I read a lot of WWII fiction but this book is told on such a personal level that it really touched me. I will admit to some tears as I was reading it but the overwhelming feeling after reading this book is the bravery and resilience of the people who survived the concentration camps - the people who saw humanity at its worst and then had to live with the memories of the people they lost and how they were treated for the rest of their lives.

In 1944, a family living in an isolated town in Hungary, was told that they had one hour to get ready for their transport to Auschwitz. The family had always been part of the town but suddenly the town turned against their Jewish families. The story of the family is told six decades after they were released from the camps by two brothers, Dov and Yitzhak who were teenagers when they were sent to the camps. They refused to share their story for many years but finally agreed to tell their memories to the author in Israel. Their time in the camps were brutal and inhumane. It was difficult to read some of it and to believe that people could be so evil that they would inflict such pain on other humans. Less than half of the book is about their time in the camps. The rest is about their recovery in the hospitals after they are rescued and the way they were treated by other people. One of the brothers returned to their hometown after he recovered and found a family from the town living in their house and using their furniture and possessions. They moved into the house immediately after the family was taken and had no regrets because they believed that no Jews would ever return to Hungary. Even when the brothers moved to Israel they were faced with people who had no understanding of what their lives had been like and didn't understand why they didn't fight back.

This is a raw, heartbreaking novel about two brothers who survived the war and their life after the war as they tried to acclimate back into normalcy. It is full of pain and sorrow but there is also love and friendship and people who put themselves in danger to help the brothers. Even though it was difficult to read, I highly recommend it to people who enjoy reading books about this brutal time in history. This is a book that I won't soon forget.

I am a huge fan of WWII books both fiction and nonfiction about the holocaust and this was the most emotional book so far. Dov and Yitzhak were so young when the family was split up in 1944 and they were sent to several different concentration camps. This book describes the brutal and barbaric treatment that went on in the camps while they were there. After the war ended, they had to face the post-war aftermath, PTSD and relearning how to do simple things and how to function in society. I think it is very important for people to hear their story.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC of this heart-wrenching book in exchange for an honest review.

I read a lot of books with “of Auschwitz” in the title, and I have loved every one of them. While these are stories that are hard to read, I truly feel they are important books that cannot be missed. The Brothers of Auschwitz was an emotional, raw story that left me in awe of the strength of some humans and horrified at the actions of others.

Dov and Yitzhak are two brothers living in a small village, largely untouched by the devastation of WWII. Then, in 1944, the Nazi’s invade their home and take them to Auschwitz. Years later, they share their story with a friend.

“Three months was enough for the Germans to turn healthy young men into a pile of disgusting rags.“
The Brothers of Auschwitz by Malka Adler

Like all stories centered around concentration camps, this one is hard to swallow. It’s raw and gritty with descriptions of the horrific actions that people endured. This book seemed to really hit me hard. The experiences were not watered down, the author wrote of the scenes with such detail that you feel like you are there.

The two brothers in this book are remarkable. I think their strength came from finding each other. I found it very interesting that the entire book is not centered around the concentration camp. The war is only the first part, and then we are provided insight into the aftermath of the war. The demons that continue to haunt survivors are laid out for us to witness as Dov and Yitzhak struggle to put a life together after the war.

Overall, I think this is a must-read book. This is a translated copy if you are reading it in english, and I did find that there were times where the translation was a little rough, but it’s still a wonderful story that is worth reading!

To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend The Brothers of Auschwitz for readers that emotional WWII stories of concentration camps and family.

