Book Description
“I found myself in the Auschwitz stables, and I felt an ember of hope. If I could make myself useful, helping these horses, maybe I could stay alive.”
In the darkest moment of history, one child found the courage and strength to survive the unimaginable. This is Henry’s true story.
One hot, humid day in July, 1943, the Gestapo abducted fifteen-year-old Henry and his mother, forcing them onto cramped cattle cars in the Łódź Polish Ghetto. Like so many Jews before them, they had been selected to disappear – they were being sent to Auschwitz.
Exhausted after hours of traveling, they finally emerged from the stifling, filth-ridden cattle car. Already devastated at having lost his father to starvation, Henry clutched his mother’s frail hand, knowing she was all he had left in the world, and that he was the only one left to protect her. In a flash, he felt them being brutally torn apart.
Crying out for her, his heart shuddered as he watched her disappear into a sea of other women. Henry knew that was the last time he would ever see her, and he felt like he had failed her. He was now completely alone in the world.
Starving, and close to giving up all hope, Henry volunteered to work in the stables, responsible for breeding horses for the war effort. As he watched other prisoners leave and never return, Henry quickly realised these horses were his only lifeline - because every morning he was sent to the stables, was one more morning he escaped the gas chambers.
Before long, caring for the horses became a passion, and their comfort and strength gave Henry a glimmer of life and hope in an ocean of death. Although with every second that passed, Henry knew if he became too weak or made one mistake, he would be mercilessly replaced…
This is the heart-wrenching and inspirational true account of a courageous little German boy who, against all odds, after losing almost everything a human being can lose, survived to tell his story.
This book was originally published as The Kindness of the Hangman.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Stable Boy Of Auschwitz' by Henry Oster and Dexter Ford.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Thread Books for Henry Oster, Dexter Ford, NetGalley and Thread Books.
Publication date: 4th April 2023
This is the first book I have read by this author. This book was previously published as 'The Kindness Of The Hangman'.
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching unique cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Thread. I have yet to read a book published by Thread that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of an introduction, 57 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Cologne, Germany, Lodz, Poland, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Germany, Normandy and Ecouis, France, New York and LA, USA .
This book is written in first person perspective and the main protagonist is Heinz Adolf Oster/Henry Ford. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. The fact there are multiple protagonists is even better as it increases the readers knowledge of what more characters are doing and feeling.
'The Stable Boy Of Auschwitz' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Henry and Dexter discusses/includes violence, persecution of the Jews, the Holocaust, Persecution, murder and death.
Well, what can I say but wow!!! This story is definitely not going to leave my head anytime soon. Firstly I must congratulate Dexter Ford and Henry Oster for an extraordinary novel that seriously needs to be made into a movie which I assure would be best selling!!! I would also like to thank Henry for telling Dexter his life story to ensure what happened is never forgotten!
This book is very powerful and extremely well written. It is devastatingly heart-breaking and beautiful at the same time. The storyline of this book is based on a true story which is another thing that drew me to read it. It is absolutely rammed with emotions that will make you smile, cry, hate and laugh on the roller-coaster ride to hell that is World War 2 and the persecution and murder of the Jews and many others. Nothing is left out and the author has done an immense amount of research and brings Henry's story to life. Dexter Ford was Dr. Henry Oster's optometry patient and is told Henry's history after he spotted the tattoo on his arm of B7648. Dexter then writes Henry's history down and turns it into this beautiful memoir of his life. I had never heard of Henry before reading this but have read 'The Violinist Of Auschwitz', 'Celia' s Journey', 'The tattooist of Auschwitz', 'The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz,' The Girl Who Survived' and 'The librarian of Auschwitz', among many other memoir and stories about survivors and victims of the holocaust, all of which I enjoyed so when I seen this I was intrigued to discover the ongoing of the war through another person's eyes and from a different perspective.
