Unforgotten Book
Report
Ian
Brown
Frur:z
Thaler's
Unforgotten,
a
vivid
memoir öf
the concentration
cnmp
Dachau,
shows
how,
even
through
immense
pain
and
suffering,
people
can
overcome great
hardships
if
they
have
hope.
This heartfelt
autobiography
goes
in-depth
on
the
difficulties
of
Dachau,
and
how
Thaler
survived this
ordeal.
With
hope,
perseverance, and
a
dash
of
luck,
Thaler
lives
through
this terrible
experience,
and
is
now
able
to tell
us
what
it
was
like.
Thaler
is
truly
an
excellent
role
model
to
everyone,
and
we
can
all
learn something
from
his
book.
I
have
always
been
interested
in
the
causes
of
this
tenible
war,
and
when
Cazhanded out this
book,
I
was
intrigued.
In
order
to
survive Dachau, Thaler
needed
hope.
From
the moment
he
is
sentenced
to
Dachau, Thaler is determined that he
will
make
it
out
to
see
his
family
and
loved
ones
in the
near
fufure. "The
word'homecoming'
gave
me
hope
againand
I
trusted
my
comrades
oncs
agairf'(Thaler,
134).
Throughout
his
memoir, you
can
see
Thaler
overcomes his
various
difficulties,
using his hope
to drive
him
forward. For
instance,
several
times
in
the
book, Thaler
wants
to give
up
and
die.
But
after
thinking
of
his home
and
how
much
he
wants to
be
there,
and
how
he
still
had
a
chance
to
make
i!
he gets
back on his feet
and
does
the
horrible
things that were expected
of him. Also, Thaler
possessed an abundance
of religious faith,
and these
beliefs
gave
him
a
large
portion
of
the
hope he needed
to
survive Dachau.
Thaler
also
possessed
an abundance
ofperseverance,
whid
he
needs
to
get
through
his experience
at
Dachau.
For
instance,
when
the
SS
guards are
pushing
his
physical capabilities
to the
limit,
Thaler
refuses
to
give
in
and keeps
working. This
unbelievable
drive
that
he
possesses
is
one
of
the most
key
aspects
of
his personality
that
keeps
him going.
"How
will I
survive
this
night...
These
thoughts kept running
through
my
head.
Then,
I
forced
myself to
hang
on..."
(Thaler
132). Towards the
end
of
his
time
in
the prison camp,
you
can
see as
Thaler
becomes
more
and
more hopeful
because
he
knows
the Gennans
are about
to
lose
the
war,
which
means
liberation.
When
this
happens,
Thaler's
perseverance
bolsters,
allowing
him to
make
it
through the
tail
end
of
his
sentence.
