ebooks The 23rd Psalm: A Holocaust Memoir by George Lucius Salton in History

Review

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A story you won't put down until the last pageBy Janet PrevostI have an entire bookshelf of books written by Holocaust survivors and this is by far one of the best. Well written and amazingly detailed. The author was clear and raw about his experiences. I'm so thankful that him and so many others decided to write their experiences in a book. I can't imagine how hard it would be to think about those horrible and hellish things that happened to him and his family and I'm grateful he was able to convey it so emotionally in his book. Lucek was a survivor of the death camps who wanted to give up but decided not to and with that and the Grace of God; he went on to great things after the war. He details his life from the very beginning of the rumblings of that awful time period and is able to convey the very special relationships he had with his mother; father; and brother. He was the only survivor of his immediate family and went to America sometime after the war had ended. He is a man to be admired as he apparently let his survivor instinct lead him to a successful life and career.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Deeply moving; honest and braveBy Kelly HockThe 23rd Psalm is so moving and emotional; so well-written and engrossing that when I reached the end I felt like the beginning of the book; which I started only a few days ago; is years and miles away. This is a very detailed and personal autobiography of George Salton (Then Lucjan Salzman); an eleven-year old boy living in Tyczyn Poland; when the Germans invade Poland in September 1939. My heart wept as I read about the gradual descent of his family; who were educated and well-respected; into poverty and illness. They struggled against the overwhelming tide of German rule; but finally are forced from their home and into the overcrowded; violent and starving Rzeszow Ghetto. His parents are eventually forced to leave the ghetto with the rest of the residents who were deemed not to be able workers; and George and his brother are forced to work in a nearby factory. George pleaded to go with his parents; who were destined for the Belzec death camp. They insisted that he stay with his brother; thus saving his life.The rawness of George's emotions and his vulnerability help the reader to understand the depth of his pain. I'll never really know just how traumatic his journey was; I simply can't imagine the level of sadness he must have felt. But I'm grateful for his bravery in so honestly and beautifully describing it. When George is forced to leave that factory; he also leaves his brother; the last shred of the family he had. He is sent to a shockingly large number of labor and concentration camps in Poland; Germany and France. The expertise he acquires during his imprisonment exploited to build weapons in an underground complex in France. Finally; ill and starving; he is liberated by the Americans in 1945. George eventually reunited with an aunt and uncle in America and began to rebuild his life. Decades later; with the support and encouragement of his family; he began sharing his story. He wrote his memoir and shares his story with live audiences.While heartbreaking; Mr. Salton's story is also inspirational. It's a story of an intelligent; creative; and strong young man who used his resourcefulness to survive and never lost his humanity. After reading other Holocaust memoirs of survivors from Poland I can feel George's sincerity and honesty; and rather than clashing; this book helps to paint a richer and more detailed picture of life in Poland before; during; and after the war.I decided to purchase this book after reading the prologue preview; which describes the trip that George and his family took back to Tyczyn in 1998. I was moved and drawn into the story when he so bravely describes his emotions on seeing his childhood home and the way he's treated by the current residents of the town. The book gripped me from the beginning and never let go.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Riveting and gut-wrenching memoir of young polish survivor of multiple KZsBy CustomerThis book is worth reading even if you think you know what happened to the Jews in the concentration camps in Poland and in the slave labor camps in Germany. The book is written by someone whose teenage years and family were lost to the Nazi system of forced labor; sadism and murder. His account is harrowing.The amount of courage it took for the author and his family to dredge up these detailed memories - names of guards; names of prisoners; dates; cities; quotations - and the violence and humiliation he suffered - there is no doubt that he became a Mensch in spite of those who treated him as less than a dog.For people researching Shoah; this book documents survival from the Polish Jewish prisoner's point of view; starting from the moment Germany invaded Poland - during the "selection" process; in multiple forced labor camps; during forced marches and during the boxcar transports. It documents the reactions of non-Jewish citizens in Poland; Germany and France to the public humiliation and (rare) escape attempts of the prisoners. It documents the lies that were told in order to trick the prisoners into joining transports to Belzac; and how slowly rumors of the truth reached the surviving family members. It documents the progression of laws that harmed Jews. It documents a wide range of slave labor; torture and punishment - from first-hand experience and from what he witnessed happening to other prisoners. It documents the few moments when someone risked their own safety to provide compassion or a scrap of food or the transmission of a message.Warning: this book is highly experiential. You will not be able to put it down. You will have to put it down.It is probably not suitable for teenagers and young adults without mature adult discussion.Many thanks to the author and his family for making the story public.