Dr. Robert Krell is a man that has worked hard in teaching others what the sound of silence means to many survivors of the holocaust. In this book, he put pen to paper and tells us of the things that he remembers and many of the others that he has contacted and had conversations with. He has dedicated his life to the treatment and recognition of those survivors and gives us many resources to read, people to contact, places to go, and organizations that will help. As you read this book, he goes over the things that he has learned about the members of his family and many of their friends and what they went through. Not only the horrors of the camps but what about the children that were given up so that they would possibly survive, as in his case. What is the cost to them, how did they survive and continue, knowing that they might never see their child/children again? But he takes it a step further, in that he gives us a good look at what happened to those survivors in their future lives. As a psychiatrist, he shares his insight into the continued trauma that the survivors go through from childhood to adulthood. We have many books around us talking about the physical horrors that the survivors experienced but not many have shared with us what happen to them in their time after the fact. How did they adjust, where did they go, did they ever go back, and many did but at what cost? Dr. Krell has worked with numerous types of survivors and now shares with the world his work and the goals that he has accomplished so that they will never be forgotten. What did I like? I was very impressed with the work that Dr. Krell has accomplished in establishing so many different organizations to help in the lives of so many. Not only treating but also in the memory of what happened during that period of our history. I have said this before, not many educators are teaching the whole story of what happened. If you ask your children today what they know about it, many will look at you with a blank face. We need to remember, we need to honor the survivors, we need to teach our children that this is not an acceptable action to ever occur again. I for one appreciate the fact that there are so many out there working to keep this part of our history from disappearing.

Sounds from Silence: Reflections of a Child Holocaust Survivor, Psychiatrist, and Teacher is by Robert Krell. This is a very interesting book as it is written by a psychiatrist who specializes in traumatic experiences especially those of children. Traumas he uses are those of the Holocaust and other genocides which bring to light the same traumas that children have in divorces and other tragedies they experience. The results of those traumas may not show up until later in life. Robert tells his memories of his past as well as those of others who experienced it with him and surrounds all of it with history and with his knowledge obtained through his profession as a psychiatrist. It is interesting how the same situations are seen differently through his eyes and those of others. Robert was born to Leo and Emmy Krell in The Hague, Holland. When he was two, they received a resettlement letter on August 19. 1942 and immediately went into hiding. They left Robert with family friends until they could find some place. He stayed with Hol and Mrs. Mulder and their grandson, Peter. A friend, Mrs. Munnik was visiting and asked about Robbie as she knew him as Robbie Krell. The result of the visit was the Munnik’s took Robbie in November and kept him for three years as their own. He was happy with Moeder and Vader and Nora, their 12-year-old daughter. Nora doted on him. It is interesting how her version of some of the events differ from his recollection. He viewed things from the eyes of a child who had been abandoned and she saw it through the eyes of a normal existence. His parents stayed with the Oversloots, family friends, for a while. Mother ended up feeling like a servant and moved out on her own with false papers stating she was Swiss. She visited Robbie several times but it was quite risky for all so it was rare. He saw his father when he was about 2 ½ and then not until he was five. Although he could understand the circumstances under which he was hidden with the Munniks, he never forgave his Mother for giving him away. He grew up as a quiet child who tried to please everyone and who never cried. He was afraid they would give him away too. After the war, he was reunited with his parents. He wanted to stay with the Munniks. He ended up having two families. When his parents were away, he would go to the Munniks. He was very close to Moeder Munnik but there was a barrier between him and his Mother. Neither could quite bridge that barrier. He also lost the closeness with his Father. However, he always felt he needed to be near and protect his parents. They had another son later and the age difference kept the boys from being very close. It wasn’t until they were grown that that occurred. The parents eventually divorced and he felt he needed to keep an eye on his Father’s finances and protect his Mother. Interestingly, in 1983, he was helping victims of the Japanese Concentration camps deal with their problems. He worked especially with Mr. Van Huesen. Later Mr. Van Huesen and his wife were visiting cousins in Europe and one of them asked if the doctor could have been “his Robbie Krell”. They got in touch with Robert and it turned out that the “cousin” was Peter, the grandson of the Maulder’s who kept Robbie at first. Peter had never known where “his little Robbie” had disappeared to. Robert intersperses memories with patients he had and people he met and history; but it works and works well. He is 80 when he writes his thoughts down. The book is really good.

