Twelve-year-old Michael Kraus began keeping a diary while he was still living at home in the Czech city of Nachód but continued writing while a prisoner at Theresienstadt (TerezÃn). When he was shipped with other prisoners to the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau; all of his writings were confiscated and destroyed. After his liberation and while convalescing; he began to draw and make notes again about his experiences in Theresienstadt; in Auschwitz; the first death march out of Mauthausen; and its satellite camps; in Melk and Gunskirchen. As a teenager confronting the traumas of these experiences; Kraus found that recording his memories in words and pictures helped him overcome his hatred for those who had murdered his parents. The process of writing and drawing also helped him begin the painful transition to a so-called normal life. As a survivor; Kraus also felt the need to recount his experiences for the benefit of future generations; especially on behalf of the many who did not survive. The present edition makes this memoir; originally written in Czech and significant for having been written so close to the author’s liberation; widely available to English readers for the first time. It also reproduces pages from the original booklets that show how the teenage Kraus illustrated his memories with pencil drawings that both complement and extend his story; giving readers a sense of its character as an unusual and important historical document.
#751688 in Books 2006-12-08 2006-12-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.01 x 6.13l; 1.27 #File Name: 0822338475408 pages
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. AmazingBy Sara SalemI absolutely loved this book. Kosek does so well to show how complicated questions of land; the nation state; race and economics are intertwined.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Asks tough and important questionsBy Gabriel PiserUnderstories does a great job navigating the complex relationships at work producing the social political and ecological worlds in Northern New Mexico. The author asks very tough questions about the connections between racism; nationalism; and environmentalism. He highlights the interplay between indigenous and settler histories with larger structures of land (and people) management. He investigates the ongoing presence of racism in the management systems of the Forest Service; and the larger systems of control which are grounded in troubling forms of nationalism which use the notion of an all-encompassing 'we' (public land) to cover over the specific land-use needs of Hispano communities; who have been impoverished through a series of exploitative land-tenure reorganizations.Kosek weaves history; ecology; political economy; and race criticism; in a powerful text of political ecology.People interested in ecology or politics should absolutely read this book; in order to understand how well-intentioned environmental activists can dramatically and persistently undermine political struggles for autonomy.19 of 20 people found the following review helpful. What Lies UnderneathBy Kay MatthewsIn a narrative that is both theoretically informative and passionately engaging; Jake Kosek brilliantly analyzes the politics of race and nature that underlie the intense conflicts that erupted over forest management in northern New Mexico. His devastating critique of the politics of the environmental movement reveals its legacy of purity based on exclusion; nation; and race. Expanding upon that critique; he analyzes how the Forest Service established and exercised its powers of governance to exploit forest resources and the members of the traditional communities that are dependent upon them. Kosek concludes his analysis by taking a close look at the role Los Alamos National Laboratory plays in this drama: reinforcing economic and social disparities and completely transforming the way people understand nature by irradiating it. This book challenges conventional understandings of nature and governance and should be read by everyone concerned about issues of environmental and social justice.
