Wolf: A Story of Hate by Zeev Scheinwald and Ella Scheinwald is a nonfiction Holocaust memoir about a young man’s journey from the start of the war to the end and the consequences it had on his life. This book is very unique in that it details everything that happened to Wolf/Zeev in the Skarzysko labour camp, and others that have been forgotten about or hidden up after the end of WWII. Since starting to read books published by Amsterdam Publishers, I’ve come to realise that even though I have done a lot of research into this period of history and have read a lot of books about it, there is still so much we don’t know, and so much that has been forgotten or covered up. This book is very hard to read and even though I’ve read a lot of books about and in the backdrop of WWII, I had to stop a few times. If you are squeamish, don’t like reading about death, torture and suffering, do not read this book because you won’t be able to keep going. I don’t mind reading about these themes and it took me nearly a week to get through it because it’s very hard-hitting and you realise a lot of things that you probably didn’t know prior to reading this book. There are still so many things we don’t know that happened during WWII, so many people suffered and there were so many atrocities that it’s impossible to know everything, but this book is an amazing one to read if you want the truth, and you want it on an individual level, instead of the official historical version. Zeev’s description and narration of his time in Skarzysko, Mauthausen, Buchenwald, and other such camps was raw and emotional. At one point in the book, he said how he felt that his account was not emotional enough and that he sounded detached and like it didn’t happen to him, but I actually think that emotion such as is expressed in this book is needed to understand the extent of trauma, torture and suffering that was inflicted upon Jewish and other peoples during the Final Solution. It’s a bit horrible to say “I loved it”, but I did, it was a great book and although it was hard to read, broke my heart, made me angry, shocked me and made me feel ashamed to be a human being, I think it was an amazing account and one we need to know about. Every time I read about something new, I wonder to myself how much we still don’t know, and it’s a chilling thought. I’m so glad I got a chance to read this book, it was so poignant and so very much needed. Every book I’ve read from Amsterdam Publishers has put emphasis on the need to know more about the events and sufferings of WWII, right down to individual accounts and tortures for it to not happen again, and I think it’s right. I struggled to read this book because I know that human beings did atrocious things to other human beings, and I was shocked to see the measures they implied to do so, but it’s important to know. It doesn’t surprise me, I knew how awful people were, but it still took my breath away when certain things were described (for those of you who’ve read this, I’m referring to the “lampshades” in particular). I don’t think I can say that I “enjoyed” this book because it describes atrocities that you can’t even imagine, but it was also amazing and taught me so much, I don’t know if that makes sense. I don’t like rating nonfiction, but this one deserves 5 stars because of the quality and emotion in the narration, it was just such a great experience for me and I think more people need to read more individual accounts to better understand what happened, and what could happen again.

Ze'ev - (Wolf in translated to Hebrew) was a young man in Nazi-occupied Sochaczew, Poland, when he was captured and forced to become a slave laborer. He was not a prisoner in Auschwitz, he was not sent to Majdanek or Treblinka for immediate death and extermination. Rather, he was sent to a smaller camp which was the result of a marriage between different parts of Hell - that between the Nazi ideology about Jewish people seen as Untermenschen, and profit-seeking companies seeking to explore the possibilities of modern slavery - a work force that didn't have to be paid or taken care of - only used and abused till there was nothing left to exploit. When liberated in 1945, Ze'ev/Wolf was close to death in Mauthausen. Families were split - some killed, some sent off to slavery - not a special situation in Nazi-occupied areas during WWII. But Ze'ev/Wolf describes how this separation happened gradually, until no one was left of the closest family members. And with those ties severed, the road to Death became quicker, harder to avoid. Not only because there was no one left to care for you, but because the love in your heart for your family, was spit upon, trodden upon by Nazi bullies and their collaborators. This finally meant that the humanity inside you was challenged to a point were only deliberate choices could keep it alive. Choices taken when you were starved, beaten, cold and a possible victim of random killing. Or, not you, but the kid next to you, the room-mate you got a favor from yesterday, the relative or neighbor you got a glimpse of in the camp. The book starts with the statement that this is a book about a murder and how Ze'ev/Wolf comes forth as a witness to this crime, his own murder. Also, he states how the perpetrators never had to pay for what they had done and how those international organizations that could have helped the slave laborers failed to do so. And then the book continues to explain this statement. How a body may survive such experiences, but the soul may be damaged beyond repair in this world. Ze'ev/Wolf survived, raised a family, became a successful business man. But the joy of life could not be awakened in him again, it seems. No changes for the good in Ze'ev's/Wolf's life could take off again the cloak of heaviness that was laid upon him through World War II. No attempt of compensation could ever pay for his loss. This is a book one wants to treat with due respect. Murder and crime fiction is a popular literary genre, hollywoodized beyond any respect for human life. But the murder described in this book, or in any testimony about the Sho'ah, is not something that anyone could possibly read about for entertainment, or to kill some time a Saturday evening. In a way, this book makes it clear how careful one should be when reading about human beings that became victims of killings and exploitation during WWII. Whenever their sufferings are described as a means to inform about the dangers of totalitarian systems, it is not done to make us un-bored or interested in a plot. It is about innocence, about vulnerable people, pushed into Harm's way, and an injustice that can never be undone or repaired for the individual or society exposed to it.

This book was suspenseful and gripping. I could not put it down. The author, Ze'ev Scheinwald, recounts his experience as jewish teenager in corporate owned labor death camps during World War II. Everyone should read this book. It is important for future generations to understand the horrors that people like Ze'ev endured during the Holocaust.

This book stirred up so many different emotions in me. The story follows Zeev as a teenager as WWII was beginning. His experiences are terrifying and shocking. It truly is a story of hate but also a story of luck. Everyone who was persecuted had no control over the events and no foresight of what was to come (or when this was ending), which becomes particularly apparent in this story. I highly recommend everyone read this, even if you don;t normally like non-fiction or history books, - this book delves into mystery, suspense, horror and more.