The Boys in the Light

An Extraordinary World War II Story of Survival, Faith, and Brotherhood

De: Nina Willner

Narrado por: Mark Bramhall, Nina Willner

An epic story of the triumph of good over evil.

The soldiers of D Company could not believe their eyes as they came face-to-face with the human cost of Hitler’s evil: two teenage boys—survivors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald—who had escaped.

The Boys in the Light follows the parallel journeys of Company D and Eddie Willner, the author’s father, as they are caught up on two sides of World War II.

At sixteen, Eddie Willner was among the millions of European Jews rounded up by Hitler’s Nazis. He was forced into slave labor alongside his father and his best friend, Mike, and spent the next three years of his life surviving the death camps, including Auschwitz. Meanwhile, in the United States, boys only a few years older than Eddie were joining the army and heading toward their own precarious futures. Once farmers, factory workers, and coal miners, they were suddenly untested soldiers, thrust into the brutal conflicts of WWII.

A company of 3rd Armored Division tankers, led by 23-year-old Elmer Hovland, quickly became battle-hardened and weary, constantly questioning whether the war was worth it. They got their answer when two emaciated boys stepped out of the woods with their tattooed arms raised.

The Boys in the Light is a testament to survival against all odds, the strength of the bonds forged during war and the resilience of the human spirit. This extraordinary true story is a must-read for fans of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, and Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile.

Stories Gave Meaning to Statistics

Of all the historical volumes I’ve read and enjoyed, this one stood out. The personal stories revealed gave humanity to the statistics.

Nina Willner did a superb job of curating the stories. I appreciate the tremendous effort that went into following leads and digging in. I bought the book and the Audible. So well done.

A must read!

Even more fascinating than Forty Autumns, which was also excellent. Nina Willner honors her father and all members of the greatest generation with this memoir.

The interpersonal stories and the history

Well written! Superbly researched! The concert of lives and their ultimate collision beyond coincidence - for certain divine!

The bond formed between the boys and the tankers

Liked the information about the slave camps around Auschwitz’s and the bomb squad the boys worked

Great Research

Excellent depth and discussion of the Holocaust. A terrific text for high and college students because it gives lots of historical facts and background, not just a character study of those who experienced WW 2

Memories

I liked learning the true story of just short news reports I heard as a young child.

Incredible

May the diligent and far reaching research done for this volume be a lasting monument for those who have gone before us and succumb to their early deaths under the dark, evil hand of the Nazi regime! An incredible account so well written I could stop listening! But if you’re thinking of reading this book… WAIT until you’ve read Nina’s 1st book: Forty Autumns… as it dove tails this excellent read!