Sounds from Silence: Reflections of a Child Holocaust Survivor, Psychiatrist and Teacher is written by a Canadian everyone should know about. I have read this book from cover to cover. It is authentic. Beautifully written. Brutally honest. A life journey of a Jewish child hidden during the Shoah by a Christian family, who has devoted his life to helping survivors who escaped the horrors of the Holocaust and their families and to educate others about the effects of racism, bullying, human rights abuses and antisemitism. He share his story in bite size chapters. Some will make you laugh out loud. Some will make you weep. Some will make you angry. And some will make you shake your head. I encourage you to buy this book for yourself and buy one for a friend. Read it deeply so that it will inspire you to seek out more knowledge about the Shoah and about the rise of antisemitism in the world today and what you yourself can do to change its trajectory. It takes a lot of courage to write so openly about ones life - especially when hidden as a child where any sound could mean death. This is an important book and belongs on high school and university's’ reading lists. It is worth your time.

I love the book; the mixture of the Holocaust and you is great and your humorous take on many of the events of your postwar life is hilarious. I’m also repeatedly amazed at how you came into contact with so many famous, infamous or just interesting people.

As your book was published and dedicated to your children and grandchildren, it will first and foremost remain a family treasure, but will also be used as a historical document. You have written your story of survival during the Shoah, your struggles in your youth, and you detailed your life as an immigrant. Your chapter on ‘Irritants” is loud and clear.

Robert Krell addresses both a wide and a specific audience in his telling a difficult story that I've not read anywhere else - the public (successful and well-recognized) life and the unremitting personal anguish. Many nights, I've woken from dreams where his story has left me at lights out: the pain and anxiety and loss amidst so much that is very good indeed. He has made these vivid without ever dwelling on them. They have been the link on which he has threaded so many very interesting stories about his family and many others. In some ways, Robert's book is an Honour Roll of those who have lived with everything that being Jewish means, and have led Jewry for the past half century out of the trauma wilderness during and after WWII. I thank you very much indeed for this work and for all that I now carry after reading it.

A friend asked me, “What is False Papers” all about? Without hesitation I replied False Papers is about fear: fear of being discovered, abused, and killed. It was a fear that lasted for the duration of the Nazi occupation. It was a daily fear that seeped into every moment like poisoned air. And only years later, I learned how such psychological trauma can persist for many years after the original events that caused it. My scars, that seemed closed, are re-opened by stress. And it explains my parents postwar erratic behaviours, my mother’s depressions and my father’s mania. Their wartime wounds pursued them. Robert accurately confirms my experience as a fellow child Holocaust survivor.

I just finished reading your beautifully written book and wanted to say how much it moved me, how gracefully you touched on each aspect of your life – your early life in hiding in Holland, your integration into your new life in Vancouver, then marriage, children and the loss of your parents. What a rich life it has been, with all of that as well as your career as a child and family psychiatrist, and your travels and lifelong commitment to teaching about the Holocaust. I was lucky to be a small part of that with you in the early 80s for the Holocaust Education Days in the IRC building at UBC. You’ve written your story from the heart, with love and humility and with great humour too, necessary to help the reader bear the devastating stories of loss. I cried often, but I laughed out loud too.

The first and most important quality of a good memoir is that the author must be honest. You certainly are. Some very painful topics are addressed head on. You write very candidly about your two mothers. You describe your complex relationship with your mother Emmy unsparingly, you account for her lifelong emotional pain, and you give full credit to her strengths.

A beautiful book! What a carefully detailed account of a life that, after a traumatic early life, was filled with success and joy. I admire your memory. How indeed did you retain all the important events and your feelings accompanying them? And the content! Not an everyday story even for a hidden child: your love for the Munniks and their love for you.

Almost 40 years ago you were a visionary pioneer in assisting me to start the child survivor group movement in Los Angeles, Vancouver, and then worldwide. Through your honesty and sharing about your own separations, fears, and losses in hiding during the Holocaust, you enabled many child Holocaust survivors who were traumatized then to come forward from the darkness about their own experiences. You showed the way to transform grief into compassion, and to contribute to Tikkun Olam – repairing the world.

Thank you for one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. My admiration for your accomplishments, for the most worthy causes in the world, have reached unfathomable depths in my soul. Since we met in grade school, I knew you were smart and personable but had no idea from whence you came. Your book transcends everything my mind could ever imagine. You have shared your knowledge, thoughts, emotions and soul. You have fulfilled your destiny and I believe, that was why you were saved and placed on this earth.

This is the book we’ve all been waiting for. From the very beginning (or at least my beginning awareness, decades ago) of your lifetime of groundbreaking work, I have been struck with the uniqueness of your approach. There are many good scholars, you among them, but such enormous hearts as yours are quite rare! I am grateful for the way you have listened to survivors, for the accessible way you’ve shared what survivors have confided to you, and for the hearts you have opened, yours, theirs and ours.