The Remains of War

Surviving the Other Concentration Camps of World War II

Written by G. Pauline Kok-Schurgers
©2011 iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-4502-9671-7
186 pp.

From the book cover: “When the Dutch army surrenders to Japan in 1942, nine-year-old Sophia is imprisoned with her mother, younger brother, and two baby sisters in different concentration camps on Sumatra, Indonesia. Her father is sent to work on the Burma-Siam railroad, and the family doesn’t know if he is dead or alive. In this memoir, author G. Pauline Kok-Schurgers narrates a story of hate and torture, starvation and disease, and physical and psychological abuse experiences during her internment.

The Remains of War tells of Sofia’s toils through those years, taking care of her younger siblings and trying to prevent her mother from sinking deeper into depression. Sofia longs for her father’s return and her mother’s attention and love. The gruesome years in those camps, the loneliness, and the loss of dear friends transform Sofia into a silent, inward person, scarred for the rest of her life.

Written from the perspective of a young child, The Remains of War touches the core of human suffering caused by the senselessness and evil of war. The voices of all who died and were left behind without a name or a cross on their graves will be forever silent. This memoir testifies to their courage.”

I hate saying I enjoyed reading this book because it sounds bad to enjoy reading about other’s troubles, but I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it in the way I enjoyed reading Anne Frank’s Diary. I think people need to know these things that happened, good and bad. I was amazed that any of the prisoners survived the terrible living conditions and treatment they received. It hurt to read of what they went through. I had no idea there were other concentration camps during the war besides those in Europe. The ones ran by the Japanese in Indonesia were every bit as evil as those ran by Hitler and these Dutch settlers would have been exterminated if the war hadn’t ended when it did. This is definitely a book that everyone should read even if just to improve your knowledge of WWII. It was brave of Ms. Kok-Schurgers to write the book and relive all thos horrible memories.

I was provided with a copy of the book to read and review.



Abandoned and Forgotten

Abandoned and Forgotten:
An Orphan Girl’s Tale of Survival During World War II
by Evelyne Tannehill ©2006

About the book: “Much has been written about World War II, but not often do we hear about the immeasurable suffering of the Germans who wanted no part of Hitler’s regime.

 

Abandoned and Forgotten is the memoir of a young girl growing up in the then-German province of East Prussia by the Baltic Sea. Orphaned at the age of nine and left to fend for herself in a hostile world, Evelyne Tannehill witnessed firsthand what happens when law and order break down and self-preservation becomes the only thing that matters. Her journey is a poignant example of how resilient the human spirit can be, even in the face of war’s greatest horrors.

The author, Evelyne Tannehill, was born in January of 1936 in the German province of East Prussia. She was a dual citizen of Germany and the United States due to the US citizenship of her father. She lived and attended school in Germany until the age of sixteen at which time she came to the United States.”

I’ve heard the history and seen photos of what Hitler’s army did to the Jews, as you probably have. This book, however, tells another side of the story – what happened to the German citizens when first the Russian army and then the Polish people took over what was then East Prussia. It’s told from the viewpoint of a little, orphaned German girl and what she went through will break your heart. I know I never could have survived the things she did and the fact that she did survive and live to tell about it is amazing. The book is written in a very straightforward way and pulls no punches. As Ms. Tannehill’s friend Georg said to her many years later, “The cruelty of war spares no one. Good and evil have no nationality. In war, atrocities are committed on all sides.” Read the book and hopefully, you’ll take something good away from it. I know I’ll be thinking about it for some time.

For more about the book visit http://www.abandonedandforgotten.com/ .

ISBN: 978-1-58736-693-2

Publisher: Wheatmark
SRP: $29.95
431 pp.

I received this book in return for doing a review from Author Marketing Experts, Inc.