One of the worst horrors of modern history is the Nazi Holocaust--the slaughter of six million Jews and other people in prisons set up as killing factories. It is hard not to wonder what kind of people could possibly have run those places. How many were just totally evil? How many were brainwashed? How many were going along reluctantly? What about those who were not directly involved, but who knew what was happening and did nothing? The Nuremberg trials and other war crimes trials punished the perpetrators, but what about their families? Were these men who loved, who had children, wives, mothers? What about those women in their lives? What was it like to live with someone like that?
Somewhere I saw something about From Dust and Ashes: A Story of Liberation (The Liberator Series, Book 4)
and reserved it at my library. I was hoping maybe it would give me some insight into those questions. Honestly, it really didn't. While it was an easy enjoyable engaging read, it was sugar-coated and unrealistic. It opens as the Americans are about to liberated a concentration camp in St. Georgen Austria. Frederick, an SS officer is about to flee and leave his pregnant wife and daughter behind. By this time she can hardly stand him--he has become hard and cruel. The Americans come and find the camp in all its horror. She (Helene) decides to take some milk to feed the survivors, and takes her four year old with her to the camp. While there she meets an American Army officer and a woman who survived the camp. She invites the woman into her father's home (he runs a boarding house). The woman won't leave a friend, so she takes them both in. After a while those women move on, and the Russians come to occupy that region of Austria. Helene flees to the American sector, helps the Americans and lives happily ever after. She accepts Jesus into her heart, forgives her husband, and tries to convert him. At the end, God has worked everything out, the only one who isn't happy is Helene's husband, but she left a Bible with him, so who knows, maybe...
and reserved it at my library. I was hoping maybe it would give me some insight into those questions. Honestly, it really didn't. While it was an easy enjoyable engaging read, it was sugar-coated and unrealistic. It opens as the Americans are about to liberated a concentration camp in St. Georgen Austria. Frederick, an SS officer is about to flee and leave his pregnant wife and daughter behind. By this time she can hardly stand him--he has become hard and cruel. The Americans come and find the camp in all its horror. She (Helene) decides to take some milk to feed the survivors, and takes her four year old with her to the camp. While there she meets an American Army officer and a woman who survived the camp. She invites the woman into her father's home (he runs a boarding house). The woman won't leave a friend, so she takes them both in. After a while those women move on, and the Russians come to occupy that region of Austria. Helene flees to the American sector, helps the Americans and lives happily ever after. She accepts Jesus into her heart, forgives her husband, and tries to convert him. At the end, God has worked everything out, the only one who isn't happy is Helene's husband, but she left a Bible with him, so who knows, maybe...As I said, while the story was easy to like, the ending was just too happy, just too many bows. Grade: B-
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