Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Reading Time
    • Home
    • Reviews
      • Highly Recommended
      • CBCA Short Listed
      • Early Childhood Books
      • Younger Readers
      • Intermediate Readers
      • Older Readers
      • Great Read Alouds
      • Information Books
      • Picture Books
      • Professional Development
    • Interviews
    • Suggestions
    • News
    • Meet The Review Team
    • Contact Us
    Reading Time
    You are at:Home»Reviews»Older Readers»The Fiftieth Gate: a journey through memory

    The Fiftieth Gate: a journey through memory

    0
    By Admin on July 11, 2017 Older Readers

    Mark Raphael Baker,  The Fiftieth Gate: a journey through memory,  Text Publishing,  3 July 2017,  368pp.,  $24.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781925498615

    It is twenty years since The Fiftieth Gate was first published, so Baker has written a new introduction to it. It has been used in schools as an introductory text for students to grasp some understanding of the experience of the Holocaust.

    Baker is an Australian son of two parents who suffered for being Jewish in Poland – his father, Yossi, was an inmate of Birkenau, his mother, Genia, was a small child in hiding and living in fear. Baker recounts their experiences through talking to them, and by taking them through the places where their young lives were lived out.  He knows how terrible it must have been and understands that they want to forget it, but he also realises that for him to know them as parents, and as people, he must discover more. Both Genia and Yossi are very reluctant to talk about what it was like to see the horror, to lose their families, so that Mark must probe until he and they are uncomfortable. Who can expect otherwise? No one would want to relive that. But their stories must be told, and Baker’s calm and compassionate voice enables us to enter his parent’s world a little way.

    Baker writes with tenderness, but with a determination to discover the whole truth. His research is impeccable and, despite the terrible subject, the journey taken is gripping.

    Reviewed by Stella Lees 

    Australia Autobiography Biography Genocide Humanities Jewish peoples World War II

    Related Posts

    The Cult of Romance

    Battlefield

    Gilded

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • Themes
    • Curriculum
    Action adventure Airplanes Alphabet Anxiety autism Bullying CBCA Awards Coming of age Dystopian emotions family fantasy friendship grief Historical humour magic Mystery Post apocalyptic Readers Cup reluctant readers school Sci-Fi series of books siblings Sport Starting school Teacher Notes
    ANZAC Australian animals Australian history Biography Culture & Diversity Disabilities First Nations Geography health Humanities mental health Poetry Reconciliation resilience Science STEM Stolen Generation sustainability Wordless books



    Recent Comments
    • Barbara on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    Recent Posts
    • Moonlight Riders
    • The Butterfly and the Ants
    • Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
    • Everything You Want to See
    • The Cult of Romance
    Recent Comments
    • Barbara on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    © Copyright 2021 The Children’s Book Council of Australia - All rights reserved

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.