“May The People Know I’m Here?”
– by S.J. Pridmore
Nazi Germany’s attempt to eradicate an entire race of people during World War Two is a story that’s been told countless times before, through books and newspaper stories, through the images broadcast in films and documentaries, and through the recollections of those individuals who survived the horrors of concentration camps with names like, Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and Buchenwald.
Burned into the psyche of successive generations, the Holocaust is an episode in human history that should never be forgotten: a statistical nightmare in which more than six million men, women and children were brutally murdered for no other reason other than that they were Jews, or because religion, or life-style, did not mesh with the Nazi view of a well-ordered world.
As a testament of, “Man’s inhumanity to man”, it’s a story that deserves to be told and re-told. All of which is a rather long-winded way of introducing, S.J. Pridmore’s new-release book, ‘May The People Know I’m Here’, the true life story of two Dutch people, a child and a young woman, and their separate struggles to survive the bigotry and hatred of a country seemingly divided in its loyalties towards the occupying power; and the fate that befell so many of their family and friends.
Better known in diving circles as the author of the highly acclaimed, ‘Scuba Confidential’ series, as well as several Dive Travel guides, ‘May The People Know I’m Here’, is a departure in both topic and style from Simon Pridmore’s earlier works; one that marks him as a writer to watch.
Based on written records and interviews, including those with the youngest of the protagonists, the story is told from the viewpoint of a four-year old child, Anka, and a young woman named Rachel. It’s a harrowing tale. One told in a style reminiscent of Hemingway; short, sharp and punchy sentences packed with power.
Outside of the memoirs of three diving friends, I cannot remember the last book that, once having started the first chapter, I found impossible to put down until I had finished reading it.
For those who think that they know the history of the Holocaust, think again. For those whose knowledge of this dark time in human history is sketchy at best, I cannot think of a better book to bring home the tragedy and the misery. And the hope that others may learn from its message of hope.
Now on sale world-wide, ‘May The People Know I’m Here?’ is available as an ebook, paperback and hardback.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09K77Y455
—ENDS—
Categories: Book Reviews
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