Questions I Am Asked about the Holocaust

'There are no stupid questions, nor any forbidden ones, but there are some questions that have no answer.'

Hédi Fried was nineteen when the Nazis snatched her family from their home in Eastern Europe and transported them to Auschwitz, where her parents were murdered and she and her sister were forced into hard labour until the end of the war.

Now ninety-four, she has spent her life educating young people about the Holocaust and answering their questions about one of the darkest periods in human history. Questions like, ‘How was it to live in the camps?’, ‘Did you dream at night?’, ‘Why did Hitler hate the Jews?’, and ‘Can you forgive?’.

With sensitivity and complete candour, Fried answers these questions and more in this deeply human book that urges us never to forget and never to repeat.

About the Author

Hédi Fried (b. 1924) is an author and psychologist. She is 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 came to Sweden with her sister, and has lived there ever since. Her bestselling autobiography, Fragments of a Life: The Road to Auschwitz, was published in English and Swedish in the 1990s.

About the 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.