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Henry Oster was just five years old when Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. One of the 2,011 Jews who were rounded up by the Gestapo and deported from Cologne, he was one of only 23 to emerge alive from the concentration camps after the war.
The instant Sunday Times and Amazon charts bestseller
"I found myself in the Auschwitz stables, and I felt an ember of hope. If I could make myself useful, helping these horses, maybe I could stay alive."
In the darkest moment of history, one child found the courage and strength to survive the unimaginable. This is Henry''s true story.
One hot, humid day in July, 1944, the Gestapo abducted fifteen-year-old Henry and his mother, forcing them onto cramped cattle cars in the Lódz Polish Ghetto. Like so many Jews before them, they had been selected to disappear - they were being sent to Auschwitz.
Exhausted after hours of traveling, they finally emerged from the stifling, filth-ridden cattle car. Already devastated at having lost his father to starvation, Henry clutched his mother''s frail hand, knowing she was all he had left in the world, and that he was the only one left to protect her. In a flash, he felt them being brutally torn apart.
Crying out for her, his heart shuddered as he watched her disappear into a sea of other women. Henry knew that was the last time he would ever see her, and he felt like he had failed her. He was now completely alone in the world.
Starving, and close to giving up all hope, Henry volunteered to work in the stables, responsible for breeding horses for the war effort. As he watched other prisoners leave and never return, Henry quickly realised these horses were his only lifeline - because every morning he was sent to the stables, was one more morning he escaped the gas chambers.
Before long, caring for the horses became a passion, and their comfort and strength gave Henry a glimmer of life and hope in an ocean of death. Although with every second that passed, Henry knew if he became too weak or made one mistake, he would be mercilessly replaced...
This is the heart-wrenching and inspirational true account of a courageous little German boy who, against all odds, after losing almost everything a human being can lose, survived to tell his story.
This book was originally published as The Kindness of the Hangman.
''Heartbreaking. Eye opening. Tear jerking... kept having to tell myself that this was a real account of the Holocaust.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''Phenomenal... I learned more about the Holocaust than anything I have read in the past... I can''t express how much this book affected me.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''Inspiring book - a Must Read!!'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''Spellbinding... I could not put this book down. The events are recorded in a human voice, not the history book version. I learned so much that was left out of my history books.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''A truly amazing story.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''A moving and powerful story of survival.''Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''Brought me to tears.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''An incredible story. Once I started reading, I couldn''t put this down.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''Amazing story. One that needs to be told over and over to the next generations.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''Riveting, couldn''t put it down. An amazing and heart wrenching recollection of unimaginable events. What an inspiring story of bravery, perseverance and finding the will to go on.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''I could not put the book down... will make you appreciate everything that you have in this world.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
''I have never written an amazon review BEFORE finishing a book, but I''m doing it today... it is direct, evocative, and emotionally impossible to deal with all at once. IMO if you want to read about the Holocaust from a survivor, you owe it to yourself to read this book.'' Amazon Reviewer, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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