The Help of Angels

Summary

The Help of Angels is a historical novel spanning from 1933 to the end of World War Two in 1945. The protagonist, Benjamin Weiss, grows up happy and healthy in a large, traditional Hungarian Jewish family, in a small city in Europe called Beregszasz, located by the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. When Benjamin becomes a man, the German and Hungarian armies aggressively occupy his home town and the rest of Hungary, and they begin their deportation process, transporting Jews and Gentiles to various concentration camps throughout Europe. Ben finds himself in a camp called Mauthausen, which was once located in Austria. He works hard to stay alive, and retains hope in spite of the atrocities he witnesses and experiences. When three high-ranking nazi officers visit Mauthausen, Ben's fate is thrown into question. The novel is loosely based on the author's family, their story of tragedy and survival during the Second World War, with the addition of some fantastical elements. The story follows the fate of one family, one man, and his friends, but tells how millions suffered at the hands of the ruthless Hungarian and Nazi war criminals. The Help of Angels invites audio book listeners to better understand life in Europe before and during the Holocaust, from a personal and highly unique perspective. The author's mother and father had been born in Hungary, and were survivors of concentration camps during the war. Their parents, some sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, neighbors and acquaintances did not survive. This audio book is a tribute to all who suffer and have suffered in war.