After the Holocaust

Howard Greenfeld wrote the book After the Holocaust because he realized that there was so much literature about the time prior to and during the war, but very little about what happened to the survivors after the war.   His book follows eight survivors and their journeys.

The book is divided into four sections:  Liberation, After the Liberation:  The Search, The DP Camps and an afterword.  Each section is both joyous and heartbreaking.  You can feel the pain and guilt of surviving, but also the hope.  Personally, I did not know much about the process after liberation, so it was very informative for me to learn about the search process and the displaced person camps.  Presently, my students live in a time with an abundance of communication methods; people can connect quickly, and an internet search is no more time consuming than making a cup of coffee.  However, after the war, this process was much more challenging. 

I truly enjoyed the afterward.  I liked finding out each of the eight survivors' outcomes.  I know my students will also appreciate this section, as they always need every story's ending to be wrapped up completely.  In short, Greenfeld's book is a great addition to any Holocaust library.