This book, a tribute in remembrance to all lost during the Holocaust, tore me apart. Dr. Perl is a hero. I have tears streaming down my face.

I think this book was amazing. This woman really gave every brutal detail that she encountered. I have read a lot of these memoirs feeling that is important to learn these tragic stories and hear their voices. But this book disturbed me more than any other has. She took the time to tell amazing and inspiring stories about these individuals she met, all who wanted to live, only to perish. She was strong and had to do horrible, unthinkable things to save others. She was and remains a hero. I feel so deeply sorry for her loss and the things that this world allowed to happen. Education is the only way to be free and we must prevent this type of thing from ever happening again.

This book is hard to read, it took me a long time even though it's only 120 pages because of the mental prep needed to take in what you're reading. That said, I think everyone should read this at some point in their life. Gisella Perl writes firsthand accounts of her time in Auschwitz, Hamburg Dege-werke, and Belsen Bergen. From the synopsis, "Her story individualizes and, therefore, humanizes a victim of mass dehumanization. ... It is both graphic in its horrific details and eloquent in its emotional responses." Be prepared for your own emotional response when reading it.

A heart-rending first account. Ought to be required reading.