The Thief of Auschwitz

Clinch, a master storyteller, effortlessly moves into a Holocaust story here, following a family, as it struggles to survive Auschwitz. He avoids the over-melodramatic, by keeping the narrative grounded, although there is still plenty here to break your heart. This is my third read, by Clinch and al......more

I'm a longtime fan of Jon Clinch, and though this book is very different in feel from Finn and Kings of the Earth, I liked it just as much. Without minimizing or diluting the horrors of Auschwitz, Clinch demonstrates how literature can show us the light and shadows in even the darkest experiences. C......more

What a story !!! The Author, Jon Clinch, stayed the course, never wandered into something meaningless. He kept me interested thru out. The Story is about a Jewish family - mom, dad, daughter and a 14 year old son, that did ALL they could to stay alive as a FAMILY. The Mother, an artist and the dad a......more

Captured in their native Poland, Jacob and Eidel Rosen and children Max and Lydia arrive at Auschwitz. Men and women reside in separate quarters with little interaction. The family never sees Lydia again. Jacob wisely tells twelve-year-old Max to lie about his age to avoid the gas chamber where chil......more

Oh but for that elusive fifth star, a conscious decision in reviewing THE THIEF OF AUSCHWITZ for which I'm admittedly being unfair to Jon Clinch. I found it impossible to review this book in a vacuum, outside the context of the vast swath of Holocaust literature that precedes it obviously, but also......more