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This book was translated for Israeli Author Malka Adler .
Based on true accounts of teenage brothers Dov and Yitzhak and their experience during the holocaust in WWII. Living in a remote village in the mountains of Hungary the Jewish family thought they were safe from Nazis and they would not be bothered.
What transpires next is only the start of nightmare they could not even begin to imagine.
They have one hour to be ready to leave their home and ride on a train for days to reach Auschwitz .
I have read many books on this subject but this one will really stay with me and not fade from memory.
The descriptions are so painful you can even after all this time you can feel the strong emotions these brothers and their sister went through.
The author is the only one the brothers granted an interview to to talk about their harrowing experience and through this book she makes sure their time there is not forgotten.
It really brings tears to your eyes wondering how people can be so cruel and vicious to another human being.
The book is heartbreakingly raw and harrowing, very well written.
Unflinchingly realistic is how it was written and this tragedy never should have been able to happen.
My heart aches for all who were affected by this.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This book is the story of Dov and Yitzhak Jewish brothers who suffered so much. The book shares experiences of each man in various camps they was sent to and neither expected to make it out. They lost so much over the years of the war.

you cannot read this book without experiencing strong emotions and feeling horror at what men are capable of doing to other men, all in the name of genocide. We must remember history, so we do not repeat it.
Every new book set in the horrors of Hitler's ultimate solution reminds us that his actions were suffered by many but each person's, each family's suffering was unique. Malka Adler has given us a wonderfully horrible story of the encampment of two brothers who at 15 and 16 had their lives stolen from them. Written so skillfully that you can see these two men who survived the conditions designed purposely to kill them, as they sit and talk, walking through memories and supporting each other as they had all their lives. It is important to me to read, learn and share this history as if it happened yesterday. This is the only way to keep it from happening tomorrow.
5 stars for one of the most emotionally charged books I've read in quite awhile.

This was such a heartbreaking book. Chilling, disturbing, harrowing and simply fantastic. One of the best books about the Holocaust I've ever read. Will stay with me for a long while

I will never ever read ones of these books without shedding tears. To imagine the strength that these families needed to not only survive what was happening at the time, but to have the strength to move through however they can. They take a piece of me with them wherever I read these books. They will not be forgotten.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Brought tears to my eyes. Moving, well written, and a must read for any book club. I will be putting it on our library's recommended purchase orders.

I need to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC ebook version of this book in exchange for an honest review. The review is all my own. The Brothers of Auschwitz, by Malka Adler, is an emotionally charged story that reads more like a memoir than a fictional piece. Having read a lot of novels about the Holocaust, I was prepared to be bored or at best slightly entertained but, something about this one called to me and I am glad I listened. It is a bit of a different take on a horrible period in history that has been written and read about for years. The authors style is one that draws you in and doesn't just pull at your heartstrings, but rips at your emotions. Prepare yourself for at least a tearing up and maybe even an ugly cry!

My brother’s tears left a delicate, clean line on his face. I stroked his cheek, whispered, it’s really you …

Brothers Dov and Yitzhak are pretty isolated in their tiny village in Hungary, the war seems far away.

Oh, how things can change in a day. The Nazis give them one hour before they are taken by train to Auschwitz. The horrors they encounter were vivid and very hard to read with tears running down your face.

This is their story, this time told from the safety of their own home six decades later. It is a biographical account based on interviews of a family torn apart by the Holocaust and the heroic journey back to each other.

There were times I needed to stop a moment with this book. The emotions were running high. It is a beautiful and horrifying look at what family is and what people will do to survive.

NetGalley/ Harper Collins September 01, 2020

Very emotional yet very hopeful. The depiction of life in camp and how the people are affected not only physically but also emotionally is so graphic that I could see and feel the emotions too. I can't believe this book is a work of fiction.

Malka Adler wrote her first book at age 50. Now she's written 6 of them! How cool is that! This was originally published in Hebrew, English translation edition will be released September 1.

There are no shortage of Holocaust themed novels out there, and frankly I always hesitate to pick up another one. But when I saw this on Netgalley, written by an Israeli woman with a personal Holocaust connections, I had to request it.

It was emotional, and harrowing, as you'd expect a holocaust novel to be. But it was also very hopeful, and well-written. An author and a novel worth supporting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I'm not going to lie, this is a tough one to read. It's very raw, and gritty, and emotional. This is not a sweet book club novel, this is a graphic depiction of life in a concentration camp, and the aftermath of what that does to someone, heart mind, and soul.

