The Boy From Block 66: A WW2 Jewish Holocaust Survival True Story (Heroic Children of World War II)

I have a great respect for anyone who survived the holocaust. I am fascinated with how they survived. This is a great story of how they survived. I do have a very hard time with how this could happen. It’s very heartbreaking. What an atrocity that just destroyed a whole generation of people and families.

A very touching documentary. Well written. It should be an eye opener, especially for younger generations. I hope many people find the time to read and understand it.

Easy read.

Excellent

We are only a few generations removed from the worst times for humankind. It is so important to read these stories and pass them to family and friends.

Excellent. One of the best books I’ve read about the Holocaust. Details and emotion almost put you in the time and place. Helps to understand why, how and the ultimate of the human spirit.

It was a very good book. It is so sad that this went on.

I would like to start by saying this was a very informative read. It was decently written, not juvenile but not sophisticated. It’s what I consider “regular”. This is a narrative/recount. Going into this I very much thought it would be a “story” set up based on the synopsis on the back of the book. The author did however do a good job at writing as if Mr. Kessler were writing/recounting it. The issue I had is with the title and the synopsis. I felt it was incredibly misleading. I choose this book fully expecting it to primarily focus on Buchenwald, Block 66, and the secret resistance. They were there but they were glazed over. It was a small part of the whole when I was expecting it to be the whole. It was disappointing in that regard, nonetheless I would still recommend it. I can’t deny that it was very explanatory and factual in other aspects. It was interesting to see Moshe Kessler and Eli Wiesel cross paths, unknowingly at the time. A line that really dug it’s way into me and caused me to sit back and think was “He had to fight everyday for his inherent right to exist.”There are some pictures of Mr. Kesslers family before and after the war as well as a few of his childhood home littered throughout the book. He wrote to Eli Wiesel after the war and included a picture of that letter as well. Moshe Kessler, holocaust survivor, and Linda Regev, author, worked closely together to document his story. I always think it’s important for the two to work closely together, hand in hand to properly portray, to the best of their abilities, the brutalities that occurred and the impact it had.

The Boy from Block 66 is an incredibly moving and highly recommended book. The author does a great job of telling the true story of Moshe Kessler's survival. It's an emotional and essential read that sheds light on a truly remarkable and horrifying part of history.

Bought this for my 15 year old (for school English class reading). English is not his mother language. It was well written and he liked it.

I was surprised by how this book was written. I thought it was going to be more of a story with dialogue and development, however, most of the book is written in a way that you feel like the events are being narrated to you by a survivor. It's so well done, but it took me about a week to get through it. I'm quite a fast reader, but in this case, I could only read so much at a time. The subject material is heavy and dark and it forced me to slow down and absorb the impact of it through the eyes of someone who was actually there. I 100% recommend this read!

A truth told simply and with feeling. I read it all in one sitting. It makes me wish to meet Moishe to see this humble person whose humanity shines through. I want to read about Mr Kalina as soon as I can.

A brilliant ‘ must read ‘ - sad but enthralling. Couldn’t put it down.