I received a free copy of Witness to the Dark through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. In this book, Wolf Holles recounts the story of his childhood in Europe, beginning from the time his family left Germany for the Netherlands in 1933. He describes a happy life in the Netherlands, continuation of that life with worry and fear after Germany invaded, and the subsequent regulations that they had to abide by. Persecution really began in 1941, and eventually the Nazis began rounding up Jews for deportation. Holles’ family was taken in 1942 to a transit camp in the Netherlands, and they were eventually sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in January 1944. Holles describes what life was like in the camps and how it got worse over time. Prisoners became more apathetic as they lost hope. Late in the war, many illnesses spread throughout the camps. Near the end, the Nazis wanted to move prisoners away from the front, so many of the prisoners at Bergen-Belsen were put on a train to Theresienstadt. But with all the bombing the Allies were doing, the train had to be re-routed many times, and never arrived. After 12 days, the prisoners were finally liberated by the Russians. It still took many months for the Holles family to make it back to the Netherlands and for all of the surviving members of the family to be reunited.

Wolf Holles tells the story in a straightforward manner. The writing is easy to read although the story being told is not. He makes it clear what his life was like, through the good early years followed by the difficulties under occupation, to the horrors of life in a concentration camp. I had never heard of the lost train before, and the story is an important addition to the tales told by holocaust survivors. Given current events, it is more important than ever that we never forget what happened then, so that it can never happen again. Highly recommended. ( )

"Witness of dark" wrote by Wolf Holles, takes us to 1945 in Nazi Germany, when the end of the war is imminent. "The Death Marches" is an unknown chapter: it concerned the prisoners still alive... who had to be exterminated before they could testify...
This book tells the story of a young boy and his family, before their persecution and until the end of the horror, survivors of the camp...

Flash back to 1933 which marks the sordid advent of Hitler who became Chancellor, and for whom, the thunderous voice - and yet devoid of education, apart from artistic - of this little man - doubtless himself born of a Jew who had abandoned them - becomes the only political membership to follow.

The mentality of the German people, anxious to follow the "little leader" with the sonorous voice, hastens to radically modify its ideas, and quickly stigmatize the Jew...
The family of this very young boy then leaves his country, in order to find safety in Holland. It was a waste of time, anti-Semitism pursued them wherever they went: 1938 dashed their hopes when the order was given to annihilate all the Jews of Europe!

1940 sees the Netherlands at war with Hitler. Then the country is invaded by the Nazi oppressor, shamefully supported by the police and the Dutch Civil Service!

1941 is the high point! The Jews are arrested and snatched by whole families, by trains, their accounts blocked.

1942 forced them to wear the sad yellow star of David. They are banned from all cultural events, and live apart, holed up like caged animals.
The child who remembers these perpetual humiliations at an age which should normally be serene, is devastated.
They are finally officially made prisoners in a transit camp, before integrating another one, and this, while awaiting their deportation to the camp of Bergen-Belsen.

Crescendo, until 1945, their conditions become so inhuman that it is impossible for us to apprehend them! Deadly diseases like typhus stalk them, unsanitary conditions, frost and nights on the ground on the straw... when it's not the guy next door who loot them to eat!
The cruel and unspeakable truth with which they are confronted gradually annihilates their will.

A window opens however in the heart of their chaos, with the next arrival of help. We are looking for them. But they must once again travel in one of the twelve trains... Theirs will be the "lost" train, the one en route to Czechoslovakia... so that none can testify.

A powerful book! One of the holocaust survivors recounts his survival, and what he saw and experienced is unimaginable!
A staggering observation comes to close this painful and staggering confession: "The world has understood nothing"...
The Jews always remain the target of potential attacks, always unjustly accused...In the image of Christ...
- Rumors die hard, they say at home! -

Shocking and unbearable! A memory that smashes and dismays us...
So that no one can forget... And never do it again! ( )

I remain grateful to men and women like Wolf who continue to share their stories of a tremendously egregious part of our not-too-distant human history. When we are living in a time when a new generation says this didn't happen, that this "couldn't" have happened, there are those of us who know that it could have, it did, and it does. The Holocaust reveals both the worst and the best of humanity. So I am grateful for Wolf sharing his story.

Like all books of this nature, it feels incomplete. Because it is. Because we know this is just one story among millions of stories. It leaves us wanting to search out other stories, more accounts, more history. More historical places and the testimonies of those who have dwelt there. And that is a good thing. It keeps us going deeper into our own history, into humanity itself, and seeing what lies there so that, perhaps, in some way, we can avoid actually going there again (although some days, that seems unlikely given the current state of our culture and public/political rhetoric).

The reading is actually rather quick, but to take this book to heart slows the reader down some. As it should. ( )

Lately, there have been many stories written by people who survived the holocaust. This topic interests me and I was happy to receive a copy of "Witness to the Dark: A Testimony of Survival" by Wolf Holles via a LibraryThing giveaway. Wolf Holles details what happened to him and his family during the terrible time of Hitler and Nazi rule. The book was very well written and tells a sad story of life for a Jewish family during that time. It is less that 200 pages and if you like this genre, you should read this book. ( )