A Lucky Child

A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy

By: Thomas Buergenthal

Narrated by: Thomas Buergenthal, Don Hagen

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Thomas Buergenthal, now a Judge in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, tells his astonishing experiences as a young boy in his memoir, A Lucky Child. He arrived at Auschwitz at age 10 after surviving two ghettos and a labor camp. Separated first from his mother and then his father, Buergenthal managed by his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck to survive on his own. Almost two years after his liberation, Buergenthal was miraculously reunited with his mother, and in 1951 he arrived in the U.S. to start a new life.

Now dedicated to helping those subjected to tyranny throughout the world, Buergenthal writes his story with a simple clarity that highlights the stark details of unimaginable hardship. A Lucky Child is an audiobook that demands to be heard by all.

©2010 Thomas Buergenthal (P)2012 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"Buergenthal's authentic, moving tale reveals that his lifelong commitment to human rights sprang from the ashes of Auschwitz." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Powerful.... The author's story is astonishing and moving, and his capacity for forgiveness is remarkably heartening. An important new voice joins the chorus of survivors." ( Kirkus Reviews)

great book

this is a story of luck but also of the evolution of human rights. To understand how some live and some don't and to understand how to compartmentalize to survive, what a gift

Important and riveting

Thomas Buergenthal's memoir of his childhood during the Holocaust is an important document and a riveting story. He and his family were first forced to the ghetto of Kielce in Poland, when he was barely 5 years old. In 1944 the family was deported to Auschwitz, where Thomas first was separated from his mother and eventually from his father. Through a combination of extraordinary cleverness, at age 10, and strokes of luck, Thomas survived the camps and the train transport in open cattle cars and death march from Auschwitz to Sachsenhausen. After being reunited, miraculously, with this mother inn1946 (his father's was murdered my the German Nazis at Auschwitz) in 1946, he spent the rest of his childhood in Göttingen, Germany, before emigrating to the US in 1951, where he went on to study law at NYU and Harvard and subsequently became a most respected professor of international human rights law and judge at various international tribunals, culminating in his appointment to the International Court of Justice in 2001.

The book focuses on his early years and is riveting. Buergenthal writes in a straightforward, accessible way, and this is in part what makes the book so affecting. His strength and resilience as a child under such extremely adverse circumstances is remarkable. As is the remarkable absence of bitterness. he turned his awful experiences into a mission to do his utmost to prevent such atrocities from happening and to hold those committing them accountable. Lastly, the book is a loving tribute to Thomas' father, Mundek Buergenthal, a remarkable man who's intelligence and guile helped not only Thomas survive the camps but countless others on whose behalf he interceded, and Thomas' mother, Gerda, affectionately called Mutti, who never gave up hope to be reunited with her son, a hope that ultimately was rewarded.

The narration is a bit dry, except for the opening and final chapters, narrated by Buergenthal himself. But the story is so extraordinary that this hardly matters.

A harrowing yet inspiring book, also appropriate for mature young audiences, I'd say starting at age 14, who have some familiarity with the Holocaust. Although not with the same literary merits as the books by Primo Levi or Elie Wiesel, a classic that deserves to be read and reread (or listened to).

excellent in every way!!

This is a super fine human being! His story is excellent, the reader is excellent, and you can readily tell from his story that he is one of the finest men to have graced this earth!!

A lesson in humanity

The author is an amazing and inspiring human being who somehow kept his humanity, in spite all the injustice and evil perpetrated upon him.

Compelling Account

I never tire of Holocaust Memoirs. I am riveted to the survival stories of ordinary people plunged into extra ordinary situations.

This book was no exception; very interesting.

lucky for sure

after visiting auschwitz, I expected more detail of the atrocities that took place... yet I read and listened to front to cover in one sitting.

Mediocre at best.

The story was interesting but not that revealing. I found the narrator’s voice to be extremely irritating. I’m just glad I didn’t purchase the actual book.