Boy 30529 Chapter Summary

In this thrilling adventure through the concentration camps during the Holocaust, Felix Weinberg author of Boy 30529, describes his harsh experiences to his readers. Weinberg begins his novel living in Czechoslovakia with his loving upper class family. As soon as Hitler began to invade the Sudetenland, Weinberg’s father traveled to London to obtain visas for the mother and the two sons who were all in danger. This failed attempt landed the mother and the two sons, first at Theresienstadt concentration camp and later at Auschwitz. The author last saw his mother and brother at Auschwitz and can only assume the worst, as many families did with their loved ones. Thankfully, once Weinberg was liberated at Gross-Rosen, a generous soldier by the name

Although it may seem like a breeze for an author to write a memoir, it can be quite difficult because it is necessary to be critical of which parts to include and to leave out. Weinberg did a fantastic job in balancing these two, he had just enough detail to feel a personal connection, but not too much where the casual reader would fall asleep. He added enough childhood information and explained it in such a way that it sounded perfect and did not feel like it were missing main details even though he mainly summed it up in the first chapter. For just about a third of the book Weinberg focused on his life in the concentration camps, this was odd because he stated that he never had intended to write about the camps, but due to the fictional history people were publishing he felt the need to get the story straight. This novel was empowering and shocking to read, how an average boy wound up in these harsh camps and how he overcame all that he did while just being a young

The Camps describe his experiences in each of the concentration camps which was extremely moving and empowering. Weinberg was at a severe disadvantage because he was only a young teen, but he was able to overcome all the obstacles and was able to “outsmart” the system and survive the camps. At times he stated he felt like dying was the best option, but he continued to push and maintain hope which ultimately saved him. In the section My Father he discusses the role his father had in life and an overview of his father’s life. This was a bittersweet section because Weinberg talks specifically of his childhood with his father and how his father’s main goal was to put food on the table for the family. Although, his father missed seven years of some of the most critical years of Weinberg’s life they still managed to become friends and find a