Well, I'm back from a trip, so now it's time to get my reviews out. I made it through a few books and a couple movies this time, so let's start with the book I finished last night.
This book is an overview of the author's time in Buchenwald concentration camp. It isn't like the usual memoirs of people's time in a camp, but instead it focuses on the different nationalities and the way they interacted with each other.
It isn't what I expected. It was a sad look into how people in the same situation treated each other. I knew there were instances of cruelty and selfishness, but there were also positives. I read a lot of the political conflicts between the different nations even in such circumstances.
The writing was something of a struggle. The author writes in such a way that I had to pay close attention and re-read sentences to try and understand what he was saying. It was also written so soon after the war that the author didn't know the fates of certain people that had been in power.
Overall, the book was an interesting look into a different aspect of the concentration camp. Normally, it's a look at the way the Nazis treated the prisoners, but reading a book dedicated to the way the prisoners treated each other was definitely interesting. I think one of the things that really stuck with me was when he mentioned how the Nazis had cast them into horror, and they had a chance to show their cause is just and when they're free they can have basic decency and respect human life and liberty. Instead they proved the contrary. That had to be demoralizing for the author, and it was pretty sad as a reader.
I'm glad I read it, but it was a bit hard to get through. The different perspective was worth my time. I would only recommend it for someone who is interested in the internal structure of Buchenwald.
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