The Neighbor from Bergen Belsen by Yaakov Barzilai

4/5 Stars

The Neighbor from Bergen-Belsen by Yaakov Barzilai, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, is a memoir based upon his life and time in the concentration camp. While every single story of every single Holocaust survivor is important and relevant and worthy of being forever captured within the pages of a book, The Neighbor of Bergen Belsen is unique in that that author was a child during the Holocaust. Reading the experience of a Jewish child in Bergen-Belsen and the events of his life in Hungary leading up to and including his deportation to the concentration camp is both chilling and heartbreaking. He was just a child, yet his childlike innocence was shattered as he witnessed atrocities that were even far too gruesome for adult viewership and heartbreaking beyond what any child should have to endure. These events included the gruesome hanging of his friend who stole two turnips at the camp and the loss of both his father and grandfather too soon. Writes Yakkov,

“I’d learned from Mum to weep in the heart, and when the heart weeps, the lips are tightly sealed.”

Yet his childlike faith allowed him to soar above these heartbreaks and cling to the hope and humor needed to survive.

Yaakov’s mother’s strength and prayers were crucial to her family’s survival as well. She was a strong pillar for her family during this time. The author paints a beautiful picture of their rescuing from a train leaving Bergen-Belsen. I was emotionally moved upon reading the filtered prayer of the mother upon their liberation,

“And here… and now… close… to the chimneys of death… I have given… new life… to my children… and today… this day… my grandchildren too… have been born… to a better life… amen… amen…”

The story ends beautifully where it began and joy abounds.

The author’s style was to tell the story with flashbacks to life prior to his time in Bergen Belsen. Oftentimes these flashbacks would come without warning which was initially somewhat difficult to follow. However, despite this short lived setback, the story was extremely touching and beautifully told.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.