The holocaust was the systematic extermination of Jews in Europe, started in Nazi Germany in 1933 till the end of world war 2 in 1945. It is one of the darkest periods in human history.
The books about it are reminders that the unimaginable suffering and loss endured by millions can live on in power and spirit. The books on holocaust provide firsthand accounts, historical narratives and personal stories that explore the horrors of the concentration camps, the brutalities experienced by Jewish families and the terrible toll of prejudice and hatred. They recount the resilience and bravery of survivors while honouring the memory of those who died. Through these works, we access history and further a sense of empathy towards the human spirit in the presence of vile human beings.
Best Books on Holocaust
We also must never forget the atrocities of the holocaust by reading and educating ourselves with such literature. These works illuminate the dire consequences of vitriolic hatred left untamed and the necessity for understanding, acceptance, and human consideration. Reading these works is a way to gain comfort, face the past, honour the victims, and teach those who come after us. Here are some of the best among them, offering various perspectives on the events of the Holocaust, from survivor's accounts to historical treatments to personal meditations to the more universal reflections on humanity.
1. The Boy From Block 66: A WW2 Jewish Holocaust Survival
In January 1945, 14-year-old Moshe Kessler was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, plagued by the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau, his brother's betrayal and the brutal death march through the freezing European winter. In a world where the Nazis have not stopped being cruel, the only thing that Moshe knows for sure is that the one thing you need to survive is to make it to Block 66. This block, a clandestine refuge for the camp's children, is the centre of an underground resistance dedicated to protecting the innocent. Moshe's story is a tribute to the bravery, strength and hope that characterized one of the most extraordinary and inspiring acts of survival during the Holocaust.
The authors of the Book are Limor Regev, Never Again Press, and ReadMore Press. The Book's publication date is January 10, 2023. It is 243 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 243 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars
2. Inside the Gas Chambers: Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz
Slomo Venezia, born into a poor Jewish-Italian family in Thessaloniki, Greece, provides a terrifying eyewitness account of life inside the Nazi extermination machine. Under the initial protection of the Italians, Venezia and his family were subsequently deported to Auschwitz after the Germans invaded. His mother and sisters vanished as soon as they arrived — likely killed in the gas chambers. In a last-ditch effort to live, he became a ‘Sonderkommando,' unwittingly signing up with the people who pulled corpses from gassing groups and cremated them. A vivid reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust, this book is published in partnership with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The author of the Book is Shlomo Venezia. The Book's publication date is December 6, 2013 by Polity. It is 229 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 229 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 stars
3. My Mother's Secret: A Novel Based on a True Holocaust Story
Based on a true story, My Mother's Secret tells an uplifting and poignant story of courage, survival and humanity during the Holocaust. In Nazi-occupied Poland, Franciszka and her daughter Helena take significant risks to room Jews and a defecting German soldier in their cramped home in Sokal. They shelter a Jewish family above the pigsty, a doctor and his family in a hidden cellar, and a German soldier in the attic — none of them aware of the other. As talented Franciszka walks a dangerous line between outwitting her neighbours and the German commander, four lives unravel under one roof, revealing the incredible heroics of houseful history — ordinary people thrust into unimaginable peril.
The author of the Book is J.L. Witterick. The Book's publication date is September 5, 2013 by Berkley. It is 209 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 209 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars
4. The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor
Through his story, Eddie Jaku, known as the happiest man on earth, provides us with a memoir on resilience, gratitude, and wisdom. Eddie, born in Leipzig, Germany, saw his life change irrevocably on Kristallnacht in 1938 when he was arrested, beaten, and sent to concentration camps, including Buchenwald and Auschwitz, where he endured unspeakable horrors for seven years. Eddie never surrendered despite having lost his family, friends, and home. And so he vowed to smile each day in honour of the six million Jews who were killed by the Nazis, a gesture of thanks for surviving.
The author of the Book is Eddie Jaku. The Book's publication date is May 4, 2021, by Harper. It is 212 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 212 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars
5. Auschwitz #34207: The Joe Rubinstein Story
A remarkable story of survival and resilience that wasn't told until now, Joe Rubinsztejn emerged from a Nazi concentration camp in 1945. Just 21, he was captured by German troops in Radom, Poland, and sent to Auschwitz in 1942, where he suffered unspeakable horrors. There were 12 mass graves, and with everything taken from him, Joe's spirit and faith kept him alive when so many others perished. After the war — barefoot and broken — he rebuilt his life and became one of New York's top shoe designers, working for famed companies whose products were desired by First Ladies and movie stars. Joe's extraordinary life is proof that the human spirit can find the light in the darkest places, and his impact will be felt by many for generations to come.
