Book review: A Brief Stop On The Road From Auschwitz

A Brief Stop On The Road From Auschwitz is a sensitive prisoner-of-war story, because author Goran Rosenberg is writing about his father, David.

A Brief Stop On The Road From Auschwitz

Goran Rosenberg Granta, £16.99

Using private photos, letters and other documents, the Swedish writer delves into his Jewish roots and retraces his father’s journey from the Lodz Ghetto, in Poland, to the brutal Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, whereDavid is separated from his beloved Halinka (Hala) and his family.

Gruelling stints in other concentration camps followed, before he was freed and settled in Sweden. But the end of war didn’t put Goran’s father’s mind at ease and the shadows of the camps haunted him as he struggled to build a new life in a new country.

Rosenberg analyses his childhood and memories, which contrast with his father’s troubled thoughts.

Rosenberg’s moving and unflinchingly honest account has been well-received in Sweden, where it was deservedly awarded the August Prize for literature, in 2012. His story will stay with you long after you’ve closed the book.