Horrifying

The Concentration Camp by Vera Mertens is the powerful and horrifying true story of the author’s father’s wartime experiences.

Her father was just a teenager living in Belgium as war broke out. He had already witnessed the damaging effects of World War I on his father. As the Nazis marched in, the horrors from the past loomed large.

The author’s father was a brave young man. He stood up for what was right and consequently ended up in a concentration camp.

We hear of the horrors of man’s inhumanity to man. Deprivation, starvation and terrible cruelty – those who survived the camps would be forever haunted by their experiences. The reader is horrified. It is so hard to imagine why anyone would be so evil and cruel, never mind a whole nation of supposedly educated beings.

Alongside the experiences in the camps is the day to day experiences of the family left behind in Belgium and also the general significant events of the war.

This book must be read in memory of the six million who perished in the Holocaust.

I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON