Questions I Am Asked about the Holocaust

A young readers edition of the bestselling book from Auschwitz survivor Hedi Fried that answers questions about the Holocaust.

Hedi Fried was nineteen when the Nazis arrested her family and transported them to Auschwitz. While there, apart from enduring the daily horrors at the concentration camp, she and her sister were forced into hard labour before being released at the end of the war.

After settling in Sweden, Hedi devoted her life to educating young people about the Holocaust. In her 90s, she decided to take the most common questions, and her answers, and turn them into a book so that children all over the world could understand what had happened.

This is a deeply human book that urges us never to forget and never to repeat.

‘Timeless lessons taught with simple eloquence.‘
Kirkus Reviews

‘It is the telling detail that gives her testimony its particular power … This little book, with its reminder “there are no stupid questions, nor any forbidden ones, but there are some … that have no answer”, is a moving record of one woman’s experience.‘
-Nick Rennison, The Sunday Times

‘Fried was 19 when she and her family were sent from Hungary to Auschwitz. Her parents were murdered, but she and her sister survived. They both made a home in Sweden and, ever since, Fried, now 98, has talked to students about her experiences. This slim but powerful volume, sensitively translated by Alice Olsson, comprises answers to the questions she is most frequently asked, such as- “Why did you not fight back?” and “What helped you to survive?”, “Are you able to forgive?” Fried answers with humanity, candour and thoughtfulness in a book that should be required reading for all young people.‘
-Hannah Beckerman, The Guardian

‘Fried’s straightforward, candid answers are as informative as they are moving. This book should be required school reading..‘
-Kylie Northover, The Age

Author Biography

Hedi Fried (Author) Hedi Fried (1924-2022) was an author and psychologist. She was deeply committed to working for democratic values and against racism. She was born in the town of Sighet, in Romania, was transported to Auschwitz in 1944, and worked in several labour camps, eventually ending up in Bergen-Belsen. After liberation, she moved to Sweden with her sister.

Her bestselling autobiography, Fragments of a Life- the road to Auschwitz, was published in English and Swedish in the 1990s.

Alice E. Olsson (Translator) Alice E. Olsson is a literary translator, writer, and editor working across Swedish and English. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Comparative Literature at University College London, specialising in literature and human rights.