The Iron Furnace: A Holocaust Survivor's Story

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunate Circumstance,Uninteresting Book
Review: Everyone has read or heard about the Holocaust, and many people are entranced by the horrifying events that occurred during this time period. George Topas' "The Iron Furnace" is the true story of his teenage years in Nazi inhabited Poland. Topas chronicles his life in the Warsaw ghetto, his journey in and out of concentration and work camps, and his near escapes from death. This all may sound exciting, but it's not. I feel great sympathy for the author, but this book was not an interesting read. The structure of the book was confusing, and the constant skipping around drove this reader crazy. There were a few moments that I was close to being glued to my chair, but then the author would go off reminiscing about something, and would lose all of my attention. This 268 page book was full of typos, and the sentences were long and broken up into something that would make an English teacher scream. It was filled with non-sequiturs and misspellings that distracted me away from the already confusing story. I really wanted to like this book. I usually love reading historical non-fiction, so I re-read the book hoping it was my exhaustion that caused my dislike, but it wasn't. Perhaps this was written as a catharsis. In pain, many people wall themselves off from all true emotions. Unfortunately, it seems that if this was the case, the author was incapable of sharing these emotions through his book. I feel that the events of the Holocaust were terrible, and I don't mean to say that the author did not suffer, I just would not recommend this book as an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: The Iron Furnace of KZ, a Modern Egptian Slavery
Review: George Topas' memoir begins with his testimony before a German court in Kiel against a SS guard. This event triggers his memory of his five years under the Nazi boot. He relates life before the war in Warsaw, the Warsaw Ghetto and Uprising, deportation and life in a number of concentration camps. Mr. Topas is a trained historian and he provides the reader with historial asides and explanations. He goes into the false assumptions Jews had before and during World WarII. The writer provides a number of footnotes, includes an index and wraps up his narrative with an long epilogue which tell what happened to characters introduced in the book. This is a mature learned memoir.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, absorbing first-person account
Review: Reading "The Iron Furnace: A Holocaust Survivor's Story," you experience practically the entire repertoire of human emotions. In January 1939, the author was a 15-year-old Jewish boy living in Warsaw. When the Nazis invaded Poland, they turned his and his family's lives upside down. His schooling ended, he and his family were interned in the Warsaw ghetto (except for George's stays in two German work camps), and then they were all shipped to various concentration camps. George was the only one in his immediate family to survive. After his liberation by the U.S. Army, he volunteered to serve (without pay) in that army and did so with distinction. He then went on to lead a rich, productive life.

The reader feels horror, revulsion and fury at the hideous acts of the oppressors, described in chilling detail; admiration for the courage, intelligence and quick wits displayed by the author; deep sorrow at the sad plights of so many; wry enjoyment of the black humor that appeared even in the direst of circumstances; respect for the author's prodigious memory for events, conversations and people (whom you come to know intimately in these pages); awe at his ability to retain his religious faith throughout his journeys into Hell; inspiration at the demonstrated indomitability of the human spirit; jubilation at the author's rich subsequent life; and gratitude to this historian for having given his testimony so powerfully that it has to silence anyone who dares to deny that the Holocaust took place.

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting; skillfully written.
Review: The book is unique among survivor's stories that I have read for its clear, straightforward writing style. The story, while frightening, is told in a mannner that does not terrorize the reader; this book should therefore appeal to a wide audience. The author's survival of these events is as surprising to us as it was to him, and marks with compassion the many of his fellow men and women that did not survive those awful events. His subsequent enlistment in the US Army is a heartening testament to human stamina and determination. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting; skillfully written.
Review: The book is unique among survivor's stories that I have read for its clear, straightforward writing style. The story, while frightening, is told in a mannner that does not terrorize the reader; this book should therefore appeal to a wide audience. The author's survival of these events is as surprising to us as it was to him, and marks with compassion the many of his fellow men and women that did not survive those awful events. His subsequent enlistment in the US Army is a heartening testament to human stamina and determination. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Compulsory reading for any decent human being
Review: This book is both brilliant and hideous. It is brilliant in its clarity and writing style; it is hideous in the unfortunately all-too-true events that it depicts. This book tells the story of the author's life from the outset of the Nazi domination of Poland until the eventual liberation 6 long years later. It is a story told in a deceptively simple style, eminently readable, revealing beneath the horrible picture of what evil truly is. It is a book that everyone, whether a student of history, humankind or good and evil, should read. The author comes across as a remarkable man. And this is a remarkable book.