Helga's Diary: A Young Girl's Account of Life in a Concentration Camp

This book was written by a young girl. Helga was born in Prague and grew up there. When she was 9 or10 was when Hitler was rising in Germany and threatening other countries. By the time she was 12 all rights for Jews were being taken away and she could not go to school.Then her family was sent to Terazin Camp. She lived with the other children and adults were separated to men twins dorms. As the war progressed they were sent to different camps. Luckily, she and her Mom stayed together and survived

This is a book that should be required reading in high schools and beyond. People have forgotten how terrible the holocaust really was, and when we forget history, we are destined to repeat it. What happened to the Jews, and to those who tried to help them was inexcusable. Sadly, some schools are teaching that these atrocities never happened. Though this book was written by a child, (in the beginning), it shows excellent insight into the senseless cruelty that happened. I wept through much of it even though I knew a lot of what happened. But nobody truly knows what happened, unless they were there, as Helga was, and told us about it. I'm so glad this book was translated and is available; recommend it highly. But it's not an easy read because of how horribly these innocent people were treated.

This is a touching, first hand account of the horrors of the Holocaust - perhaps uniquely; solely through the eyes of a child. Helga's diary shows us the day to day drudgery, misery, hunger, fear and numbness, that became the norm for so many innocents caught up in the hell of Hitler's madness and obsession of world domination.At the same time, the matter of fact way that Helga narrates her and her mother's day to day lives, for over 4 years in the many different camps that they were subjected to, reveals a tenaciousness to live that can overcome any odds. In fact, she was one of only 100 children to survive, out of many thousands from her area. Her ingenuity, and will to live, in the most impossible conditions is a testament to what the human sole can endure.The only challenge, in reading this extraordinary story, is the sometimes patchy way that some of the accounts were later added in by the author; making the chronology of events occasionally difficult to follow. Nevertheless, this book should be read by all, especially by anyone who has any doubt, as to what kinds of barbaric events transpired within the many concentration camps of World War II. I gave this as a 13th birthday present to my own granddaughter.

Different from any other memoir of the time I have read. This was written by a person who was a young teen during those years. She retained her believe in G_d and prayed to Him, despite the fact that her family was not deeply religious in at least an orthodox sense. She still trusted G-d and relied on Him rather than blaming Him. She also talks quite a bit about her appreciation for how beautiful the creation (nature) is.

I am stunned! In the author's words she decribes her and her mother's years in the horrors of the Holocaust! I have never read an acccount so complete with facts and feelings as this book...it must have been hard to remember and write but she did it! There is no comparison to the Diary of Anne Frank because it encompasses so many facts, feelings in so many places that to the reader are horrific! I recommend it to anyone studying the Holocaust!

It was fascinating and horrifying to read first hand what happened to Helga. I visited Prague a few years ago and I wish that I had read this before we went. I did visit the synagogue with the names floor to ceiling. A must visit.

This book was recommended to me on a bunch of search sites and I truly thought it would be as good as Anne Frank diary.Very descriptive but jumped around a great deal.

My father was a B52 pilot who was shot down over Germany and was a POW for nearly year during WW2. I was interested in seeing how this young girl and her family lived during their internment. For the most part their experience was much the same, hunger, cold, lock down in secure dorms, etc. It was interesting to see how in spite of the separation of she and her mother from her father they were able to find comfort in friendships with other prisoners. The human spirit can rise above many difficulties when there are others to share provisions, hopes, and dreams. They experienced hard labor under difficult situations, but were able to keep each other encouraged. Very interesting read. I love shopping on Amazon for books and DVD's and the reviews are very helpful.

An amazing book. Helga has given the world a first hand view of life under the jackboot of a wicked cult, especially in the extermination camps. Nazis revealed their vast lack of intelligent thinking. Their persecution of the Jews was very short sighted as the Jews have done much to civilise this world. Jews get a remarkable number of Nobel prizes and have been generous with the results of their hard work. In the music world their virtuosos have provided wonderful concerts with low price tickets for the poorest people. In contrast the Nazis provided only misery. Jealousy is a terrible trait.

Wow this book!!! Seriously I was hooked to it from page 1 itself. I finished it within a week. Usually I take many weeks to finish a book. I have read Anne Frank in the past too but this one is completely different! It shows us the life of this young girl at the concentration camps. It shows us every single detail about the life of jews during those days... It's a must-read book and made me so emotional and I was crying at many scences she described...I feel that today's generation should be so thankful for the peace we have.

I enjoyed reading this book although at times it is very hard to understand how the Germans solders were so cruel. However Helga despite so much cruelty and loss of her family members and friends is a heroin in my mind because she carried on in the most dreadful of places despite the cruelty the famine and hard labour. She was a very brave girl and deserved a medal at the end of the war for her tenacity to live.

An excellent diary by Helga as a young girl recording events in Terezin Labour Camp in Czechoslovakia with her hand illustrations She was subsequently removed to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Terezin was a better camp than Auschwitz. However even though conditions were much worse in Auschwitz at great odds she survived.

Helga’s book is more than another diary of the holocaust. It is the tale of a child’s experiences along with that of her family during a turbulent and dark time. Still today we turn away from the atrocities that occur in the world... when we should learn from the past.