Title: Mendelevski’s Box
Author: Roger Swindells
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Published: 2019
BookMarks
Mendelevski’s Box is the tale of a Holocaust survivor after his return from Auschwitz to Amsterdam and how he rebuilds his life picking up the pieces of his erstwhile life with help from some old and many new acquaintances.
Overall, an engaging read, although it is a bit difficult in the beginning to read through the not so familiar Dutch names. The story is not about the holocaust itself but how survivors emerge from it. We still get to learn about the horrors. Yet, it is also a tale of humanity. How different people tried to help and support the cause against the Nazis and then post the war how they helped each other in rebuilding their lives. It also depicts the chaos in the immediate aftermath of the war – shortages of almost everything, the currencies becoming invalid, trying to figure out the genuine cases when all paperwork has gone missing, the insurance money and property disputes etc. And there is the backdrop of punishing both the war criminals and those who profited from it.
There is also a tiny twist in the tale! Overall, a good story of humanity rising from one of its worst sufferings.
Previously on BookMarks: Life Is Short And So Is This Book
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