Children of the Flames by: Lucette Matalon Lagnado

OK, those of you who know me well, know that I have always been a student of the Holocaust. Many consider it a morbid fascination, however, I have always considered it an important topic of study for many reasons. This book is a classic case in point, as justification for that belief. This book, though short, had many lessons to teach, and presents a story that should never be forgotten. It explores the story of the "twins of Auschwitz," and the tragic epic that became their lives. And yet this book is not a story of tragedy, so much as a story of survival, not only during a traumatic experience, but beyond the experience as well.
This book is presented in an interesting format, told in first person accounts, it is constantly shifting from one person to the next, through each section, to provide a broad perspective of the experience as a whole. In addition, woven throughout, are the experiences, as perceived through the eyes of Dr. Mengle -- the "Angel of Death" in the concentration camp. This is an unusual approach to a story, to have the perpetrator of a crime, and the victim of the crime, tell the story together. And yet it makes for a powerful study in what really happened.
Presented in this fashion, it portrays the strength of the victim's, next to the shallow characteristics, and self-centered desires of Dr. Mengle. And it portrayed, in a very powerful manor, what is truly important in a life -- and what value a life really has. One of the greatest tributes, I have ever read, to the victims, and the survivors alike, of the Holocaust; this book shows what great strength of character the Nazi victims really carried, and how petty, and insignificant their captors really were. This is a book I would highly recommend. A must read, that deals with a very significant subject in history.