Auschwitz Lullaby: A Novel Kindle Edition

This is the second book I have read from this author based on WWII and I was not disappointed! Such a good read for anyone interested in this type of book! This author does a very good job with his books. I will be looking into buying more from him! Highly recommend!

Let me start by saying that I seldom give a book 5 stars. Only if I think it will become a literary classic, ie, Memoirs of a Geisha, Life of Pi, Sophie’s Choice, etc.I will say that this was definitely one of the better books about the Holocaust that I have read. It really captures the heroism and the ineffable horror of this era with this true story of a German woman who started a small school for Gypsy children in a concentration camp staffed by Joseph Mengele. I won’t even refer to the man as a doctor. I applaud this book for doing so without being overly sappy or trite. I learned about noma, a horrific skin disease that generally affects people who are malnourished and living in highly unsanitary conditions. The children in the camps were plagued with this disease and often died as a result due to the weakened state they were in. Just one more layer of horror to add to the mix... But the resilience of the women and children in the story is truly inspiring and it is so,etching that I will always remember.

I'm huge into reading holocaust diaries. I believe we should all know the horrors people faced at the hands of the nazis, and keep this from ever happening again. This is one of many victims. It's also honorable what she did. She could of just left her family and survived. However she stuck with her children, and tried to help as many children as she could. I doubt she would want to be called a saint, so I won't call her one. But she had an honorable heart. We can definitely learn from her actions.

This book showed a different side than many other writings of Auschwitz. To have an aryan who was offered many times to be freed but who chose to stay because of her great love for her children and her husband is certainly not the norm in the prison camps. Of course the union of an aryan and a gypsy was not the norm back then either.The author, Mario Escobar, does an exquisite job of weaving the tale to make sense of it all. Reading about this time in our world history is fascinating yet horrifying. We can never forget that this is true, the holocaust. Some people want to deny it, but we must never deny. We must remember.

Auschwitz Lullaby is based on the true story of Helene Hannemann, a German woman married to a Romani man who had five kids. All were taken to Auschwitz. Though she had the opportunity, because of her pure German heritage, to stay behind, she chose to go with her family to the concentration camp. There was no way they were going anywhere without her. Because she was a nurse, Helene began working at the camp's hospital and was eventually assigned, by Dr. Mengele, as the director of a nursery school in the Gypsy camp.This was a truly compelling, heartbreaking, powerful read. I've read many WWII books, but never one that delved into the plight of the Romani people during that time. It was informative and impossible to put down. I read the majority of it in one day.I can't sugarcoat things. It wasn't an easy read, but it's one that everyone should read. We can never forget the atrocities that took place. We must always remember. Mrs. Hannemann's story was one that needed to be told and I'm so glad this author did it. This is a story that I'll be thinking about for a very long time and one that I'll be recommending to everyone.

I so looked forward to this novel that I preordered it so it would arrive on its release date. The premise seemed so fascinating (an Aryan mother bravely choosing to follow her family to a Nazi camp) that I could hardly wait to begin.I knew from the outset that it wouldn't be a light read (given the topic) that probably wouldn't end well. Helene Hannemann was a courageous woman who refused to abandon her family when they were taken to Auschwitz. While inside, she fought to improve their lives and the lives of other children. I enjoyed reading about her relationship with her sweet children and her recollections of the life she and her husband shared. That brief bit of joy was engulfed by a heartbreaking and touching story that put a lump in my throat at times. I also enjoyed reading about the friendships Helene made while imprisoned in Auschwitz.My problem with the book (thus, my three-star rating) was that Helene's actions just didn't seem realistic for one imprisoned in a Nazi death camp.SPOILER: In her interactions with Josef Mengele, she constantly questioned and challenged him. She wasn't rude yet she was very firm. In one situation, he asked her to do something and she replied that she'd give him her answer the next day. Having read many other books on WWII (both fiction and nonfiction), I've never heard of any prisoner behaving this way and frankly, I didn't buy it. I kept thinking, "This couldn't have happened. She would have been killed for much less." END SPOILER.Having said that, I am glad I learned a bit about how the Romani people lived under Nazi rule and am inspired to read more of their stories.

A great read. Finished book in 2 days.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started this book - lullaby in the title is a bit disarming. This book kept me on my toes throughout with its graphic scenes and recounting actual events and people. I didn't realise until the end that it related to a real person's life story. Left me with a real sense of loss after it ended.

Some historians estimate that between 220,000 and 500,000 Romani were killed by the Germans and their collaborators in World War II – 25% to over 50% of the estimate of just under one million Roma in Europe at the time. Later research estimates the death toll to be about 1.5 million of about 2 million Roma. As with anything to do with the Holocaust, the figures are staggering whatever the exact numbers. With that background Mario Escobar, in his novel "Auschwitz Lullaby" has focussed on one particular family, the Hannemanns and their plunge from a relatively normal life in Germany in 1943 to a nightmare of Kafkaesque proportions in Auschwitz. Helene is German and, as a member of the Aryan race, protected from the Nazi purge of Jews, Gypsies and others who do not fit the mould of German perfection. However, her husband Johann, an accomplished violinist, is a Romani and because of that, their five children fall into the same ethnic category. On an otherwise normal morning when Helene is preparing the children for the day, German police, acting on instructions from the SS, take Johann and the children into custody. Helene refuses to let them go without her and choses to remain with the rest of the family. After a tortuous train journey, they eventually arrive at Auschwitz, where Johann is separated from the rest of the family. Later, Helene, a nurse, is forced into service with a seemingly moderate Nazi. His name is Dr. Josef Mengele."Auschwitz Lullaby" is a work of historical fiction but it is based on fact. The Hannemanns existed and Helene did, in fact, work as a nurse for the infamous Dr. Mengele at Auschwitz. Escobar’s attention to detail is extraordinary, the historical background meticulously researched. Each day of Helene’s harrowing incarceration as she goes to extraordinary lengths to protect her children is described in vivid, heart-wrenching scenes. It is difficult not to feel the emotion filtering through from the pages. "Auschwitz Lullaby" was written in Spanish but has been expertly interpreted into English so that none of the emotion is lost in translation. It is not a light read, but that should not dissuade us from reminding ourselves of the forces evil that lurk in some elements of humanity.

Very interestingUnbelievable what they had to go through I would recommend lots oh history learned very sad times war is very cruel

I really enjoyed this book but the whole time I was reading it I felt as if I had read it before. I can only guess that I had read something very similar to this. Good book, happy to recommend