When i had to select a WWII book for my language arts class i chose this because i thought that it'd be an easy read. I soon learned what a truly wonderful and touching book i chose. I could truly relate to some of the things the children were feeling. Of course, I couldn't relate to it all because i've never been through a war or had people that wanted to kill me. This book truly moved me to tears and it's hard to make me cry... i'm one tough cookie! But i believe that this is a good choice for teens that are interested in the Holocaust or WWII!

This is an incredibly chilling and well crafted holocaust story. Twenty, very wealthy, Jewish American men have been rounded up. They are ostensibly being held in anticipation of their exchange for German prisoners of war, held by the American government. The supposed terms for them, however, include the proviso that they must pay for their expenses while they are guests of the Gestapo. They must pay for all expenses necessary for their repatriation. The Americans agree. They choose to believe that this will be done, despite evidence to the contrary. Their need for self-deception is very high, as the alternative is unthinkable.

Katerina has joined them, after one of the Americans took pity on her and paid the Germans to include her in their package deal. She, too, is hopeful and patient, watching, waiting...until that one moment when all becomes unmistakably clear, and hope is wrenched from the depths of her innocence. It is then that Katerina is quiet no longer. She chooses a requiem of her own devise.

This is a stunning novel in which the experience of the author, who himself spent time in various death camps during World War II, manifests itself in the book in the form of a mood so chilling and diabolical, as to make the reader take pause and wonder at man's inhumanity to man.

This is the creative writing professor mentioned before--since I read something by Girardi, his substitute, I couldn't very well forget the man who has been teaching me the other twelve weeks of the semester, could I? Well, actually, I was somewhat hesitant about making an attempt at Arnost's fiction. I'll admit to being intimidated by him (he is a survivor of three concentration camps, including Auschwitz- Birkneau), especially when our first assignment was to write the most interesting story of our lives. Right, I thought, like anything that has happened in my measly existence would prove exciting to a man who was nearly shot three times, was interrogated by the KGB, and has won an Emmy award for one of his screenplays. On the other hand, maybe I just needed the challenge, because the story I completed is my best ever (in my estimation).

Darkness Casts No Shadow is a roughly autobiographical story of Arnost's escape from a freight train (carrying human passengers to Theisenstadt) with another young man. In class, we got the real biographical details, which have been merged and separated in the fiction. The escape was initiated by an American fighter who mistook the train as one ferrying soldiers, and Arnost and his companion (Manny and Danny in the story) watch while the bullets rip apart the prisoners in the early freight cars, deciding that they will risk jumping and running rather than wait for the sure death of the American's bullets.

It's an exciting tale of adventure, but the adrenaline is muted by the flashbacks that tell the background to the boys being on that freight car, including their former lives and the deaths of many of their family members. I've not read much Holocaust literature, for example, I've never read The Diary of Anne Frank, most of my knowledge regarding this time limited to The Hiding Place and documentaries (but not Schindler's List, which I managed to avoid, somehow). This story is inherently sobering, making one stop and realize the day-to-day horror of the situation. This is not an anti-war story, but one promoting anti-brutality. It is also highly moralistic (in the best sense that all literature should have a moral underpinning). Yeah, I was impressed by it. The ending is a little open to interpretation; I know that Arnost and his friend survived, but the reader wonders if Manny and Danny escape. My feeling is that Arnost selected such an ambiguous ending to reflect the thousands of escapees, rather than just his particular experience. Some did survive; most did not.

I think that this book is creat it helped me on my history class alot. I think that this book is a great part of history but a real small one.

I sugest all readers from all ages to read this magnificent book that deals with survival of the fitest or survival for freedom. Danny and Manny are the protagonists in this noble. this noble has adventre thatexpeeriences that two men have to make.I recomend this book for all readers.

Dita is a Jewish girl living in post-WWII Prague, a survivor of the Holocaust like most of her friends. Music, dancing and cafes help the others to go on living after the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, but Dita can't forget. She has too many questions; such as, Why is she still alive when so many are dead? Dita dwells on the Holocaust because it defines her life, but her friends think her macabre, and it drives a wedge between them. This is a beautifully-told story about a lovely, sensitive girl deeply affected by personal tragedy.

This is a disturbing book that should not be read by pregnant women or anyone with a soft heart or weak stomach. The author explores the sick mentalities and daily realities behind the NAZI atrocities of WWII.

For intance, just paging through, I came across a scene where two men are driving a vanload of Jewish people, who are slowly being asphyxiated. The men chitchat and drive, occasionally daring to check the progress of their work through window behind them. They have to drive for a period of time so that the carbon monoxide fills the van slowly, so that the people go to sleep before they die. If the people are asphyxiated rapidly, they tend to die in grotesque poses that disturb the soldiers who must unload the van afterwards.

Grisly, isn't? Perhaps this sort of story should be forgotten, not retold and refreshed for another generation of readers. This book is upsetting and you should consider wisely before opening it.

Also, it helps to be acquainted with the German language. The seven stories contained in this volume are in English, but are peppered with German names and phrases throughout.