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Rating: 
Summary: A Biography Worth Reading
Review: "From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes", is a fascinating account of Robert Clary's experiences growing up amid the backdrop of the Nazi occupation of France. Robert proves to be a remarkably 'lucky' individual who has had to face extra-ordinary circumstances and yet has not allowed the scars of Genocide to prevent him from finding personal joy, while allowing that joy to touch others. His exuberance and boyish charm punctuates the pages of his book as he recounts his innocent childhood, the horrific 31 months in Nazi prison camps from the age of 16, and the eventual realization that almost every member of his beloved family had been literally wiped out. His remarkable flight out of purgatory leads him to a renewed zest for living and to his own personal success on stage, television and pictures. His personal insights of the personalities that he met along the way, as well as his jaunt on Hogan's Heroes, keeps you from putting the book aside. Robert Clary literally leaves you wanting more.
Rating: 
Summary: Bland
Review: Bland book written by a man with a huge ego and an appetite for embellishing history in an effort to elevate his own status as an entertainer.
Also, I found it curious how Mr. Clary (like apparently hundreds of thousands of others) could have survived a staggering 31 months in a German "death camp"?
Rating: 
Summary: Short
Review: First, I would like to clarify something that another reviewer apparently didn't understand. Robert Clary was NOT in a "death camp." He was in a "forced labor camp." Second, based on what I have heard from him in several documentaries made for PBS, Robert Clary has a lot more that he could have said in his autobiography. He was obviously holding back on information or censoring his experiences. My feeling was that he would take his experiences to the moment of pain and then pull away from them. As much as I liked Robert Clary as Corporal Louis Lebeau on Hogan's Heroes and as a narrator of Holocaust documentaries, I must admit that his writing is not as intense as I was expecting.
Rating:
Summary: Short
Review: First, I would like to clarify something that another reviewer apparently didn't understand. Robert Clary was NOT in a "death camp." He was in a "forced labor camp." Second, based on what I have heard from him in several documentaries made for PBS, Robert Clary has a lot more that he could have said in his autobiography. He was obviously holding back on information or censoring his experiences. My feeling was that he would take his experiences to the moment of pain and then pull away from them. As much as I liked Robert Clary as Corporal Louis Lebeau on Hogan's Heroes and as a narrator of Holocaust documentaries, I must admit that his writing is not as intense as I was expecting.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful, highly recommended biographical journey
Review: From The Holocaust To Hogan's Heroes is the autobiography of Robert Clary (born Robert Max Widerman in Paris in 1926), who is perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Corporal Louis Lebeau in the widely syndicated television comedy series Hogan's Heroes. But unlike his jovial television character, Robert Clary's personal experience with World War II was much more horrific - he was among those deported to the Nazi concentration and extermination camps at age 16 in 1942, and although he barely survived, his parents, two sisters, two half-sisters, and two nephews did not. From The Holocaust To Hogan's Heroes is a powerful, highly recommended biographical journey that enfolds the reader in a strong life with the will to survive and pass on personal knowledge of the past's abominations to the present generation.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Account of the Holocaust
Review: I have been familiar with Robert Clary's work in soap opera, particularly DAYS OF OUR LIVES. I had read several accounts in various magazines, mentioning his experiences in the concentration camps and was quite interested in reading his experiences in his own words. As an account of the Holocaust, it is of value. However, this was not an easy book to get through. Clary makes reference to so many friends and relatives that after a while it becomes difficult to keep any of them straight. The book varies from depressing to matter-of-fact, without very much relief for the reader from the overwhelming depression of the Holocaust. I had been looking forward to reading about his entertainment career after the camps to get relief from the grief, and then started to feel bored.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Account of the Holocaust
Review: I have been familiar with Robert Clary's work in soap opera, particularly DAYS OF OUR LIVES. I had read several accounts in various magazines, mentioning his experiences in the concentration camps and was quite interested in reading his experiences in his own words. As an account of the Holocaust, it is of value. However, this was not an easy book to get through. Clary makes reference to so many friends and relatives that after a while it becomes difficult to keep any of them straight. The book varies from depressing to matter-of-fact, without very much relief for the reader from the overwhelming depression of the Holocaust. I had been looking forward to reading about his entertainment career after the camps to get relief from the grief, and then started to feel bored.
Rating:
Summary: A memoir that stands-out from the rest
Review: In recommend this book as a standout memoir for those interested in Holocaust studies, Showbiz lives, and inspiring tales. Born in France, Clary survived the Nazi death camps. The book describes Clary's two lives: survival of several Nazi camps, and a career in showbiz afterwards. The last and 14th child of his Polish born Jewish father (and mother), Robert Max Widerman was raised on the Ile St Louis at 10 Rue de Deux Ponts in Paris. After some neighbors complained to the Vichy French police that Jews still were living in the building, the French police deported Robert and 12 members of his immediate family on 9/23/1942. Of those deported, only Robert survived. The book details Clary's arrest in 1942 at the age of 16 and his 31-month-long incarceration in three Nazi concentration camps in Drancy, Upper Silesia, and Poland, as well as Buchenwald, where he was liberated by the Allies on April 11, 1945 (he put on a show for the troops). Would you believe that Clary got his stage name at Buchenwald, and not in some cigar filled Hollywood agent's office? Clary details how a friend "lost" his file at Buchenwald, which saved him from sure death on the death march of the prisoners. After the war, Clary went back to singing inParis and was discovered by Harry Bluestone while entertaining in a dance hall in 1947. A meeting with Merv Griffin led to an introduction to Eddie Cantor's daughter Natalie, whom he married. He went on to be discovered on Broadway in "New Faces of 1952", and then become famous as the character Corporal Louis Lebeau on Hogan's Heroes. This is an inspirational story of how he survived these two lives.
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