The Boys
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Martin Gilbert’s The Boys is a unique study of the holocaust of World War II. It is not unique in that it details the stories of holocaust survivors, nor is it unique in determining that despite the horrors and atrocities of that unconscionable world event those who survived did so with the triumph of the human spirit in tow. However, it is unique in that it is the collective experiences, memories, and similarities of 732 boys and girls who survived the holocaust and emigrated as a group to Britain after the war. It is also unique in that these survivors share a close bond to this day, one they celebrate with annual dinners and the celebration of their survival despite their bond of mutually horrific memories of surviving the fate of millions of others in the concentration camps against all odds, “Each year the boys meet for various events, the highlight being their annual reunion to commemorate their liberation; to celebrate their rebirth after their almost inconceivable ordeals. At their reunions, while rejoicing in their daily life, they also recall old times: the years before the war when they enjoyed childhood, the war years when both their childhood and their family life were violently interrupted and destroyed, and their rehabilitation in Britain” (Gilbert 2). Author Martin Gilbert attended the annual reunion of these survivors for two decades. A few years back he suggested they send him their stories and memories of surviving the e
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etermined to keep the spirit of their relatives and friends who did not survive alive. However, The Boys is also unique because it takes us through so many different perspectives of survival in one volume and shows the diversity of the human spirit and that one person’s way of reacting is not another’s. We see this in the boys’ recollections of liberation. Some wanted the Americans to “boom, boom” the Germans while another boy gave some of his stashed rations to a German woman whose child had not eaten for a length of time. In a way, though, the rehabilitation phase of these survivors makes up the most interesting portion of the book. Many of them, if not all of them, had to be reintroduced to inherent human concepts like hope and love. Even simple things, like polite table manners, were destroyed by their experiences in the concentration camps. As Dr. Friedmann who helped rehabilitate the survivors shares, “I have seen boys jump clean over tables in their anxiety to get their first and grab the food before the others. When they understood, after a few days, that each had his own chair, his own share of food, which was to be respected by the others, they were perfectly reasonable. But their emotions are still strong” (Gil
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1249
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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