Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary, 1939-1944

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Summary: A very decent book
Review: This book is very decent, reading this book is like yourself experiencing what the people did during the holocaust. It will allow you to see how bad the time of WWII was!

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Summary: I thought this book was the best book i ever read.
Review: this book was a touching drama filled with adventure. The author made it clear how awful it was. the author that wrote the book is also in it. she is piri.I recomend this book to everyone.

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Summary: Started my love for all things Hungarian
Review: This was the first book I read about the Shoah in Hungary, and it was so fascinating that it got me interested in all things Hungarian. It's different from many books about the Shoah in that the majority of it takes place before the Nazi invasion of Hungary on 19 March 1944, when the remaining members of the Davidowitz family are shipped off to a ghetto. Though life is growing increasingly hard for them because of the anti-Jewish regulations and the strain of living during a war in general, and Piri had to stay in the Ukraine with her grandmother and older sister Rozsi longer than she expected to because of a border war, the Davidowitzes still have a pretty normal and decent life before they have to leave for the ghetto. During this time the family also does their part to help other Jewish families and people in need, even with hiding them in safe houses or helping to smuggle them across borders, and Iboya, the next-youngest of Mrs. Davidowitz's children by her first marriage, is very involved in Zionism. And even in the ghetto, Piri's family and her best friend Judi's little family live the best they can, trying to keep their spirits up and to be happy. Piri and Judi both have their first romances in the ghetto, in fact. It's not one of those books that starts out happily and then quickly moves to the ghetto and then the camps. In fact, the book ends as they're leaving the ghetto in the cattlecar, and only a short postscript tells us what happened after that.

The book is also interesting because not all of Piri's siblings are at home, unlike many other Shoah books where all of the family are in the same house. Because her mother didn't want her grandmother to be lonely after she was widowed, she began farming out her five daughters to stay with her to keep her company, but Lilli, the oldest, wasn't her companion very long because she got married at only 16 years old and soon had a baby. Now Rozsi is living with the grandmother, and loves farm life very much, while the other older sister, Etu, is away at university in Budapest. Even after Lilli and her young daugher Manci move back in, there are still only Piri and her sister Iboya left at home along with their halfsiblings Sandor and Joli, and when Lilli's husband Lajos is arrested and Lilli insists on joining him along with Manci, there are still only the youngest four still at home. It makes it interesting because the family are in all different places instead of all suffering the same fates or suffering all together. The only complaint I have about the book is one I acquired in hindsight; it would have been helpful to have told the reader something about the pronunciation of the Hungarian names and that some of the names used, like Ica and Manci, are nicknames and not full given names.

Rating:
Summary: Great Inspirational Story
Review: Upon The head of a Goat Written By aranka Siegal is an stroy about a young girlgrowing up in Hungary during world war ll. It is hard enough for her to grow up unable to see her family, but she has more troubles because she is Jewish. Piri, a nine year old girl, has been visiting her grandmother in Komjaty for a year and she in finally able to return home. When she returns home there have been many changes. Her family has a hard life. They were sent to a Ghetto later to be sent to Auschwitz. An terrible concentration camp. What will happen to Piri and her family when they arrive in Auschwitz? I recommend this book because you really get the feel of how hard this young girl had it growing up.

Rating:
Summary: An incredibly interesting tale of a life full of grief!
Review: UPON THE HEAD OF THE GOAT shines a light upon a society not often discussed in today's world. The story is told carefully, and with a unique beauty. The threads of truth are woven carefully in this beautiful garment. I highly reccomend it!