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This story was just picked to be a Read with Jenna book. It's a moving historical fiction novel that takes place in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The story is based on true archives which can be found in the Oneg Shabbat Archive in Warsaw.

Adam Paskow is a teacher who is tasked with documenting the stories of the people who are living in the ghetto—so many moving stories. He's living in the Warsaw Ghetto because he's Jewish, and was forced to live there with other Jews thanks to the Nazi laws. He lost his wife in a tragic accident before WWII. He is approached to interview and document the stories of those families that lived in the ghetto during that time so that they can have future records.

He was approached to document the stories of kids and adults that he came into contact with or lived with. It's always so difficult but important reading the stories of those who were living in the ghetto. So many stories of people who were living happy and successful lives, forever changed due to the rules put forth by the Nazis.

The stories are difficult to read but very moving. I can't even imagine what that would've been like to be shoved into a ghetto, like second-class citizens. It's all the more poignant now, with a rise in antisemitism. I highly recommend this moving, historical fiction read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Algonquin Books, and the author of the ARC of this book

Inspired by true events, We Must Not Think of Ourselves tells the story of the Warsaw ghettos during the Holocaust, as experienced and transcribed by Adam Paskow, an English teacher imprisoned in the ghetto who’s enlisted into a project to record his fellow prisoners’ stories for posterity.

This book is beautifully written, with so much empathy for these incredibly well-drawn characters. Adam himself is imperfect and fully human, and all the more likable and sympathetic for it. This story gave me a window into a part of this tragic history I’d not previously been familiar with, and it’s told in a way that’s just as gripping as it is devastating. It’s also a timely reminder that the casualties of war and genocide are not just victims or statistics, but uniquely individual human beings.

Thank you Lauren Grodstein, Algonquin Books, and NetGalley for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Adam has been approached by someone he is not familiar with. This person has a strange request. He wants Adam to start documenting the testimonies from his students, friends and neighbors. Adam learns their fears and dreams and he also learns about their survival techniques in the Warsaw ghetto.

This is more of a 3.5 star read, rounded up. Yes, I know I am in the minority on this book! This book moved slowly in many places and there are quite a few characters, and to be honest, I just did not feel a connection with any of them. I think it is more of the layout of the book, the diary format. I do think it is important testimony. I just needed more emotion.

I did learn a few things and this is always important to me. I knew a lot occurred with many Jews turning on other Jews. This book brings a lot of this to light. Sometimes when you read a Holocaust novel, the bad people who are not Nazis, are not really brought to the attention of the reader. This story talks about it all.

Need a different WWII story…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today n

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Thank you to Algonquin books and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Adam Paskov is forced to move from his house and into the Jewish Ghetto. He is led to believe that the apartment he is being moved to will be comfortable, only to find out that two other families have also been given the same apartment. Life is hard in this crammed flat with food becoming more and more scarce. Very young children escape outside the walls in search of food for their families, risking their lives to survive another day. The residents' lives depend of the moods of the patrolling Nazis, fearing that a wrong look could cause them their lives.
Adam who was a teacher in his old life tries to maintain a classroom for the children to give them so sense of normalcy and to help keep them safe. He is soon approached by the elders of the ghetto, asking he to join a group of archivists to keep a record of the many people living here. To record their lives before, their hopes and dreams for themselves and their families, their plans for after the war. So many will not survive the war and this is the only record of the people they were.
This is a story of anguish and hardship but also of the small joys in life that help keep hope going. Personal sacrifice in order to make the lives of others better, no matter the cost to one's self, of love lost and found.
This was heart healing and breaking at the same time, if that makes any sense. A story that is sure to stay with me for a long time to come.
If you are a fan of historical fiction, you are sure to enjoy this book. One thing I love about this genre is that there is always some truth involved that invokes the reader to self examine their beliefs and what sacrifices you would be willing to make .

As I was reading this book about WWII, and the topic of genocide, I obviously panned to what is currently happening in Israel and Palestine. We must not forget the past. If we do, we are doomed to repeat it. It's a very sad world when the oppressed become the oppressors. I was going to say politics aside, but you have to be in a very privileged position to be saying things like that.

