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The Lost

a Search for Six of Six Million
May 11, 2012Liber_vermis rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This 500-page chronicle is really two books. First, it is a how-to account of the author's search methods, travels and interviews, document recoveries, and reconstruction of the last days of his six Jewish relatives who were murdered in a small town in southeastern Poland during the Second World War. Second, this book is a personal memoir of the author's upbringing with an orthodox Jewish mother and a non-religious Jewish-heritage father; and his relationships with his siblings. This book is readable in spite of the interweaving of these two themes; the interjection of extracts from ancient religious texts; and side-tracks onto personal opinions of the author. A basic map of southeastern Poland at the time of the Second World War showing the towns mentioned in the book would have been helpful. An index would have been beneficial. The photographs should have been given captions.