First, let me say I have no doubt the author was courageous in her active resistance to the Nazis during World War II, and that she suffered for it. Thank God she survived. While she doesn't have a Wikipedia page, there are references to her on others.
My problem is that the book consists mainly of dialogue which I find difficult to believe she remembered in detail over 20 years later when she wrote this book. She also 'outwitted' Nazi agents by her detailed descriptions of places she had never been to. And it wasn't like today when you can go on the Web and view the details of cities distant from yours. The Nazis were evil, but they weren't stupid. When sent to a concentration camp she survived freezing, poor food (if any), beatings, and several terrible diseases, whereas she reports others dying quickly. Yes, I know concentration camp survivors endured unbelievable horrors, and many went of to led wonderful lives after the war. But when you catch someone in one lie, it makes you believe there are other lies.
I think she embellished her life as a resistance fighter in this book. Do I condemn her for that? Well, no. She has a story to tell, and she used this book to describe the horrors she and others faced.
But people lie for various reason. We had and still have people in Congress who speak of their military service when they had never wore a uniform, unless they were Boy or Girl Scouts. I even have a brother who is guilty of Stolen Valor. My only regret is that he doesn't wear a uniform with medals so he can be arrested.
John F. Kennedy accepted the Pulitzer Prize for History for a book he never wrote. Check out the "Profiles in Courage" page on Wikipedia if you don't believe me. During World War II. Lyndon Johnson received the Silver Star, our country's third highest award for valor in combat, although he was never even close to the front lines, let alone under fire. The list goes on and on and on....... Yet some of these people who even accomplished great things still had to lie about their achievements. Why? And if they lied before, are they lying to us now? As a scientist I know that approximately 20% of all scientific articles have plagiarism to some degree. Recently, the president of a major university had to resign due to plagiarism.
At least Judith Strick fought for Freedom, killed her enemies, and suffered terribly for it. At least her story is founded on things she did and saw. So many other published books of "great heroes" are actually works of fiction. One good feature about sites providing reviews on books---like PBS, Amazon, etc.---is that people can identify those works of fiction.
My problem is that the book consists mainly of dialogue which I find difficult to believe she remembered in detail over 20 years later when she wrote this book. She also 'outwitted' Nazi agents by her detailed descriptions of places she had never been to. And it wasn't like today when you can go on the Web and view the details of cities distant from yours. The Nazis were evil, but they weren't stupid. When sent to a concentration camp she survived freezing, poor food (if any), beatings, and several terrible diseases, whereas she reports others dying quickly. Yes, I know concentration camp survivors endured unbelievable horrors, and many went of to led wonderful lives after the war. But when you catch someone in one lie, it makes you believe there are other lies.
I think she embellished her life as a resistance fighter in this book. Do I condemn her for that? Well, no. She has a story to tell, and she used this book to describe the horrors she and others faced.
But people lie for various reason. We had and still have people in Congress who speak of their military service when they had never wore a uniform, unless they were Boy or Girl Scouts. I even have a brother who is guilty of Stolen Valor. My only regret is that he doesn't wear a uniform with medals so he can be arrested.
John F. Kennedy accepted the Pulitzer Prize for History for a book he never wrote. Check out the "Profiles in Courage" page on Wikipedia if you don't believe me. During World War II. Lyndon Johnson received the Silver Star, our country's third highest award for valor in combat, although he was never even close to the front lines, let alone under fire. The list goes on and on and on....... Yet some of these people who even accomplished great things still had to lie about their achievements. Why? And if they lied before, are they lying to us now? As a scientist I know that approximately 20% of all scientific articles have plagiarism to some degree. Recently, the president of a major university had to resign due to plagiarism.
At least Judith Strick fought for Freedom, killed her enemies, and suffered terribly for it. At least her story is founded on things she did and saw. So many other published books of "great heroes" are actually works of fiction. One good feature about sites providing reviews on books---like PBS, Amazon, etc.---is that people can identify those works of fiction.
