Mark Ramsey
Dr. Fries
Holocaust and Genocide
March 2, 2017
	Triumph of Hope: A Review
	The book Triumph of Hope is an account of Ruth Elias’ horrific experience in post-WW2 and WW2 Czechoslovakia. The author first tells the story of her origin in the Moravian-Silesian town of Ostrava just right outside what would become known as the Sudentenland. Elias then covers her experience in the Jewish ghetto of Theresienstadt, her time at Aushwitz, the labor camp at Taucha and finally liberation and her experience in postwar Europe and Palestine. The author not only does a fine job detailing her experience in a way that is very easy to consume, Elias gives you insight in almost every level of possible Jewish experience in WW2 occupied German occupied lands, and is successful at communicating the chaos of postwar life.
In a situation in history like post-war Germany and the horrors of the Holocaust it is the utmost importance to make sure past generations learn from our mistakes so they are not repeated again. It is crucial that we understand the chaos of the 20th century (or in the societies affected lack thereof). If we let dare let history repeat itself it’ll be a cost that we can no longer afford. This is why the book's reading level is a benefit. For situations like this literary art is of secondary importance and the ability to easily and readily consume information about the topic is of the utmost importance. Not everyone can read War and Peace but anyone with a high school education can tackle Triumph of Hope and come back understanding the horrors of the holocaust.
Elias’ also does a fantastic of not only detailing life inside a concentration camp but also almost every level of experience once could have as a Jew in WW2 mainland Europe. One gets to see the hardships and discrimination a child of divorced Jewish parents growing up in post WW1 Europe experienced. As it starts to approach the late 1930s you get a glimpse of the increasingly panicked situation for many Jews in Europe and their reactions to it. One starts to understand and be able to answer the age old question of “Why didn’t the Jews just leave!?”.
She talks fantastically in depth not only about the hierarchy and the system of the ghettos. The Germans outsourced everything to the Elders of the camp and gave the elders limited autonomy over the camp. The most horrfying detail of this system was that the SS only gave the elders how many were to be deported to the death camps in the east. Imagine being an elder and grappling with the question of which people should be sent to their death and which should not. Then have that weighing on your conscious for a couple of years.
Another extremely interesting aspect of the ghetto detailed by Elias’ is the black market bartering system of the ghetto. Ran by the prisoners and supplied by “schleus” and smuggled goods from the outside, It was fascinating