About:
The Watchmakers: A Story of Brotherhood, Survival, and Hope Amid the Holocaust by Harry Lenga, as told to Scott Lenga is a memoir of the author. His amazing survival through World War II, in concentration camps, and in death marches.
- 352 pages
- Publisher : Citadel
- Language : Englis
- ISBN-10 : 0806541911
My rating for The Watchmakers — 5
Buy The Watchmakers from Amazon.com*
More Books by Scott Lenga*
Thoughts:
Harry Lenga was born in Kozhnitz, Poland, to a family of Chassidic Jews. When the Germans invaded Poland, Mr. Lenga was in Warsaw, but managed to escape from the Ghetto to join his family. After being liberated by the US Army, Harry moved to St. Louis, MI where his family is still living.
Nowhere in Poland was safe, and the night before the Nazis murdered Kozhnitz’s entire Jewish population, Harry and his brothers Mailekh and Moishe, managed to escape. Later during the war years, the brothers were moved between several work camps, including Auschwitz, Mauthausen, Mel, and more. Amazingly they managed to survive due to their ability to fix watches (their pre-war occupation), and a good amount of chutzpah.
The Watchmakers: A Story of Brotherhood, Survival, and Hope Amid the Holocaust by Harry Lenga is a compelling and moving book. The story is written in a simple manner, just the plain truth with a bunch of dark humor mixed in.
I’m glad Scott Lenga managed to interview his grandfather before he passed away. I know what happened to some of my relatives, but that’s mostly through family stories. These types of stories must be remembered and retold. The survivors are far and few, and many didn’t want to speak about the horrors for decades afterward. It’s amazing that Mr. Lenga has survived several concentration camps, as well as death marches. He credits that with luck, as well as his ability to fix watches which allowed him better conditions than the hard labor work, much of it for the purpose of killing the workers.
The appendices, glossary, notes, and pictures are about one-fourth of the book itself. They are fascinating as well, and for me at least, it’s always a benefit to associate a picture with a person when it comes to my non-fiction reading.
Buy The Watchmakers from Amazon.com*
More Books by Scott Lenga*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
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