YOUth Review: By Chance Alone by Max Eisen

By Chance Alone is set during the Second World War. A young Jewish boy named Max Eisen, the author, lived with his family along the countryside of Austria-Hungary. They lived a quiet and peaceful life out in the fields where they were celebrating the first night of Passover. Unknown to them, their celebration would be short lived. Early in the morning they were awakened by the local Gestapo who were rounding up all Jews in the area to take them away. Alongside his family, Max would arrive at the notorious Auschwitz Concentration Camp where 1.1 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi Regime. Separated from his family, Max’s life became a challenge each and every day as he had become a laborer for the prison camp where everyday was a battle for survival. This story is a first hand account of the true reality of life as a Jew in Auschwitz and of the horrors that the Jewish people faced throughout World War 2.

This was an incredible eye-opening story to the true horrors that the Jewish people were forced to withstand throughout the Second World War. Max Eisen was able to show raw emotion and the pain he and his family suffered throughout his time in Auschwitz. As well, Eisen describes his personal journey of healing from the loss of his family and his time spent in the concentration camps. Overall I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in educating themselves on a first-hand account of what really happened to the Jewish people in World War 2 or to anyone who loves to read a story unlike any other.

By Eli M.