This book did not disappoint. Some people believe that these stories should not be written but I am a strong believer that these victims and survivors earned the right for their stories to be told and to not be forgotten and this book does just that. I loved discovering not just Henry's stories but those who surrounded them also. What they went through , the suffering they went through themselves along with seeing those suffering and being murdered around them, the conditions they were forced to live in and the horrors they were forced to watch, wwords just cannot describe the anger I felt towards those who caused them this pain and suffering, loss and heartbreak and the pain and sympathy I felt for each and every person who died and lived during this hell. This book was very hard to read as a whole but there were certain parts that will stay with me for a very long time and that we're soul destroying. What the Nazi's did to these innocent people makes me absolutely sick to my soul. I enjoyed learning about the life of not only Henry but the life's of others in the camps and people he met on his journey. My heart absolutely broke for Henry who suffered from the age of just 5 years old. I have twin sons who are 5 years old and a 10 year old and I couldn't even begin to imagine them going through anything like what Henry seen and went through. It really resonated with me and when I was reading the pages I kept picturing Malaki, Hunter and Ryder's faces and had tears streaming down my eyes constantly. After being kicked (literally) down so many times and after so many losses and heartache most people would have just given up but Henry managed to keep on going and refusing to back down. I absolutely loved watching the relationships and friendships between Henry and Ivar Segalowitz grow and develop throughout this story. There were several characters, along with Henry, that will stick in my mind for a very long time after what they did or went through. Hans Isidor Oster was Henry's father and was the first one the change in laws impacted. He was no longer allowed to work and later own a home. This broke his heart as you can see that he felt that he was letting his family down and was struggling to support them and protect them. Elizabeth Haas Oster was Henry's mother and she was forced to watch her husband suffer through these changes while struggling to do anything about it herself while also seeing their child Henry suffer. Being a parent myself what happened to these poor innocent people would be my absolute worse nightmare, especially being separated from my children not knowing, or even worse actually knowing what could happen to them next. There were two Polish brothers who I will remember for their kindness to Henry. they would give him some food even though by just doing that they could get punished or even killed themselves. We later find out why they were doing it and it is heart-breaking as they are also victims being forced to do something they want no part in. The majority of Germans were either a part of what went on or turned a blind eye. However, not all of them were as bad as others and several characters stood out in this book for me by showing kindess when they didn't have to and when it could have let to more problems and even death themselves. There was an SS soldier at the beginning of the book who stormed into Henry's family home to force his father to leave. However, when the SS man recognised Hans Isidor Oster and remembered the way that he had treated him in the past he told the other soldiers there was a mistake, giving the family some respite for a time. There was an SS soldier who ran the bakery who caught Henry stealing some bread. This soldier did shout and beat henry but later showed some kindness after speaking to him and gave him bread and a tomato. Another one of the SS officers who worked in the Admin building walked with Henry during one of the transport collections to ensure that he got back to his building "safely", well as safe as you can be in a camp!! Along with the many characters that I will remember for a long time there was also so much I learned that I never heard of before and many of which I will be doing more research into myself. Some of these events include Kristallnacht, what happened on the train to Ecouis, Henry's residence with the Rothschild and what the Germans called their Saturday night theatre. I wont go into more details about them as I don't want to give too much away about the book. I was absolutely disgusted by how Henry was treated when he finally got out of the camps and went on to try to get an education at the USC School of dentistry where the disgraceful Dr Rutherford would not even give him a chance!! One of the other things that I liked about this fantastic books and that I wanted to mention is that each chapter is named in a way that it summarises what that chapter is about. I always prefer chapters being titled rather than just numbered as it gives more characterisation tio the book. I can't say more than that though as I don't want to give anything away so you will just have to pick up a copy and see what I mean. This is just one of those books that should be read by absolutely everybody and there should be a copy in every school and educational building as Henry along with so many others should never be forgotten!!!
It is set over/includes multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture. I loved the modern day chapters as well as the historical ones and felt like I was being told the story over a cup of tea.
I read approximately half of this book on kindle and listened to approximately half on audio book. I must also give a huge congratulations to the narrators William Hope, Susan Oster, Dexter Ford and Henry Oster who not only brought the storyline to life by really portraying the emotions through their voices so a HUGE congratulations all!! I cannot imagine that this was anywhere near an easy feat!!! I am looking forward to discovering more books read by William Hope (main narrator) as you definitely have a perfect "book" voice!! I sometimes struggle to absorb the storyline through an audio book but if you are the same as me I can promise you will not have that problem with this amazing narrator!!
Clear your schedules and grab your tissues as you will not be able to put this book down or stop the tears from streaming!!!
Congratulations Henry and Dexter on an absolutely stunning emotional rollercoaster ride of a book!! I would say this book is is even more emotional and memorable than the likes of 'The' diary of Anne Frank'. I would like to welcome you to my favourite 3 historical author list!!!
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the letter from Dexter Ford and Susan Oster
Overall a heart wrenching, devastating must read memoir filled with courage, survival, love, friendship, loss, hope and so, so much more!!!
Genres covered in this novel include History, World History, Historical Fiction, Historical European Fiction, History Of The Holocaust, History Of Central Europe, History Of Poland, History Of Eastern Europe, Holocaust Biographies, Holocaust History For Young Adults, Holocaust, Biographies, Jewish Studies, Jewish Biographies & Memories, Jewish Holocaust History, Jewish History, German History, World War ll History, Historical Germany Biographies Jewish Biographies and Memoirs amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz', 'The Lucky Ones', 'The Midwife Of Auschwitz', 'Orphan Train', Shari Ryan, Ellie Midwood, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Librarian of Auschwitz and anyone interested in the Holocaust and its history.
285 pages/ 6 hours and 59 minutes
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free with Kindle Unlimited, £8.27 in paperback and £16 on Audiobook via Amazon, at time of review, which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
Henry Oster was born in Cologne, Germany, on November 5, 1928. In 1941, he was shipped to the Lódz ghetto, where his father died of starvation. In 1943, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and soon after to Auschwitz I, where he performed forced labor in a stable. He was liberated in 1945 while imprisoned at Buchenwald camp in Germany. After the war he moved to France, and then joined extended family in Los Angeles, taking the first available ship from Europe to the United States after the war. He attended UCLA and became an optometrist.
Dexter Ford is a Contributing Editor to The New York Times. He writes about history, aviation, adventure travel, motorcycles, the auto industry, architecture and sustainable energy. He has flown upside-down with the Blue Angels, ridden motorcycles through Russia, across China and over the Andes, and dived at night with 10-foot manta rays. The most captivating story he has ever told is that of his friend Henry Oster, his co-author in their heartbreaking, inspiring memoir, The Kindness of the Hangman.
Purchase Link
Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/chxPz45
