The Lost: A Search of Six of the Six Million

The Lost: A Search of Six of the Six Million, by Daniel Mendelsohn

What a terrifically moving and enthralling book Daniel Mendelsohn has written! Mendelsohn, age 47, grew up in a Jewish family of Polish descent, most of whom had successfully fled Poland before the German invasion. However, his grandfather's brother Shmiel and his family were lost in the Holocaust. Shmiel's ghost hovers over the family, in part because no one ever knew exactly what happened to him. As a child, Mendelsohn became entranced with the mystery of Shmiel and this fascination grew as he aged. As he writes, "if you're a person who grew up listening to elaborately detailed stories, it won't satisfy your hunger for the particulars of what happened to your relatives."
Mendelsohn sets off to find out what did happen to this family members and takes the reader on an incredible journey to, among other places, Australia, Israel, Denmark and the now-Ukrainian hometown of his family all in a search to learn what did indeed happen to his relatives. His writing is so descriptive and fascinating. Chance encounters with older Holocaust survivors lead, quite surprisingly, to valuable information about the fate of his relatives. Gristly details of the Holocaust document once again the horrors of that event. Yet, the overwhelming spirit of this book remains that of a loving and determined descendent of Shmiel's effort to learn decisively the fate of his grandfather's brother. It is a profoundly intensive experience to read The Lost and be at Mendolsohn's side as he does indeed discover the truth of what did happen to his family members. Needless to say, this remains a highly, and enthusiastically, recommended book.
-Roy