Youth in chains.

Geve (b. 1929) describes his childhood in Berlin and his deportation in 1942 to Auschwitz. He was selected for training as a construction worker, together with Jewish and non-Jewish teenage boys from all over Europe. The school was in the base camp, where conditions were slightly better than in Birkenau, and the treatment of the boys was relatively benign; nevertheless they suffered from starvation, exhaustion, and disease. With the approach of the Red Army, Geve was evacuated to Gross-Rosen, and later to Buchenwald, where he was again in barracks with other teenage boys, under the protection of the camp's elite internees. Describes the self-liberation of the camp and the weeks after. Dwells on the comradeship, will to live, and future orientation of the youth, in contrast to the resignation and despair of most of the adults. 262 pages 17 cm