Between Two Streams: A Diary from Bergen-Belsen

Rating:
Summary: A Unique Perspective
Review: Between Two Streams by Abel J. Herzberg

This book is an interesting account by a Jewish man who kept a diary in Bergen-Belsen, a well-known concentration camp. Bergen-Belsen was a camp that held Jews who were to be kept for exchange for Germans abroad, so its main function was not to serve as a death camp. Abel served as a judge of sorts on a committee for Jewish justice in the camp, so he was able to give insight into the petty laws that were broken and how justice was meted out, from within the camp's Jewish community. This is not written like the usual historical documentary found in many books of its kind, and it is not exactly a personal story of entry and exit of camp life. It is written very much like you would write in your own journal, containing your feelings, disappointments, and hopes. This book is somewhat unique in that it is more about other prisoners and their behaviors, as well as offering insight concerning a desperate camp life with its boredom, struggles with the elements of harsh weather, scratching for food, and eventually seeing your family and friends drop like flies. There were penalties divvied out by the pitifully organized camp Jewish community, which was struggling to maintain a semblance of civilized life. There is not much spirituality in the diary. There are no details of beatings or other infamous atrocities that have been well documented in other writings; however, there are accounts of deaths from starvation and sickness, and descriptions of the difficulty of life among the dead. It seems that this book was not written to get your adrenalin pumping, and does not seem to display an intimate or sentimental account but is written more like a factual account. I would not recommend this as a first concentration camp book. If one is looking for action and adventure, there are many other survivor accounts that will serve better; rather, I would recommend it to the seasoned that would like a unique insight that comes from one who expects fairness in a very unfair environment. Though somewhat repetitious at times, I feel that I have acquired a valuable insight to just one more of the many faces of a most infamous time in history.

Rating:
Summary: An Unforgettable, Inspirational Biography!
Review: I couldn't put this book down and cried at some of the torments emotionally and physically that the author went through during his imprisonment at one of the many Nazi concentration camps. Sad, but detailed look at life in the camps.

Rating:
Summary: An Unforgettable, Inspirational Biography!
Review: I couldn't put this book down and cried at some of the torments emotionally and physically that the author went through during his imprisonment at one of the many Nazi concentration camps. Sad, but detailed look at life in the camps.

Rating:
Summary: the best
Review: this book is great,! you can lean a whole lot about thing you can't emagine. I would give it a 1ooooooooooooooooooooo star if I could!