In 1940, widowed Adam Paskow is jailed in the Warsaw Ghetto, where Polish Jews await an uncertain fate. Of course, we know what their fate is, but at this time, they still have hope. Adam is condemned by both his wife's family and other Jews for marrying a Gentile. I assume this is not done during this time. I find it interesting how the Jews don't consider themselves Polish, even when living in Poland. Is this a mere fact of citizenship, or the underlying differences in faith? Nationalist propaganda hurts everyone.

As always in a story of this scope, there is love, death, and betrayal. Amidst the terror and sadness, there is also hope. This is described in the Portuguese word saudade, which tempers sorrow with nostalgia, a wish for something that was and can never be again.

4.5⭐️

Inspired by the stories from the real Oneg Shabbat archives, We Must Not Think of Ourselves by Lauren Grodstein takes us into the heart of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.

As the novel begins, we meet forty-two-year-old Adam Paskow in 1940, a widower who had been married to a Polish woman from an affluent family and was once a foreign language teacher at the Centralny Lyceum. Tricked by his former father-in-law to surrender his home and move to the Ghetto as the Nazi occupiers began displacing Jews from their homes, Adam is forced to share a small apartment with two families- a total of ten people sharing the same home. Adam teaches English to the boys and girls in the Ghetto and works shifts at the Aid Society kitchens. He is approached by the head of a secret group of archivists, the Oneg Shabbat ( Joy of the Sabbath), to join in their efforts to document life in the Ghetto and the stories of the men women and children forced out of their own homes and imprisoned in the Ghetto with even less the bare minimum resources to survive.

We follow Adam as he begins documenting life in the Ghetto. The narrative is comprised of his interviews with his students, their families and his friends – inhabitants of the Ghetto from different backgrounds who share their stories and Adam’s own story and his account of daily life – his interactions with his students whose morale he tries to boost, the struggle for sustenance, the “smuggling” of food and other necessities from outside the of gates of the Ghetto by the youngsters, the desperate measures people turn to for securing papers and a way out and much more. In 1942, when “resettlement” to the concentration camps begins with 6000 people being transported every day, Adam knows that he must do whatever he can to find a way out of the Ghetto to save himself and those close to him before it was too late.

Though this is a fictionalized account based on the Oneg Shabbat archives, some real characters also make their appearance in the narrative. The tone of the narrative is matter-of-fact and occasionally dispassionate but paints a vivid picture of the horrific condition of life in the Warsaw Ghetto and the fear, anger and pain of those struggling to survive. The author also captures the resilience of the human spirit in brief moments of hope, joy, friendship and love that provide brief respite and the will to survive amid all the darkness and suffering.

Exceptionally well-written, brutally honest, factual and informative, this is a heavy read that will break your heart - a must-read for those interested in Holocaust literature. Though I have read stories set in the Warsaw Ghetto before, this is the first time I read anything about the real archivists whose written accounts help to shed light on an important part of history. Do read the Afterword where the author briefly discusses her inspiration for this novel.

Many thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A look at Warsaw Poland and life in a World War II ghetto for this Jewish man and his borrowed family is a different view of this tragic period in history. The lives of the characters are detailed and filled with equal measures of despair and hope, while the writing itself is first rate.

This is one of those books that stays with a reader long after the last page has been read.
It’s gut wrenching and haunting. It also begs the question what would you do?
I had to keep reminding myself it’s historical fiction.
Grodstein draws readers in by fleshing out the main characters so their personalities and actions become second nature.
Readers also get an up close look at life in the Warsaw ghetto.
Two of the most tender scenes are the dog races and the discussion about whale brains- a bit of levity in the midst of gravity.
Read this book and think for yourselves.

Never Again. Holocaust books remind us of the horrors of Nazi Germany. They teach us the stories of a culture and civilization that will not be eradicated by mass murder and censorship. Lauren Grodstein skillfully puts us front and center of life in the Warsaw Ghetto housing almost a half million people in 1941 and which eventually was destroyed in 1943, with over three hundred thousand dead, others injured or sent to death camps.

A Rabbi gathered a group of people to memorialize the stories of those housed within the Ghetto so that their stories, their hopes and dreams will live on as a reminder to all who come later. One of these diarists is Adam Paskow. He is a teacher and widower who was duped by his non-Jewish father-in-law into relinquishing his apartment (later a home for Nazis) for an apartment in the Ghetto similarly promised to two other families.

