- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (22 Feb 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140286616
- ISBN-13: 978-0140286618
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 107,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Rabbi Hugo Gryn "came clean" in January 1978 by speaking publicly for the first time about his experience of the Holocaust and subsequently spent a year publicly speaking on the subject as though he were a witness on a stand. He was prompted to do so by the whisperings of revisionists who denied the Holocaust--regrettably as prescient a reason still to read this affecting account and those of its ilk. Where the first section is charmingly self-conscious at times, reading as a fascinating insight into pre-war life in Berehovo, a Carpathian town, towards its close the shadow of war has started to fall relentlessly, preparing us for the middle movement of this unfinished symphony. The trainee rabbi's 1951 descriptions of life at the old brick factory, Auschwitz and Lieberose display the scrupulous matter-of-factness of one compelled by catharsis to write but unable to engage: shock, in other words. This is reminiscent of Primo Levi's If This Is A Man, and the recently republished The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman and the effect is all the greater for the literalism. There are moments of dark humour, such as the new arrivals at Auschwitz (including the Gryns) laughing at the "lunatics" they find with shaven heads and grotesquely mismatched clothes, only to realise that these broken people had arrived only a week earlier. And in a moment that chills the reader's blood, who guesses what the unwitting Gryn doesn't, he walks into an extermination chamber building thinking it's a bakery and only survives a mass gassing because a guard points out that he is too old for a "shower". These are survivalist anecdotes, for that quickly became the main activity of those who returned from the camps, who grappled with awful, and often mortal, guilt over their fateful existence. That as a life Chasing Shadows is incomplete matters little; rather, the specific focus of testimonies such as Gryn's retains a relevance and imperative that brooks no indulgence or sentimentality, and thus renders the unbearable readable. This is a moving and worthy testament to an extraordinary man who taught and spoke of beauty and civilisation even after staring hard in the face of evil. --David Vincent
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Hugo Gryn made a huge impression on the general public with his Radio 4's "The Moral Maze": his wisdom, humour and compassion shone through the programme so that his sudden death in 1996 was greeted with great sadness. Few people knew though of his extraordinary life. This book consists of two separate memoirs written 40 years apart, which tell of his idyllic childhood in Berehovo in the Carpathian mountains and the increasing shadows thrown by the Nazis - until Hugo and his family were deported to Auschwitz. He describes the horrors but also the small acts of human courage and kindness.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
extraordinary,
By
This review is from: Chasing Shadows (Paperback)
Hugo Gryn was a simply extraordinary man. After surviving the Holocaust and leaving Gunskirchen weighing just 30kilos as a 14-year old, he went on to lead a life of love and morality and of teaching, without ever preaching the rights or wrongs of man. What comes across as terribly moving is that Hugo suffered some of the greatest wrongs inflicted on man by man and yet rather than lose faith in man, he somehow found it, as he said, crying in a corner, between some boxes in Auschwitz.This book is eminently more absorbing than that, however. We start in Berehovo, a small town in the Carpathian mountains with a thriving Jewish population. Hugo grows up with his younger brother and his parents and family all around and his story immerses us in his daily life, the Jewish practices that filled it and the community that surrounded it. But the daily life deteriorates as the Hungarians move in and join the Germans on the Eastern front. Hugo's life moves from one of discovery to one without simple freedoms or a simple carefree attitude. In time Hugo comes to Auschwitz, learns of the gas chambers and his brother's fate, sees his mother taken from him and ultimately survives the war by about 2 weeks, only to have his father die in his arms days after liberation. This is, surprisingly, one of the least detailed depictions of the atrocities the Germans inflicted and not less powerful for that. Rather, i believe it was the author's intention to show how his own spirit survived despite these things and that the focus should be on tomorrow and what we have learned and how we can use it, rather than reflecting forever on the past. Which is odd, because the book is entitled 'Chasing Shadows' which is not at all what Hugo's life or this book seem to have been about. Not chasing the shadows but remembering them in detail and preserving them for the next generation and countless ones going forwards to prevent future repetitions of the same. I hope the now deceased Hugo Gryn will feel that his life achieved the aim of teaching and leaving lasting lessons about humanity and morality. I believe anyone that reads this book will feel that it did. An interesting part of this book is that it includes sections written at various times by the author, the early parts written in reflection and the middle section on the holocaust itself written fairly soon after the event. And various parts are the work of the author's daughter, compiled from his lectures, interviews and thoughts. This lends a certain inconsistency to the book, but also gives it a somewhat intriguing angle. I found some sections of this book so overwhelming that i could not always turn the page, but i am extremely thankful that i did and i suspect most other readers would feel the same. I consider this a very important work.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A heart rendering read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Chasing Shadows (Hardcover)
After reading this book I felt guilty for not knowing and understanding more of the Holocaust.I could not comprehend that human beings could do that to their own neighbours just because of their religious beliefs. It made me feel ashamed for not being of the Jewish faith myself...Despite the heart rendering content I felt compelled to finish it. Not a book for the light hearted bedtime reader!.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An important testimony for a forgotten town,
By Paul Stanyer (Milton Keynes United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chasing Shadows (Paperback)
See Beregszasz and weep. My wife's once-beautiful Hungarian Jewish town has been squabbled over by six rulers in a single tragic century. Hugo and Naomi Gryn fill out the details of their 90s film with love and an eye for detail. In May 1944, opposite the cigarette factory where my mother-in-law worked, 14-year old Hugo's family was told that trains would take them to Kecskemet, in Hungary. He found a routing slip. "It was German and it was nailed to the wagon. On it I read:'Auschwitz, Cracow, Presov, Kassa, Csap.'" Buy extra copies of this book for your loved ones.
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