"Shoah: Journey From the Ashes - A Personal Story of Triumph Over the Holocaust" by Canto Leo Fettman

My thoughts: This is a small book. Only 200 pages. It begins with a synoptic history of the persecution of the Jewish peoples from early times - in fact over 2,000 years. The continued persecution and disbursement of the Jewish peoples throughout history were fodder for the unsettled economic times of pre-World War II Germany and the rise of the Nazi party and its leader Adolph Hitler.

What happened prior to and during WWII shouldn't have happened. There were many red flags but folks simply looked out for themselves and turned away from the obvious.

Cantor Fettman recounts his and his family's personal story of that period of devastating history. He lost so many and so much. But he was not alone in his loss - there were 6 million Jewish souls lost to history. Also, there were 5 million others consumed by the flames of Nazi terror and hatred.

Cantor Fettman writes in Chapter 17, page 193.....

Am I a bitter old Jew? No. Old, perhaps, and hopefully wiser, but not bitter. Still, there are many ways in which the Holocaust affected, and continues to affect, my life. My war experiences left me damaged both emotionally and physically. I have frequent nightmares. Due to lingering feelings of insecurity, I keep all the shades drawn and avoid sitting on the aisle at the theater. I go to great lengths to avoid a sense of being unnecessarily exposed.

For religious reasons, my head is always covered with a yarmulke, yet I am never without a hat or a cap to cover the yarmulke when I am out in public. I still harbor the fear of anti-Semitism from my youth, more so because it is increasingly around us today.

There is the memory of gnawing hunger that returns still. Holocaust survivors often will take small bags of food when leaving home, even if just for a few hours. ..................

Not one week goes by that I do not dream that I am still in a concentration camp...............

Read the above out loud and slowly. Let it sink in. Let the horror of the events experienced by those who lived and died in the holocaust resonate in your being.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of Shoah from Six Points Press to facilitate my honest review. No compensation was received for this review.