Adam, works as an Aid Worker, dishing out meager food offerings, and as an English teacher. The parents of the students want them to be prepared for life outside the Ghetto. The students, as well as many residents, do what is necessary to survive, be it sneaking out of the Ghetto looking for food, bartering on the black market or selling themselves. Typhus is rampant, death and malnutrition is everywhere but Adam and others hope for the Americans to win the war and save them. In all of this, the morose widower finds purpose and love.

Who will survive? What are the stories? This book is based on records found hidden in the Ghetto. The author understands the fragility of life. She sometimes uses humor to ease the tension. She shows her characters at the edge of despair yet her writing propels the story forward. The reader, head spinning, is saying Never Again.

Thank you Algonquin and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

*December pick for Read With Jenna
*WWII- Warsaw Ghetto-Poland
*Based on true events- Ringelblum’s journals were the inspiration for the story
*Well-written, great storytelling-sometimes read as middle-grade read and then switched to adult read
*I loved reading the stories of people Adam interviewed-added interest to the story
*Didn’t care for the affair between Adam & Sala
*Cliffhanger ending- left me wondering what happened next
*I felt that alternating between the past and present made the story seem longer
*Today you can visit the Orieg Shabbat Archive to read Emmanuel’s journals

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Warsaw Ghetto is certainly an important topic to handle, and the author’s attempt fell just a bit short for me. Adam Paskow shares an apart,pment with two families in the Warsaw Ghetto, and as the time goes on, the situation worsens with less food, supplies and increased violence by the Germans. The story is told in a narrative version by Adam, a character that I could not connect to, and felt one dimensional. Adam is part of the Oneg Shabbat group, given a notebook to record the people and experiences in the ghetto. With all the excellent historical fiction books out there, this wasn’t one of the best in my opinion. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I would like to thank the publisher, Algonquin Books, for sending me an ARC of this book.

"We Must Not Think of Ourselves" is a heart-wrenching story that takes place in the Ghetto of Warsaw, where Jewish people have been imprisoned and cut off from their former lives. Adam Paskow, a widowed language teacher, has been requested to join a secret group of archivists on a mission to preserve the stories of the ghetto's residents.

Adam shares a tiny, run-down apartment with ten other people, hanging up a sheet to create some semblance of privacy in his small sleeping space. As the months of captivity pass, conditions deteriorate and the residents must scavenge and barter their few remaining possessions in order to survive. People succumb to disease or are killed for any perceived transgression by their nazi guards.

In the midst of this horror and the grief of his widowhood, Adam keeps up his interviews of the people he interacts with. He grapples with questions such as what type of behavior is acceptable when trying to survive, or help others to survive. He describes feeling 'under water' as his mind tries to cope with the nightmare surrounding him.

This was such a painful but powerful story. I know some readers might be disappointed at not having an epilogue to wrap everything up in a tidy bow, but I liked that so many things were left to the imagination. We know how so many of these people's stories ended; this is about who they were before any ending.

Lauren Grodstein, the Author of “We Must Not Think of Ourselves,” has written a memorable and thought-provoking novel. The Genres for this novel are Historical Fiction, World War Two, Holocaust, and Adult Fiction. One of the first thoughts and questions I asked myself while reading this novel was, “Is the pen mightier than the sword?”. In this well-documented and extremely well-written novel, the story’s protagonist, Adam Paskow, is asked if he will join a group of writers to archive, interview, and detail the thoughts of people who lived in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War Two. The author vividly describes the depressing living conditions and the dramatic characters.

Adam Paskow describes the horrific living conditions and the diseases and filth that these imprisoned people have to endure. He also discusses the past and describes the former lives of many characters. There have been betrayals and the loss of everything that many of the Jewish prisoners have held dear to their hearts. With anti-semitism and imprisonment, the author discusses how the children are often forced to steal and scrounge around for necessities to live. Survival seems to have a price for those who can pay, and some find freedom. Adam’s neighbors and students are forced to make tragic choices.

Lauren Grodstein has written a significant, heartfelt book that I highly recommend to other readers. The archivists were courageous and risked their lives to ensure that this devasting time in history would survive, even if the people didn’t.

