A Lucky Child : A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz As a Young Boy

From Publishers Weekly Not many children who entered Auschwitz lived to tell the tale. The American judge at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Czechoslovakia-born Buergenthal, is one of the few. A 10-year-old inmate in August 1944 at Birkenau, Buergenthal was one of the death camp's youngest prisoners. He miraculously survived, thanks, among others, to a friendly kapo who made him an errand boy. Buergenthal's authentic, moving tale reveals that his lifelong commitment to human rights sprang from the ashes of Auschwitz. 16 b&w photos, 1 map. *(Apr. 20)* Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist You think you’ve heard it all: the roundups, deportations, transports, selections, hard labor, death camps (“That was the last time I saw my father”), crematoriums, and the rare miracle of survival. But this one is different. The clear, nonhectoring prose makes Buergenthal’s personal story––and the enduring ethical questions it prompts––the stuff of a fast, gripping read. Five years old in Czechoslovakia at the start of World War II, Buergenthal remembers being crowded into the ghetto and then, in 1944, feeling “lucky” to escape the gas chambers and get into Auschwitz, where he witnessed daily hangings and beatings, but with the help of a few adults, managed to survive. In a postwar orphanage, he learned to read and write but never received any mail, until in a heartrending climax, his mother finds him. In 1952, he immigrated to the U.S., and now, as human-rights lawyer, professor, and international judge, his childhood’s moral issues are rooted in his daily life, his tattooed number a reminder not so much of the past as of his obligation, as witness and survivor, to fight bigotry today. --Hazel Rochman Thomas Buergenthal is unique. Liberated from the death camps of Auschwitz at the age of eleven, in adulthood he became a judge at the International Court in The Hague. In his honest and heartfelt memoirs, he tells the story of his extraordinary journey - from the horrors of Nazism to an investigation of modern day genocide. Aged ten Thomas Buergenthal arrived at Auschwitz after surviving the Ghetto of Kielce and two labour camps, and was soon separated from his parents. Using his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck, he managed to survive until he was liberated from Sachsenhausen in 1945. After experiencing the turmoil of Europe's post-war years - from the Battle of Berlin, to a Jewish orphanage in Poland - Buergenthal went to America in the 1950s at the age of seventeen. He eventually became one of the world's leading experts on international law and human rights. His story of survival and his determination to use law and justice to prevent further genocide is an epic and inspirational journey through twentieth century history. His book is both a special historical document and a great literary achievement, comparable only to Primo Levi's masterpieces

thomas Buergenthal, Now A Judge In The International Court Of Justice In The Hague, Tells His Astonishing Experiences As A Young Boy In His Memoir A Lucky Child. He Arrived At Auschwitz At Age 10 After Surviving Two Ghettos And A Labor Camp. Separated First From His Mother And Then His Father, Buergenthal Managed By His Wits And Some Remarkable Strokes Of Luck To Survive On His Own. Almost Two Years After His Liberation, Buergenthal Was Miraculously Reunited With His Mother And In 1951 Arrived In The U.s. To Start A New Life.

now Dedicated To Helping Those Subjected To Tyranny Throughout The World, Buergenthal Writes His Story With A Simple Clarity That Highlights The Stark Details Of Unimaginable Hardship. A Lucky Child Is A Book That Demands To Be Read By All.

the Washington Post - Nora Krug

buergenthal's…plainspoken Autobiography Demonstrates That It Is Still Possible For A Holocaust Memoir To Astonish…though [his] Ultimate Fate Is Known From The Start…the Book Still Manages To Conjure Up Suspense As Buergenthal Escapes One Near-death Moment After Another.

"Thomas Buergenthal was not quite six years old when he and his parents were forced into a Jewish ghetto in Poland. Four years later, they were placed on a train bound for Auschwitz, where Thomas was separated from his family. Alone, ten-year-old Thomas managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive Auschwitz and the infamous death march. Filled with the stirring and true insights of a child, this acclaimed memoir conveys the sheer force of will and determination that even the youngest victims of the Holocaust evinced. From teaching himself to ride a bike belonging to an SS officer to sneaking a heavenly sip of milk, Buergenthal demonstrates that beauty can abide in the face of the greatest adversity. A Lucky Child is a compelling reminder of the power of grace and the resilience of the human spirit"--Page 4 of cover Thomas Buergenthal, now a Judge in the International Court of Justice in The Hague , tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir A Lucky Child . He arrived at Auschwitz at age 10 after surviving two ghettos and a labor camp. Separated first from his mother and then his father, Buergenthal managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive on his own. Almost two years after his liberation, Buergenthal was miraculously reunited with his mother and in 1951 arrived in the U.S. to start a new life. Now dedicated to helping those subjected to tyranny throughout the world, Buergenthal writes his story with a simple clarity that highlights the stark details of unimaginable hardship. A Lucky Child is a book that demands to be read by all. Thomas Buergenthal, now a Judge in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir. Arriving at Auschwitz at age 10 after surviving two ghettos and a labor camp, he became separated first from his mother and then his father but managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive on his own. Almost two years after his liberation, Buergenthal was miraculously reunited with his mother and in 1951 arrived in the U.S. to start a new life