A Lucky Child - A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy

Thomas Buergenthal is unique. Liberated from the death camps of Auschwitz at the age of eleven, in adulthood he became a judge at the International Court in The Hague. In his honest and heartfelt memoirs, he tells the story of his extraordinary journey - from the horrors of Nazism to an investigation of modern day genocide. Aged ten Thomas Buergenthal arrived at Auschwitz after surviving the Ghetto of Kielce and two labour camps, and was soon separated from his parents. Using his wits and some remarkable strokes of luck, he managed to survive until he was liberated from Sachsenhausen in 1945. After experiencing the turmoil of Europe's post-war years - from the Battle of Berlin, to a Jewish orphanage in Poland - Buergenthal went to America in the 1950s at the age of seventeen. He eventually became one of the world's leading experts on international law and human rights. His story of survival and his determination to use law and justice to prevent further genocide is an epic and inspirational journey through twentieth century history. His book is both a special historical document and a great literary achievement, comparable only to Primo Levi's masterpieces.

About the author

Thomas Buergenthal has devoted his life to international and human rights law. He has received degrees from New York University Law School and Harvard Law School and for ten years he was a judge of the International Court of Justice in The Hague until his resignation in 2010. Co-recipient of the 2008 Gruber Foundation International Justice Prize, he lives in Washington DC.

Summary

Now with a new postscript by Thomas Buergenthal telling the moving story of his mother's search for him after the war.

Foreword

Now with a new postscript by Thomas Buergenthal telling the moving story of his mother's search for him after the war

Report

An understated and quietly powerful memoir ... A Lucky Child is not one to miss Libby Purves, Radio 4 Midweek

Product details

• Authors: Thomas Buergenthal, Thomas (Lobingier Professor) Buergenthal, Buergenthal Thomas
• Publisher: Profile Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 22.01.2015
• EAN: 9781781254004
• ISBN: 978-1-78125-400-4
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 128 mm x 194 mm x 22 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Novel-like biographies; Humanities, art, music > History > 20th century (up to 1945); Non-fiction book > History > Biographies, autobiographies; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Biographies, autobiographies; European History, Poland, Memoirs, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Europe / Poland, Second World War, The Holocaust, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), c 1940 to c 1949, c 1919 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), c 1918 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / Holocaust, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / Eastern Front, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs