The Struggle To Survive - Prisioner B-3087

By Taylor Simmons -
Prisoner B-3087 was a hard read for me. The book was well written, and an easy read, but it was hard for me to read because I just could not grasp onto the details that I was reading, because it was so painful to read. Reading this novel put my own life into perspective, and made me think of how much I take my own life for granted. I couldn’t imagine being in Yanek’s shoes during this time. Being treated like an animal, having my family taken away from me and fearing for my life daily is something I know I would not have been able to do.

              The opening of the novel, “If I would have known what the next six years of my life were going to be like, I would have eaten more. I wouldn’t have complained about brushing my teeth, or taking a bath, or going to bed at eight o’clock every night. I would have played more. Laughed more. I would have hugged my parents and told them I loved them” (Gratz 2). This really hit me hard because these are little things that are done daily without much thought. I do these things every day without even thinking about it and that goes to show that I often take my life for granted without thinking that the next day it could all be taken away from me. Yanek’s perseverance and determination to survive was powerful to me in the ways that he learns what to do and what not to do as he looked death in the eyes every day. Yanek also and found the smallest comforts in his efforts to survive such as when he took showers, and doing things to keep himself healthy as much as he could like using his fingers to brush his teeth and watching for infections.

               Although I had to put this book down often because it was just too much for me to read, I liked reading this book. It taught me a lot more about the horrific events of the Holocaust as I was able to see what took place through the eyes of Yanek. He was much stronger and braver than I think I would ever be, I would have just given up so easily.

Comments

  1. KeyCNovember 1, 2017 at 8:08 PM

    Such a relief to hear that I wasn't the only one that thought this novel was hard to read. I think the worse part about it is that these things really happened, though we may never actual feel things such as people who've endured this treatment, it still hurts to know anything such as this took place where so many lives were taken for no reason other than simply being born.

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  2. UnknownNovember 2, 2017 at 1:17 PM

    I agree that the novel was hard to read because of the content, and because we know that what is being described is actually what happened. Knowing the facts behind the novel certainly increases its impact on the reader, and I think that is the case with this book. I believe that anytime we are uncomfortable or uneasy with some information, it makes more of an impact.

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