10 top nonfiction books about World War II

50 Best Books About WW2 For World Travelers | The Uncorked Librarian

A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Una Saga de Churchill, Familia y Desafío Durante el Blitz

The Splendid and the Vile

Lo Espléndido y lo Vil

10 Best World War 2 Books (2021 Edition) | Cultured Vultures

The story is conveyed through the eyes of a Jewish adolescent who initially resides in Sighet, a town in Hungarian Transylvania, immersing himself in the study of the Torah and Jewish mysticism. His teacher, Moishe the Beadle, is deported and returns months later with a gruesome account of the German secret police's brutal extermination of his transport, a tale dismissed as the ramblings of a madman. The narrative takes a dark turn in the spring of 1944 when the Nazis seize Hungary; the protagonist and other Jewish town-folk are subjected to a series of oppressive regulations, forcing them into cramped ghettos before being crammed into cattle cars for a journey to Auschwitz.

Upon reaching Birkenau, the entrance to Auschwitz, the protagonist and his father are separated from the rest of their family, whom they never see again. The new prisoners undergo "selections," determining who will be killed immediately or sent to laborious tasks. The protagonist and his father narrowly survive the selection, but stumble upon the horrifying sight of babies being incinerated by Nazis. The prisoners endure horrendous cruelty, being stripped, shaved, disinfected, and subsequently marched to Auschwitz's main camp. Eventually, they are sent to Buna, a work camp, where the protagonist is forced into labor. In the face of relentless humiliation, brutal conditions, and constant threat of death, the prisoners find solace in each other, religious practice, and the hope of a Jewish state in Palestine.

After several months at Buna, the protagonist undergoes surgery for a foot injury. However, with advancing Russian forces threatening to liberate Buna, the Nazis decide to evacuate. The prisoners are forced into a death march through a blizzard, running over fifty miles to the Gleiwitz concentration camp. Many succumb to the harsh weather and exhaustion. From Gleiwitz, they are once again loaded onto cattle cars for a deadly voyage to Buchenwald. Of the hundred Jewish prisoners that start the journey, only twelve survive. The protagonist and his father manage to survive through mutual support, but his father eventually dies of dysentery and physical abuse in Buchenwald. The protagonist is left a mere shell of his former self until the liberation of the camp by the American army on April 11, 1945.

Night

Noche

30 Best World War II Books That Examine Every Angle of the Conflict

Hiroshima

The greatest books ever written about the Second World War

The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

El Asedio Fatídico: 1942-1943

Stalingrad

Stalingrado

The Best Books on World War II - Five Books Expert Recommendations

A Biography

Una Biografía

Hitler

The narrative revolves around the real-life experiences of a Holocaust survivor, as recounted to his son. It includes two major timelines: the torment he endured as a Jew during the Second World War, and the present-day exchanges between him and his son who seeks to understand his father's past. The father's tales not only reveal the atrocities he witnessed but also touch on the challenges his son grapples with as the child of a Holocaust survivor. The father's obsession with thriftiness and constant fussing over his son's choices serve as reminders of the trauma he survived. The characters in this tale are drawn as anthropomorphic animals, with Jews represented as mice, Germans as cats, and other nationalities depicted as various other animals.

The story kicks off in the late 1970s, with the son visiting his unwell father in New York City. The father, a survivor of two heart attacks and emotionally scarred by his wife's suicide, shares his experiences from World War II at his son's behest. The father starts with his life in Poland in 1935, where he had established a comfortable life through his father-in-law's financial support. However, the onset of the war and the Nazi persecution of Jews disrupts his life, leading to his service in the Polish army, capture by the Nazis, and subsequent return to Poland. The father's struggle to provide for his family amidst food scarcity, and the subsequent deportation of his family members, set the scene for the harrowing experiences to follow.

As the narrative unfolds, the father, his wife, and their son are forced to hide from the Nazis and, despite attempts to escape, are captured and sent to Auschwitz and Birkenau. The son learns about his mother's post-war diaries that the father destroyed in a moment of despair, leading to a heated argument. The father's account of his experiences in the concentration camps, including the harsh conditions, resourcefulness for survival, and separation from and reunion with his wife, form the crux of the story. But as the son hears the final chapters of his father's experiences, he also wrestles with his responsibility towards his ailing father, who, in his confusion, mistakes his son for his other son who tragically died during the Holocaust.

10 Best WW2 Books of All Time

The Splendid and the Vile

A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Night

Hiroshima

Stalingrad

The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

Hitler

A Biography

The Complete Maus

In the Garden of Beasts

Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

Enemy at the Gates

The Battle for Stalingrad

The Unwomanly Face of War

An Oral History of Women in World War II

The Longest Day

Sources

What To Read Next

10 Best WW2 Books of All Time

The Splendid and the Vile

A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Night

Hiroshima

Stalingrad

The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

Hitler

A Biography

The Complete Maus

In the Garden of Beasts

Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

Enemy at the Gates

The Battle for Stalingrad

The Unwomanly Face of War

An Oral History of Women in World War II

The Longest Day

Sources

What To Read Next

Share this page