I had to step away several times because the descriptions were so real and haunting. That being said, even though this is not an easy book to read, it is an important one.

Thank you HarperCollins and Netgalley for an ARC of this book for an honest review.

The Brothers of Auschwitz by Malka Adler is about 2 brothers who finally decide to tell their story of their time during and after the holocaust.

This is like a book I have never read before. This filled me with so much sadness and emotions on what happened during this period of time. The stories of the murders of innocent people for no other reason then hatred. I have never read a holocaust book on the happenings of what the survivors had to go through to get back to some kind of normalcy. It was diffently a story that had to be shared.

The Brothers of Auschwitz
by Malka Adler
HarperCollins Publishers
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
One More Chapter
General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction
Pub Date 01 Sep 2020 | Archive Date 27 Oct 2020

This was not the book for me! I did not like the writing style and it felt choppy and unfinished to me. I have read other Holocaust books but this one seemed very grotesque.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC.

2 star

I have consumed... a LOT of media regarding World War II and the Holocaust, both fiction and nonfiction. Some of it better than others, and after a while, some of that media can start to sound repetitive. There are, after all, only so many times you can read the same story with different characters and have the visceral reaction you got the first few times you heard or read it. I'm not emotionally numb or anything, but there's a museum near me with a few artifacts from the liberation of Dachau and after you've seen something made from the skin of human beings, anything you read kind of pales in comparison, you know?

But then I read this. And this is easily the most brutal, gut-wrenching Holocaust book I've ever picked up. I appreciated seeing the content warning on the first page and honestly... it's justified. Heed the content warnings. This pulled no punches and held absolutely nothing back.

I loved the characters and I had a hard time believing that this story, which sounded so real to me and so harrowing, was actually a work of fiction. It was that well-done. I will remember this for a long time. Probably the rest of my life. Every time I thought it couldn't get worse, it did. Every time I thought that surely they couldn't endure any more, they did. I especially liked that this book didn't claim that once the camp was liberated everything went back to normal. There was some focus on the aftermath and I appreciated that.

The one thing I didn't like about this one was the style in which it was written. It was flowing and in some ways it suited the horror of the narrative, but even saying that, I struggled with the sentence fragments and run-ons even though I know that it was the point. A little bit of polishing and cohesiveness would go a long way, without sacrifcing the style of the novel overall.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A magnificent book that is based on real events that happened to two brothers who experienced the worst during World War II. This is the story of Yitzhak and Dov, who lived in a small village in Hungary, isolated from the world and the terrors of war. However, one day this changes, in 1944, the Nazis arrive in the village and cause devastation to the Jewish families. The Jewish community is informed that they have only one hour to pack up and board a train that will take them to Auschwitz. Yitzhak and Dov are among those people who have to leave their home to go where the Nazis were indicating. I really liked that the author assigned chapters to the two brothers in a way that allowed me to know their point of view. Another aspect that I really enjoyed was the accurate description of the places and people that the brothers were getting to know. It is a book that I enjoyed very much, it has a beautiful narrative. It was hard for me to put it down, I definitely recommend it. I thank NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers, and One More Chapter, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I had originally requested this book based on all of the four-and five-star reviews but I found that this book was absolutely not for me. The author's writing style seemed very choppy to me so I didn't find it an easy read. I have read other fiction books that took place during the Holocaust and were able to get through them but not this one - I could only make it about a third of the way through and then it went into my "did not finish" pile. I did not care for the author's writing style and the graphic violence was too much for me. To each his own and this one was just not for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have read a lot of WWII books both fiction and nonfiction about the holocaust and this was the most emotional and disturbing book so far. Dov and Yitzhak were 15 and 16 when the family was split up in 1944 and they were sent to several different concentration camps. This book describes the brutal and barbaric treatment that went on in the camps while they were there. After the war ended, they had to face the post-war aftermath, PTSD and relearning how to do simple things and how to function in society. This was a really good book but I found it a little confusing at times. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC of this heart-wrenching book in exchange for an honest review.