l to r: Max Eisen (Credit: Julie Eisen) and Kathy Kacer

Born in Czechoslovakia, 15-year-old Max Eisen and his family were forcibly removed from their home and deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in March 1944. Eisen was the only member of his family to survive. His grandparents, parents, aunt, uncle, and siblings were all murdered in the gas chambers. At Auschwitz-Birkenau, Eisen was forced to do gruelling work under the daily threat of violence and starvation – which he recounts in precise, descriptive detail – having only a slight reprieve when he was chosen to clean and prepare the surgical room of the camp’s hospital.

By Chance Alone: The Young Reader’s Edition is adapted for a young audience by Kathy Kacer from Max Eisen’s award-winning memoir of the same name, and narrates his time imprisoned in Auschwitz-Birkenau and his subsequent death march and then liberation during the Second World War. Given the difficulty of the subject and complexity of some of the vocabulary, young readers would be well served to read the book in the classroom or with the support of parents who can provide historical context. Each chapter opens with a quote that helps set the chapter’s tone and guide discussion. The book also features a summary of what happened to Eisen after the war, as well as a glossary of terms and timeline of events for added context. 

More than a memoir, By Chance Alone seeks to encourage and inspire young readers to fight against injustice. As the narrative progresses, the meaning of the book’s title becomes increasingly clear: Eisen only survived due to luck and chance. Moreover, this good fortune took the form of encountering people who showed him kindness and compassion; for example, when Eisen notes someone who gave him a piece of charcoal saved his life. On May 6, 1945, Eisen was finally liberated when African American soldiers stormed Ebensee concentration camp where he had been imprisoned after being marched to Austria. Eisen reflects on how these soldiers were themselves forced to live under segregation and discrimination at home to reinforce that injustice is a global problem.

By Chance Alone: The Young Readers’ Edition offers a way to talk about the destructive consequences when minorities and their communities are marginalized and treated as a problem, and how vital it is to not only speak about atrocities, but also to listen to these stories. Eisen shows young readers why they must show kindness and compassion towards others – and the importance of being an “upstander” to injustice rather than simply a bystander.