Thank you NetGalley and Fantagraphics for this arc!

5/5 stars

This was a harrowing, informative, and extremely well done graphic novel thats part history lesson and part personal and familial memoir. Ari Richter has done a fantastic job seamlessly blending his own personal experiences with the history of the Holocaust and the truly terrifying modern day similarities that are on the rise. All of his familial accounts of their experiences before, during, and after the Holocaust are done with frankness and care, absolutely not shying away from the vicious realities they faced and respecting what they lived through. I really like his style of storytelling, how he fairly seamlessly would go from his childhood to his parents, then to his great grandparents then to modern day and back around again, it was a very fluid and conversational storyline that really made it feel much more personal. I really enjoyed Ari's art style, voice, and the deeply personal tales throughout. This was clearly a labour of love honouring his family, and I'm glad he shared it with the rest of us 💜

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

I find that graphic novels are an amazing teaching resource and this book is the perfect example of why. The personal experiences mixed with family diaries were a nice mix to show readers this was not that long ago.

My favorite part was the comparison to the civil war. That was beautifully done

Ari Schwartz's Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is a powerful and thought-provoking graphic novel that effectively translates a harrowing chapter of history into a visually compelling narrative. This book is a testament to the power of the medium, demonstrating that graphic novels can be sophisticated and impactful for readers of all ages.

Schwartz masterfully weaves together the personal and the historical, following Ari Richter as he uncovers the heart-wrenching stories of his family's survival during the Holocaust. The author's meticulous research is evident in the seamless transitions between the present and the past, creating a rich and immersive reading experience.

The illustrations are a standout feature of the book, serving as both storytelling and emotional catalysts. The deliberate shift in artistic style mirrors the narrative's progression, enhancing the reader's understanding of the characters and their experiences.

Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is essential reading for students and adults alike. It is a vital tool for teaching about the Holocaust and promoting empathy and understanding. This graphic novel should be included in school curricula and on the shelves of every library.

This was absolutely the most visually horrifying graphic novel about the Holocaust that I’ve read, but I also think that’s one of the reasons it’s so important. It wasn’t sanitized. It was honest, informative, and thought-provoking. As a Jew who has shared many of the same experiences as Ari, I also found it fascinating to hear about everything from his point of view and see how it aligned with mine. I also loved Ari’s reflection on more recent events and how they show startling similarities to the past. To most non-Jews, I think the Holocaust is considered solely historical. But Ari did a fantastic job of illustrating how the past constantly haunts the present and threatens to repeat itself. This was also an incredibly thoughtful look not only at Jewish suffering, but also the suffering and stigmatization of other groups, the impact that has on later generations, and how Jews benefit in the US from their perceived whiteness. This novel was so full of important, well thought out analysis, and I genuinely believe that everyone has something to learn from it.

This book was a mess. it was hard to follow and I am honestly not sure what it was about. So much trauma in his family and I am so sorry for that but this book was all over the place

In this book, Ari Richter tells the stories of his ancestors. Other reviewers have commented on the content of the experiences shared in this graphic novel, so I wanted to focus more on the design, which I found to be really engaging. There is so much going on on every page that you can't look away but then you get the stark contrast of the black pages at the start of each section. I felt that all of this really added power to what the author was saying. I found some of the images to be particularly moving, where Richter has layered photographs and illustration and also the parts where he has illustrated sections of his ancestors' diary entries.

I work in a primary school so won't be using this text directly with them, however I have already found myself referring to little bits in class. Recently, we have been learning about WWII and some children went to the Imperial War Museum in London. Many of the children wanted to know why there was an age restriction on the Holocaust exhibition. Shortly after, I read page 66 of this book, where the author says that he'd listened to a testimonial of a family member during Kristallnacht when he was younger but hadn't been ready to absorb it until he listened again years later. Sharing this with the children helped them to understand that the restriction wasn't because they weren't sensible or smart enough, but that the sheer magnitude of the horror of this part of history is so difficult for adults to comprehend, let alone children.

I think everyone goes through a WWII/Holocaust phase, and for some of us that fascination never ends. If that sounds like you, here's your next read.

Richter's grandparents on both sides survived the Holocaust, and he chronicles his relationship with that history along with their recorded memories. From collecting ephemera to creating sequential art based on his granfather's recollections, Richter grapples with an overwhelming generational trauma. His art is rough - we go from photorealistic illustrations to messy, scribbled action shots. It's intentional, though until you get through the first pages you might not understand that. What I love about this book is how Richter extends it into the present; not just how that generational trauma still affects him, but how the Holocaust is viewed and framed in different areas, and the affect that has on him and his family members.

I'd love to see more hallmarks of the genre in Richter's future works - there's so much you can do with the format of a graphic novel, and I think some stylistic changes in the outline of the panels could go a long way in amplifying his message. All-in-all though, a fantastic, powerful book.

Ari Richter's graphic memoir will draw comparisons to Art Spiegelman's "Maus." Both cartoonists are descendants of Holocaust survivors and took it upon themselves to tell their ancestors' stories as well as their own reflections on their Jewish identity. Richter has his own style and reasons for creating the graphic memoir and he does it extremely well. He does his family justice in the way he brings their stories to life. His personal story is riveting as well. As an American Jew, I understood his anxieties and concerns. I won't go into detail about what happens when Ari visits Auschwitz, but that part of the story is worth the price of admission. Highly recommended.

Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is a graphic novel family memoir. The author details the work entailed to preserving the legacy of his forbears, both literally in the form of notebooks and photos to figuratively in the field of inherited traumas. The text considers the nationalist bias of the camp tours and memorials as well as other contemporary news items concerning antisemitism. Several panels utilized a mixed media approach, which I wish would have been in more of the text. I recommend this as a companion text for ELA and library programs to other Holocaust narratives in use in secondary education.

Thank you NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

"Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz" is a heart-rending and highly detailed depiction of why we need to remember and honor our history. There are pages in this book that will be burned into my mind for the rest of my life, and I am all the better an individual for it. This graphic novel telling of Ari Richter's family history going back to the beginning of the Shoah, up to his present life, includes the experiences of his family members who were sent to the different camps, their stories of hiding and escapes, and how those experiences shaped them and their families going forward. In it, Richter makes many raw and painful connections between their pasts and his present, ending the book with a message of hope and good humor to the reader. Thank you for writing this, it's so necessary, especially now.