There is nothing enjoyable in reading stories about prejudice, discrimination, injustice and persecution of innocent people, but if we do not keep fresh the memory of what happened in the Holocaust, we run the risk of history repeating itself. The Diary of Petr Ginz, edited by his sister Chava Pressburger, tells the story of the persecution of Jewish people in Prague during 1941 and 1942, through the eyes of a 13 and 14-year-old boy.
Germany seized control of Prague in March 1939, and the persecution of the Jews began gradually. On 19 September 1941, Petr reports that Jews were told to wear a Star-of-David yellow badge. At school that day, he counted 69 “sheriffs”. About that time, people from the Jewish community started being forcefully deported to a concentration camp in Poland, and his diary lists people from the school, neighbourhood and family who were sent away.
In October 1942, Petr was himself sent away. His sister describes how he spent two years at Theresienstadt before being sent to his death at Auschwitz in 1944. The diary reveals that Petr had a keen intellect, and contains some remarkable poems and drawings. It is a moving story, and a timely reminder of things that must not be forgotten.