildhoodwasshatteredin1943.TornfromtheirhomeinAmsterdam,thesix-year-oldtwinsandtheirparentsweredeportedtoaplacetheirmothercalled“thisdyinghell“--theinfamousconcentrationcampatBergen-Belsen.Inseparableisthevividaccountofonefamily’sstruggletosurvivetheHolocaust.Inthecamp,thechildrenranfromSSsoldiers,makingitagametoseewhocouldgetclosesttotheguardtowersbeforebeingwarnedtheywouldbeshot.StefanandMarionwitnessedtheirfatherbeatenbeyondrecognition,dodgedstrafingwarplanes,andsomehowsurvivedinaplacewhere“thechildrenwerelookingforbreadbetweenthecorpses.“Aboveall,thisistheunforgettablestoryofayoungmotherandfatherwhowerewillingtosacrificeeverythingfortheirchildren.FromtheHesses’prosperouspre-warlifeinGermanytotheirdesperaterideinabulletstrafedboxcarthroughtherubbleofthecollapsingThirdReich,FarisCassellweavesStefanandMarion’spersonalmemoriesandhistoricaldetailsintoagrippingnarrationoftheirfamily’sheroicfightfortheirlives.AsthenumberofHolocaustsurvivorsdwindles,theHesstwins’accountoftheirchildhoodordealforcesthereadertograpplewithpureevil.Andmoreimportant,itisanopportunitytoofferthemostmeaningfuloftributestovictimsandsurvivorsoftheThirdReich--remembrance.
