Auschwitz Lullaby

Mario Escobar has novelized the story of Helene Hanneman and her five children and their experiences in Auschwitz toward the end of the war.  It is a true story and reads like a diary in the voice of Helene.

This is not an easy book to read, to learn of the cruelties of the German Reich during World War II.  Helene was married to a Gypsy, even though she was considered Aryan.  She could have continued to live in her apartment and had another life, but she refused to leave her five children. 

It was hard to read of the brutalities of the guards, the twisted experiments of Josef Mengele, and the emotionless separations of families--the selections of people for the gas chambers.

Toward the end of the war, rumors were flying of the Allies coming to liberate the camps.  Dr Mengele gave Helene a second chance to leave as a free woman, but he would not release her children.  She led her children like she led them all their lives--by example.

This is a five star book, two thumbs up, and a real mattress to sleep on.

My thanks to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read and review this book.