Review: Interrupted Lives

Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust

by Amanda Friedman and Kelley Szany

Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2025

Category: Middle Grade

Reviewer: Rochelle Newman-Carrasco

 

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This book is an inspiring collection of autobiographical stories developed using insightful interviews. A note from the authors even before the opening page speaks to a powerful purpose: “For all the survivors. Thank you for your strength, courage, and resilience, reminding us of the need to remember the past in order to transform the future.” The nine stories also remind us that it won’t be long before hearing directly from survivors, in their own words, is a thing of the past. Authors Amanda Friedeman and Kelley Szany bring their expertise as Holocaust educators to this powerful work as they frame each story with an optimistic life lesson of relevance to the interviewee. These include: "Try to be Optimistic In Life," "Learn from the Past," and "Help a Stranger." In several cases, the survivors had not spoken about their experiences until later in life, indicating a certain hesitation attached to sharing their story. But they came to appreciate the value of speaking, particularly because they came to realize that every story was different – with nuanced specifics in every aspect of their narrative that provided more dimensional perspectives than many films or fictionalized stories could ever do. The reader is informed that the first-person autobiographies have been “lightly edited for clarity and accessibility to young readers, while preserving the survivors’ voices.” As a result, each story comes alive and provides an intimate experience for the reader, who is able to feel like they are spending time with this individual and truly hearing their story first-hand.

Interrupted Lives does an excellent job of bringing readers the diversity of the Holocaust survivor experience – ensuring that readers are clear that there is no single story. The opening segment, for example, is from a survivor who “was a little girl in France at the beginning of World War II.” She was sent, by her mother, to live with a Catholic family. Her father was a prisoner in “Drancy.” Each story contains side-bar content clarifying locations and other important information. In this case, a side-bar titled “What Was Drancy?” provides details about this particular internment camp and how it was the “major transit camp for deportations of Jews from France.” Jewish readers are likely to learn even more about the Holocaust experience, expanding their geographic understanding of the atrocities, as well as the specifics of survival and resilience. When a story concludes with “Try to Be Optimistic in Life,” we have come to understand more than the interviewee's pain, but their reality and their desire to look forward even in the face of a seemingly impossible future. Readers get insight into what it was like to live in Holland when the Germans invaded, as well as into the Nuremberg Laws, Hitler Youth, Kindertransport, and more. Non-Jewish readers will also benefit from the rich first-person storytelling, the visual and visceral specifics, and the expanded understanding of survival and how it comes in many forms. A glossary of terms is also provided.

 

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Reviewer Rochelle Newman-Carrasco credits her love of literature to her Lower East Side NYC roots. She is the co-author of ZigZag, a bilingual English-Spanish children's book. She has written for The New York Times, Lilith, The Forward, The Ethel, Off Assignment, The Independent and more. She holds a BFA in Theater from UC Irvine and an MFA from Antioch University, Los Angeles. Rochelle is also a recognized expert in the field of culturally specific marketing and advertising, with an emphasis on diverse cultural segments. She is working on a memoir based on her solo theater show Hip Bones and Cool Whip.