My Stormy Youth

By: Norman Kamelgard

Narrated by: Joseph Kamelgard

Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

A powerful story of surviving death camps

My Stormy Youth presents the memoirs, translated from the Yiddish, of Holocaust survivor Mr. Norman Kamelgard, a 74-year-old New Jersey resident born in Poland. Mr. Kamelgard's somber account of Nazi-occupied Poland, transformed from a cultural Mecca to desolate slave-labor ghettos, traces his family's fate from prewar prosperity to death in the concentration camps. His miraculous survival and emigration to Israel encountered further resistance from British authorities, who imprisoned him for bypassing entry procedures and thinking he was a terrorist. Kamelgard's poignant story captures the profound tragedies forever imprinted in Shoa survivors. Like other survivors, his broken dreams of childhood passionately call attention to the enigma of War and futility of genocide. Sixty-two years after Kristallnacht, Norman Kamelgard found inspiration to publish his memories, first written while a British prisoner. Later he contacted a friend who translated the entire Yiddish version into English. Then, through the serendipity of contacting a Michigan cousin, he learned of an editor, another cousin and psychologist author of several books. Parts of My Stormy Youth inspired footage in director Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.

©2006 Norman Kamelgard & Douglas H Ruben (P)2014 Douglas H Ruben PhD

Amazing Story of Survival narrated by his son.

What made the experience of listening to My Stormy Youth the most enjoyable?

It was narrated by the son of the survivor with passion and you can feel the emotion in his voice. This blood relationship added a third dimension to the story.

What did you like best about this story?

It was not just another story of a holocaust survivor telling about the German atrocities, the allies come to the rescue, liberation came and then life went on. Norman Kamelgard was liberated, fed and clothed but then imprisoned again by the English in Israel.

Which scene was your favorite?

There are no favorite scenes in this story. Every page revealed another nightmare.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Liberated, fed and then returned to a cage.

Any additional comments?

This book is very well written and descriptive. The survivors son narrated the book and you could feel his emotions swell as the story progressed. I was shocked to learn that many of the Jews liberated from the concentration camps had no direction and little help when the war ended. Many were released into chaos.

The Holocaust Made Real

If you could sum up My Stormy Youth in three words, what would they be?

Powerful
Restrained
Heartbreaking

What did you like best about this story?

I best liked the specificity of Norman's story, recounted with powerful restraint.

Which character – as performed by Joseph Kamelgard – was your favorite?

The voice of Norman Kamelgard, which documents his life during the Nazi devastation of Europe is clear and authentic.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This witness to the extermination of Jews left me with gnawing anxiety, as though I was there.

Any additional comments?

Here is a narrative important to the historical record of the Shoa - it demands to be heard.