A Gypsy In Auschwitz: How I Survived the Horrors of the ‘Forgotten Holocaust’

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It’s truly remarkable when I find myself reading true stories and I love the whole back ground building up the further you read. If you seek to understand a different culture, a traditionally discriminated culture, this is definitely a must read! The history of the Holocaust has always had a special place in my heart, I have seen Auschwitz for myself and met survivors, I have read many biographies and they have all hit me deeply, so I was expecting this read to do the same and I wasn’t wrong. I actually had to put it down at some points because it was just too overwhelming and I needed time to process my thoughts. He is poor, but strives to keep himself clean, do well in school and earn his upkeep with anything he can do to help his family financially.

I think what really rattled my cage about Otto's account was recognising the bureaucracy of the German nation, which is still a foundation of their structure today.This was very hard and sad to read, I have read many WWII books but very few talk about the gypsy (Roma) and how suddenly they were all segregated and cast away from anything they already knew just to hide them from the world. The book is pieced together from his memories and accounts of surviving Auschwitz and other brutal camps.

But to be denied food, the love of your family, poor health and suffering so unbearable its hard to talk about. It rarely accounts for the deaths of the many Roma, Sinti, homosexual or other non desirable minorities. I have read a number of books about the Auschwitz concentration camps and each one is equally as heartbreaking as the other. In fact it makes it all the more horrifying, because we know, that having endured unimageable suffering, he would have as many did, found it difficult to talk about his experiences. The author, who was just a child when imprisoned in a camp, learned quickly how to do what he had to, to survive.It’s a difficult read when you learn so much about the livelihood of living and how much these people provided and worked so hard. Otto is still free to go in and out of his camp, but he will struggle to explain the actions of the adults in his life.