We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust

by Jacob Boas

Book Overview

We are the bleeding clouds, and from the seas of blood have we come... We are witnesses... we were brought into being by an inferno of suffering; and we are a sign of peace to you. - Moshe Ze'ev Flinker, Age 17 On the eve of Passover, 1944, shortly after he wrote these words, Moshe and his family were betrayed to the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. Like the other four diarists in this book, he did not survive the war. But their words did. Written in...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805037020
• ISBN13: 9780805037029
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 196 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Witness

Thus bookbhad some great details in it and told so much about what things were like and the point of views. Must have very good book

Compelling diaries from five teenagers that did not survive the Holocaust

As a teenager I was a witness to the Holocaust. I survived; the five teenagers in the book We Are Witnesses did not, but their diaries did. I feel indebted to Eva, David, Moshe, Yitzhak and Anne for their work, for their courageous efforts to put on record what they were witnessing. The five teenagers represent me as a Holocaust survivor and they represent millions of other teenagers that perished in the Holocaust. Their diaries fulfill the pleas from the Holocaust victims whose last words were: Gedenkt unz", "Zychru otanu"," pamietaj nas"," Ne felejes el bennunket"- remember us, remember the Nazi's cruelty. All concerned people should be grateful, as I am, to Jacob Boas, himself a Holocaust survivor, for his efforts to put in print the testimonies of five young Jewish children who were murdered by Hitler's henchmen. Boas explanatory paragraphs to each and every diary are remarkable. His comments enable the reader, especially the teenagers of today and in future, to comprehend the gripping and traumatic events witnessed by those five teenagers. We are witnesses is an excellent book for young students who study the Holocaust. Readers of this book, young and old, may take away some valuable lessons: Freedom is precious, education is vital, prejudice and bigotry is the bane of our life. The world's redemption can only come with the eradication of oppression, prejudice and bigotry. Alter Wiener, author of From A Name to A Number: A Holocaust Survivor's Autobiography

Touching, sad, but moving and worth the read

Although many people think that reading such books as these, the accounts of teenagers who died while under the Nazi regime, is depressing...people should tell them, it should be. This book was very good, and I read it a few years ago during a class that I had to take. Everyone had read the Diary of Anne Frank, but although this includes excerpts of hers, I was interested to know what others thought. Whether or not they were as optimistic as she was. If you are looking for a read that will give you different perspectives on how teenagers thought about the Holocaust, this is the book for you.

We Are Witnesses

We Are Witnesses is a book containing the diaries of five young children that lived during the holocaust. The diaries tell of how these children dealt with all of the madness going on around them. Some of the diaries broke off early in the beginning of the story. Some diaries lasted quite a while. All of the stories told of how scared these poor children were during some points of time. The diaries tell of how horrifying it must have been for all of them.

This book was the best book I've ever read.

If people havn't read this then your missing the best holocaust book you would ever read!!!