In the book, Surviving Hitler: A Boy In The Nazi Death Camps, a boy named Jack MandleBaum, survives the Holocaust during World War II. Jack was 15 years old when he was first taken to a concentration camp along with his family. Jack parents, older sister, older brother, and his younger brother were taken to a camp also. They all lived in Gyndia, Poland until one Nazi busted down their door yelling “all Jews out!”

Jack’s family is Jewish but, he doesn’t really contribute to his religion very much. He doesn’t know much about Judaism, yet he still gets sent to a concentration camp in Germany called, Blechhammer. While he is there a fellow prisoner tells Jack, “Think of it as a game Jack, play the game right and you might outlast the Nazis.” This vows him to survive and ‘beat Hitler’s game.’ He thinks that his family will be waiting for him when he gets out. He then gets transferred to another camp called, Gross-Rosen, where he meets a friend. He helps Jack learn the lessons on how to stay out of trouble and most importantly, live.

For three years Jack has been imprisoned in concentration camps all over Germany. He was transferred to a camp called, Auschwitz, the biggest concentration camp in Germany. His friend was transferred there as well. When he arrived there he was looking for his family. He found his mother and sister. They said that his brothers were at another camp and they were getting very worried. When Jack asked for his Father, his mother and sister broke down in tears. Confused, Jack was wondering what had happened to his father. His father had died a little less than a month earlier.
Jack is 18-years-old and only weighs 80 pounds. He is pretty tall and he was starving. He learned to deal with all of the food the Nazis gave him, which wasn’t very much. One day when he was about to get his soup, a potato plopped into his soup. That was the only hard food he got in months. He was so thankful, he burst into tears. The last lesson that to not hate. If he hated Hitler, the Nazis, or his captors, he would use the last of his energy that he needed to live. If he was getting beat he tolerated it.
After about a week in Auschwitz, Jack and his family were liberated or released. Jack, his mother, and his sister went in search for his brothers. After about a week they finally were reunited. They all had to start a new life and they moved out of Poland to The United States. This book was pretty sad telling how he had to live without his family and not hate the people who he was being beaten by. This is a documentary on Jacks life so it is a true story. This was a great book because it taught me very valuable lessons in life.