“Hédi Fried is a remarkable woman and her writing offers important insights into truly terrible events and the slow, insidious way in which hatred can be fostered. Questions I Am Asked About the Holocaust is an easy to read account of things that are almost too horrible to comprehend. The essays represent an individual’s reflections on matters that touch the whole of humanity and, as Fried hopes, the lessons she has to teach about the past should serve as a warning for the future.” FIVE STARS
Erin Britton, New Books Magazine
“Anyone who can remember that time, anyone who can remember someone who could remember, or anyone who feels the instinctive urge to be one with the humanity of memory, and the memory of humanity, cannot but be moved deeply and quite actively by Fried’s book.”
Bookanista
“It is the telling detail that gives her testimony its particular power…This little book, with its reminder “there are no stupid questions, nor any forbidden ones, but there are some…that have no answer”, is a moving record of one woman’s experience.”
Nick Rennison, The Sunday Times
“Candid and unflinching, deeply personal and sensitive, this is the perfect book for anyone, young or old, wanting to learn more about the Holocaust and why we must never forget–especially as the last surviving witnesses are lost to us.”
Leanne Edimistone, Courier Mail
“Now 94, Fried’s largeness of spirit emanates from every considered response to even the most confronting questions asked of her. One senses that her replies are not only educative but therapeutic, especially for young people grappling with their own questions about the meaning of life. While most of her experiences of this period are inescapably dark, there were moments of light that assumed enormous significance.”
Fiona Capp, The Saturday Age
“Fried was 19 when she and her family were sent from Hungary to Auschwitz. Her parents were murdered, but she and her sister survived. They both made a home in Sweden and, ever since, Fried, now 94, has talked to students about her experiences. This slim but powerful volume, sensitively translated by Alice Olsson, comprises answers to the questions she is most frequently asked, such as: “Why did you not fight back?” and “What helped you to survive?”, “Are you able to forgive?” Fried answers with humanity, candour and thoughtfulness in a book that should be required reading for all young people.”
Hannah Beckerman, The Guardian
“This is terrific in that I was utterly engrossed in not only what questions are asked of Hedi but the astute and depthful way she answers them. I began to read the other evening and went all the way to the end before putting this book down. It’s also potent in the ways our author touches on current issues with how we treat “others” as to how we become divided and in worst case hurtful to those unlike ourselves. a big thumbs up and NOT just for the younger generation!”
Sheryl Cotleur, Copperfield’s Books
“Through questions she has been asked most, Questions I Am Asked About The Holocaust is a stoically raw and deeply human account of the author’s experiences throughout the Holocaust and surviving Auschwitz. An important, wise, and extremely powerful book.”
Amanda Zirn Hudson, Bethany Beach Books
“While Questions I Am Asked About the Holocaust is very easy to read, the questions it raises are very hard to answer. Fried, in simple, straightforward prose, answers questions that children have asked her about her experiences. A must-have for parents, but be prepared to answer some hard questions yourself.”
Lee Virden Geurkink, Monkey and Dog Books
“It’s the straightforwardness of the book—and the fact that Fried is so candid in her answers—that makes this book so important.”
Shelly Gare, The Sydney Institute
“[S]ince these questions come from children, they quickly reach a level of intimacy that most adults would be afraid to venture into…Questions I Am Asked About the Holocaust is a collection of Hédi's gentle, honest answers to these questions over the years. With sensitivity and complete candour, Fried answers these questions and more in this deeply human book that urges us never to forget and never to repeat.”
The Jewish Standard, Ontario
“Honest and insightful.”
Ellen Langmead, History Teachers’ Association of Victoria
“Questions I Am Asked About the Holocaust defies genre … a deeply personal account of her past, told in simple, straightforward language that most preteens can understand … Since the book is intended for younger readers, Fried is free to be didactic. Everything is a lesson … Questions I Am Asked About the Holocaust is an invaluable means of introducing students to the complexities of the Holocaust. And it will do for Fried what she seeks to do for her parents: to keep her memory and name alive.”
Rabbi Marc Katz, Jewish Book Council
Praise for The Road to Auschwitz:
“Fried's tale is not solely one of suffering. She is a survivor, and this is a testimony to the ingenuity and luck that contributed to her survival and that of her sister and friends. As Fried reminds us: “We must tell of this inhuman thing that was done in the twentieth century. It must not be forgotten.””
—Publishers Weekly
“[Fried's] grim struggle to survive death and labour camps and the start of her brave efforts to create a meaningful life in Sweden are recounted with vivid and deeply moving simplicity.”
—Jewish Chronicle
