Living Among the Dead is an incredible book for all historical fiction fans or anybody that wants to learn something about the history of the Holocaust. I read a lot of historical fiction books about the Holocaust and this is 0ne of the best books I've read on this subject.

This book is really great! It would be a wonderful resource in Holocaust curriculum and would be good for an older classroom like high schoolers.

this was a beautiful tribute and I appreciated being able to read this. This memoir really captures the voice that it needed to.

Thank you for sharing your grandmother’s story - it is one that should be retold often and never forgotten. She, along with millions of others, suffered unimaginable horrors during the Holocaust. That she survived is nothing short of amazing. Her survival is a gift in so many ways.

Living Among the Dead is a grand daughter's powerful tribute to her grandmother. It's a Holocaust story that resonates with the countless others, each just as precious and as unique as the next. I can't read enough of these. I still marvel at how strong their constitutions had to be, to not give in or give up. It's a good lesson for us all. I appreciated all the photographs that were Included because it helps being the narrative even more alive as the reader can put a face with a name.

Writing of her grandmother's experiences during the Holocaust, Adena Bernstein Astrowsky writes a true picture of the strength of the human spirit against almost insurmountable odds. Awe inspiring and moving, a true masterpiece.

I cannot devour these types of books fast enough lately. I didn’t use to be a historical fan, but all books dealing with WW2 and the deplorable treatment of innocent men, women, and children strike at my heart. True recounts or stories make my heart hurt. That this could happen to anyone. I will always be grateful for the true stories that these people find it in their hearts to tell. The past will live on by educating those who learn from it. I will not forget.

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

This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story of love and loss. So much loss but more strength than I can even imagine having.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Amsterdam Publishers for this advanced readers copy. This book released in March 2020.

A beautiful, poignant, and heartbreaking account of Mania Lichtenstein's recollections and memories of surviving the Holocaust and multiple "pogroms". Compiled with patience and love, this book is written by the Mania's granddaughter, Adena Bernstein Astrowsky , and takes readers thru "Bubbie's" recollection of growing up pre-Holocaust, and then her terrifying survival throughout the Holocaust at the hands of her Nazi captors. Book includes poems and writings by Mania herself - beautiful reflections on a life aimed at surviving during a bleak and desolate time, but a life well lived after finding freedom. Must read reading for all, as we should always remember those who were killed by Hitler and to never let this happen again in our future.

Beautiful brought together across memories and poetry, this is an unusual holocaust memoir. Deeply personal, the book offers and account beyond the camps. You can tell writing this was a personal project but we are all fortunate that it has become a public one. Seldom have I felt so moved as when reading the beautiful poetry interspersed with the story itself.

Living among the Dead:
My Grandmother’s Holocaust Survival Story of Love and Strength
Amsterdam Publishers
(May 9, 2020)
I am reviewing a copy of Living among the Dead through Amsterdam Publishers and Netgalley:
Living Among the Dead is Adena Bernstein Astrowsky’s loving and careful reflection of passages from her grandmother’s private journal that Mania Lichtenstein kept as a way of coping with the memories of what she’d survived in World War II.
Living Among the Dead is the story of Mania, the sole Holocaust Survivor or her family. She adored her sisters and had to read whatever it was they were reading.
At a young age in life, Mania was left alone, in a room full of strangers, they would eventually liberate themselves. Out of the 26,000 people who lived in Włodzimierz, Wolynski, Mania estimated that only fifteen to twenty youth had survived.
Mania would later come to America and build a family, making sure that her Children and Grandchildren did not forget there history.
I give Living Among the Dead five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

Another sad story of Holocaust, another story of survival, and I know that not all of them have been told yet. Here is a grand daughter retelling her Bubbie's story, whose name was Mania Lichtenstein. It is truly amazing that she survived and also was never sent to a concentration camp. In part it was due to her ability to observe, read people and situations, but also in part it was thanks to the good people who helped her hide. The book is a mixture of the story in author's words, research, and Mania's own words and poems. I wish there were more accounts that would help the reader to get to know Mania and her friends better.

I feel like the author could have done a bit more research on the Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish and Soviet situation before and during the war. Each nation had their own struggles, villains and heroes. I did not really like that all Ukrainians were portrayed as antisemitic. There were groups that surely did everything that Bubbie said. However, there were many Ukrainians in Wlodzimierz who were hiding Jews, and there are articles and pictures of their reunions out there, such as this one:


Not to mention that the vast majority of the Ukrainian people were a part of the Soviet army, and they were fighting the Nazis. Also in this book the Soviet army is called the Russians. In reality, "the Russians" (the Soviet army) included men and women from 15 different republics (nations) as can be seen here (only one of these guys is ethnically Russian in this picture):



Unfortunately, there were some Jewish people mixed in some very bad Soviet politics and cruel things before WWII, which did not help the Jewish image among the local population whether it was Polish, Ukrainian or Russian. It does not mean, of course, that all Jews were bad. It is the same about all people. There are stories even about some German soldiers stationed in Wlodzimiertz, who would warn Ukrainians and Jews about the coming pogroms. And some of them lost their lives for helping too.

A compelling story about a young woman's life during the Holocaust as told through the eyes of her granddaughter. Stirring and emotional. Fantastic. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me tp review this book.