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Description
Peter J. Stein was a witness to history, a keeper of Holocaust memories and teller of its stories. He grew up the child of a Catholic mother and a Jewish father who was forced into slave labor and later disappeared. Nazi-occupied Prague was full of German soldiers everywhere and Peter's loved ones vanished in mystery and secret. As a 12-year-old immigrant in America, he searched for a new identity that left his past behind.
But as Faulkner tells us, the past is never past. When, as a college professor, a group of students sought his help to challenge a Holocaust teacher, Stein's memories of his childhood resurfaced. A Boy's Journey makes the past present and carries it into our future so that we do not forget.
About the Author
Peter J. Stein is a retired sociology professor and author of books about families, work and careers, gender, aging and retirement. He is now engaged in Holocaust education for school children, college students and adults. For a number of years, he directed a Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center developing presentations and workshops for teachers, schools and community organizations. He lives in Washington DC with his family, including his grandson.
Praise For…
Not just another Holocaust book, A Boy’s Journey: From Nazi-Occupied Prague to Freedom in America by Peter J. Stein grips the reader with heartfelt revelations that can only be expressed by a survivor. The best books on the Holocaust are not only interesting to read, but also ask readers to think about their own lives and what they would have done in similar situations. A Boy’s Journey reminds us to do just that.
Born in Prague two years before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Peter Stein spent his early childhood years experiencing the cruelties of Hitler’s regime. Stein’s book offers an honest, riveting account of life under Nazi rule as seen through the eyes of a child. Readers then experience his transatlantic sailing to America where he and his mother finally reunite with his father.
So begins his life in a country busy absorbing refugees fleeing war-torn Europe.
The study of the Holocaust is now a required part of school curricula in an increasing number of states across the country. Stein’s book should be included in a short list of recommended Holocaust memoirs for students and teachers.
—Sharon Halperin, Director of the Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights
Education of North Carolina
Peter Stein has produced a remarkable tale of Nazi occupation, the Holocaust, and emigration that reimagines events from the perspective of a young boy. Part history, part memoir, A Boy’s Journey: From Nazi-Occupied Prague to Freedom in America is a touching, eloquent act of remembrance.
—Chad Bryant, author of Prague in Black: Nazi Rule and Czech Nationalism
Peter Stein has written a riveting memoir of his experience as a young Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Prague. Scholars will admire this important contribution to the historical literature of a terrible time, and readers of all ages will find their hearts reach out to the courageous boy who sees one after another member of his family disappear with no plausible explanation. Many, he will eventually learn, die in Auschwitz. And readers will pray with him for the safe return of his beloved father. No one who reads this magnificent book will ever forget the gripping saga.
—William E. Leuchtenburg, Past President, American Historical Association
Teaching the Holocaust and its implications for today has been my mission in hopes that those who hear us and learn will make a difference. In my judgment reading the book A Boy’s Journey: From Nazi-Occupied Prague to Freedom in America will generate a lively and insightful discussion of immigration, social justice and democracy.
—Lynda Moss, Holocaust Educator
