This was a very emotional read. Tears were shed in parts. But later in the book comes the good parts where you learn of all these families were able to accomplish, despite what they had been through. Finkelstein, a Times columnist and member of the House of Lords, isn’t trying to explain why these utopian ideologies arose. His preoccupation is on the who and how: “…how the great forces of history crashed down in a terrible wave on two happy families; how it tossed them and turned them, and finally returned what was left to dry land”. Daniel's father Ludwik was born in the Polish city of Lwow, now Lviv, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists. His grandfather Dolu was arrested and disappeared, while his father and grandmother were sent to Siberia, working as slave labourers on a collective farm. They somehow survived starvation and freezing winters, living in a house they built from cow dung, but always hoping to be reunited with Dolu.

I fear the world we live in, and whilst we hoped and fought the last World War to end all wars, humanity clearly has not learned anything, afterall its not so very long ago! Maybe if more people read this book, and others like it, may serve as a reminder of the evil human beings are capable of... Danny Finkelstein has written an elegant, moving account of the history of one family, and in doing so shines light on the history of the 20th century. If you want to understand Hitler and Stalin, read this book about people whose lives were upended by both of them’ ANNE APPLEBAUM, author of Gulag: A History, winner of the Pulitzer PrizeBoth sides of the family were remarkable. His mother’s parents, Alfred and Grete Wiener, were highly educated and bookish (Grete had a PhD in economics, a rare achievement for a woman in the 20s), and ran the world’s first and foremost research centre on the Nazi party, collecting vast amounts of documents that charted its rise. Meanwhile, in Poland, Finkelstein’s father’s family had built a hugely successful iron business, and lived a settled, happy life in a peaceful multicultural city. Such a brilliantly written book about how Hitler’s and Stalin’s appalling states ripped two families apart, and how they - somehow - managed not only to survive WWII but produce such a remarkable family at the end. Daniel Finkelstein continues the heartrending memoir of his parents' experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during WWII, this week focusing on the story of his father's family at the hands of Stalin. Alfred Wiener's role as a German Jewish intellectual leader who recognized the impending Holocaust and became an archivist of Nazi crimes is both inspiring and chilling. His determination to safeguard his family and relocate them to safety in Amsterdam, where they formed a connection with Anne Frank's family, is a testament to the power of hope and human connection. Today: after a harrowing journey across the Soviet Union, Daniel's father and grandmother find themselves in the freezing Siberian wastelands, trying to survive as slave labourers on a collective farm.

Jwes were not getting sufficiant amount of food there,everything were countable and people were getting weak. later on what happened every one were started thinking bout food,talking about food dreamt about food,even Grete has jotted down her favourite reciepe in paper. When Grete's birthday came in March 26, 1944,and she turned 49 year old lady then one of her friends gave her three potatoes in gift. Initially, I’d thought the family trees needed dates, but I now realise that having these would have spoiled the story. In the autumn of 2012, we tidied the lounge, hired a party tent from some people we found on the internet and asked a man from that place round the corner to supply some food. And then we held a party for my 50th birthday.Mirjam, as an adult and survivor, also emerges as a woman of remarkable wisdom, someone who has seen the worst of humanity and chosen to represent the best. For instance, there is an ongoing controversy over the decision taken by the leadership of the Dutch Jewish community to work with the Nazis so as to avoid immediate retribution. Her response is the correct one: it was the Nazis’ fault. There is no value in blaming the victims for making one impossible choice over another.Likewise when Justin Bieber created global outrage for commenting in the visitors’ book at Anne Frank’s house that he hoped “ she would have been a belieber”, Mirjam defends him. The whole point about Anne was her ordinariness, someone who absolutely would have been a fan of a teen idol. In a world of perpetual outrage such calm reason from someone who had every right to play the victim is a balm. As a young boy, Finkelstein’s father survived incarceration during the Holocaust years with his indomitable mother after the family had become separated. Being read by Finkelstein himself, the deeply harrowing details of these years of torturous suffering and of his family’s persecution in the 1930s strengthens the impact of this indelible memoir.