The author of the Book is Nancy Sprowell Geise. The Book's publication date is April 6, 2015. It is 380 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 380 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 stars
6. The Redhead of Auschwitz: A True Story (Holocaust Survivor True Stories)
In 1944, the spirited Rosie, a young woman with a shock of bright red hair, is taken from her home against her will and sent to Auschwitz, where she loses not just her hair but the life she once lived. In a world of death, Rosie will not give in to hopelessness. Even as her friends lose hope, thinking they will never escape, Rosie clings to the one thing the Nazis cannot strip away from her: her stubborn striving to survive. Hell-bent on survival, she endures death camps and death marches with an indomitable spirit, buoyed by the belief that she will someday return home.
A story about the human spirit, faith in oneself and the spirit of family, culture and love, this biography, written by Nechama Birnbaum in memory of her bubby, tells the tale of a young redhead who believed that with enough heart, she could do anything — and she did.
The author of the Book is Nechama Birnbaum. The Book's publication date is November 28, 2021. It is 284 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 284 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars
7. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The story begins with eight-year-old Bruno being taken away from his home in Berlin after his father gets a promotion that requires the family to move to a desolate house next to a high fence that appears to stretch forever. Restless and inquisitive, Bruno, an enthusiastic adventurer, slips through the wall and meets a boy named Shmuel, who has a life far removed from his own. With their unlikely friendship blossoming, the two boys discover the shocking, heartbreaking realities of the Holocaust. It is a powerful story, likened by USA Today to The Diary of Anne Frank, about childhood innocence amid the ravages of war and the devastating price of a friendship that crosses the boundaries of hate and intolerance.
The author of the Book is John Boyne. The Book's publication date is December 18, 2008, by David Fickling Books. It is 228 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 228 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars
8. My Daughter's Keeper: A WW2 Historical Novel
My Daughter's Keeper is the remarkable true story of Rachel, a Jewish medical student, and her husband Johann, a Christian army officer, whose love transcends the growing wave of hatred sweeping through 1938 Poland. Their blissful marriage is destroyed when Johann disappears after the Nazi invasion, and Rachel and their newborn daughter Ilona are dumped into the Warsaw ghetto. As they confront the rising danger of persecution, Rachel's only hope for her daughter's survival is smuggling Ilona to Rachel's Christian sister-in-law, Irena, outside the ghetto. Will Irena's bravery and determination to risk her life to save one Jewish child be enough to trump the travesties of war and hate? Also, this is a strong story of love, faith and the indomitable bond between two women who will do anything to protect a child.
The authors of the Book are Adiva Geffen, Never Again Press, and ReadMore Press. The Book's publication date is March 27, 2022. It is 286 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 286 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars
9. Lily's Promise: Holding On to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond—A Story for All Generations
A Holocaust survivor — a child of grandparents who were also survivors of the Shoah — she wrote her traumatic story in this powerful intergenerational memoir with her great-grandson Dov Forman. Now, at ninety-eight years old, Lily keeps a promise made to herself while in Auschwitz on Yom Kippur, 1944: to survive and share her story for the voices that could not be heard. She writes with frankness and warmth about her happy childhood in Hungary, the heartbreak of losing her mother and siblings to the camp, and her resolve to protect her surviving sisters. Through small acts of defiance, she exhibited strength in the face of unimaginable inhumanity.
Decades after she has rebuilt her life, first in Israel and then in London, Dov and Lily fold together generations so that her story not only did not die with her but becomes part of the fabric that calls us all by name, part of the duty we owe to the past, and — ultimately — the pleasure of preserving the past as well.
The authors of the Book are Lily Ebert and Dov Forman. The Book's publication date is May 10, 2022, by HarperOne. It is 338 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 338 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars
10. My Family's Survival: The true story of how the Shwartz family escaped the Nazis and survived the Holocaust
My Family's Survival is the incredible true story of the Shwartz family's bravery and perseverance throughout the horror of the Holocaust. It is 1937, and they live quietly in a small Polish village when war arrives in Butla and upends their life. David Shwartz will not be captured as the Russians, and then the Nazis rumble over his Polish homeland. He has to lead them on a treacherous journey through forests and across Eastern Europe, looking for sanctuary in Hungary, only to have to keep running from bombs, prisons and Nazi troops.
This stunning memoir follows the Shwartz family's struggle to stay alive on the run — and their flight to Israel — and is a poignant story of hope, resistance and the strength to survive at history's darkest hour. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and We Were the Lucky Ones, this riveting saga of survival will ignite the spirit.
The author of the Book is Aviva Gat. The Book's publication date is March 19, 2019. It is 381 pages long and available in a few formats.
Length: 381 pages
Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook, Paperback
Latest Version: First Edition
Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars
In conclusion, the best books on the Holocaust are tools for remembrance and education. They serve as a sobering reminder of the pain forged in the crucible of war and a testament to the endurance and ingenuity of the human spirit. Through these books, we can make sure that the memories of the victims live on and teach ourselves to remember to be vigilant against hate and intolerance. These tales do not just belong to yesteryear; they contain age-old principles that resonate today with people from all walks of life, reminding us of the need for kindness, empathy, being close to women and shielding human rights for everybody.