Locked in the Warsaw Ghetto, tricked by his Christian father-in-law into moving into this new apartment for just a short time while the beautiful apartment he shared with his now deceased wife would be scrupulously maintained by said FIL, Adam, finds himself living with families of strangers. A once esteemed professor outside the ghetto, his classroom has dwindled to a few Jewish children who really see no need to continue. They are hungry, they have seen their parents killed right in front of them or taken away from them. Adam joins an organization that encourages its members to gather the stories of the residents of the ghetto so they will not be forgotten. As the time dwindles down to the Nazis “resettling” all of the remaining Jews to concentration camps (or just killing them where they stand), Adam forges a relationship that would otherwise never happen and discovers that his FIL is collaborating with the local Nazis which in turn leads him to a decision he would probably never had made without that knowledge. You need to really let this book sink in. It isn’t cut and dry. It took me a long time to understand choices made. NetGalley will probably never allow me to read another ARC because I took so long with this review, but the opportunity to read this book and return to it to reread sections proved invaluable in my understanding the characters.

Adam Pascow has been banished. Along with all the Jews in Warsaw, he is confined to the Warsaw Ghetto. Forced to leave behind his job, his belongings, his home, even his cat, his only plan is to try to ride out the tumultuous political climate that accompanies every war. He’ll then go back home and move on with his life.

Except things never really go as planned, do they?

As Adam participates in a plan to document the truth of what went on in the Jewish ghettos of World War II, he begins to understand how dire their circumstances really are. Surviving becomes the ultimate priority. However, as he bonds with the other inhabitants of his forced living space, he also realizes that not all decisions are as easy and obvious as they once appeared.

As Adam struggles to align his head and his heart, as World War II rages on unabated, a beautiful and heart-wrenching story unfolds. Grodstein weaves a beautiful tale while reminding us that horrors of war are never too far behind us. The lessons learned in Ghetto Warsaw are still applicable today. As we have so wisely been warned, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

3.5 ⭐️

Adam Paskow is part of a collective tasked with archiving the lives of Warsaw ghetto residents through interviews. It also tells the story of how Adam came to the ghetto and what he had to do to survive.

I loved the premise of the book, and even though I enjoyed it, it fell a little flat for me.

One thing I really enjoyed was how brave the children were. It warmed my heart and at the same time made me anxious because I just wanted them to be OK.

If you enjoy reading about the Holocaust, this book is a recommended read.

A historical fiction set in the time period of World War II, but thankfully we are not inside a concentration camp, but conditions are close in this Warsaw Ghetto. A teacher, Adam Paskow is living in an apartment with two other families as they are just trying to survive until this war ends. Adam is asked to document the lives of those living in the Warsaw Ghetto and recording the big and the small of life inside in hopes that it can be shared when all is said and done.

While I do read a lot of historical fiction, I tend to limit my reading of World War II books because it all just seems so sad and while I am not denying the horror of it, I don't want to read too much of it. This one sounded interesting from the synopsis and it lived up to my wonder of how this author would share this community at this time. I loved how Grodstein made me feel the humanity of these characters, they weren't just a number in a war, but instead we learned of their back stories and I liked reading the mundane of the day to day survival of it all.

My first read of Lauren Grodstein and will by no means by my last. I would love to read her two previous novels and then I surely hope for more in the future. This is a book I will recommend to readers who haven't read a lot of World War II AND for those who feel they have read it all!

I appreciate that, outside of memory flashbacks, this book is essentially centered within the walled boundary of the ghetto. There is talk of the outside, even of deportation, but everything that happens to Adam and the other characters stays within their walled prison.
I didn’t know if I wanted to finish this book. Something about the tone made me question whether I wanted to push towards the end. I am glad that I finished it, though. I am glad that I could see the characters' storylines wrapped up; even those left in an ambiguous state, I still feel closure in what I think their future probably held.

Historical fiction at its best a story of Ww2 of life in the Warsaw Ghetto.The people we are introduced to come alive and you can feel the danger there in due to being Jewish during the war.A story that will stay with me an author to follow.#netgalley #algonquinbooks.

Lauren Grodstein's WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES is exceptional. In the story of the Warsaw Ghetto, Grodstein's vivid prose and spot-on dialogue brings to life a story of love, courage, betrayal, hardship, the unthinkable and unforgettable large and small events. The settings and the moments were wonderfully drawn and the characters so engaging and believable, I felt totally immersed in a little known and understood reality we brushed by when studying history. I will never forget this book, illuminating our current times while telling a story of long ago. A beautiful, important book. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.