Survivors Club

For a very long time, I didn't talk about what happened to me during the war...

In 1945, in a now-famous piece of archival footage, four-year-old Michael Bornstein was filmed by Soviet soldiers as he was carried out of Auschwitz in his grandmother's arms. Here is the unforgettable story of how a father's courageous wit, a mother's fierce love, and one perfectly timed illness saved his life, and how others in his family dodged death at the hands of the Nazis time and again.

Working from his own recollections as well as interviews with relatives and survivors, Michael relates his shocking, heartbreaking and ultimately inspirational story. Survivors Club is an extraordinary memoir of one of the youngest prisoners liberated from Auschwitz—and of the mystery and miracle of his family's survival.

'Michael, I have to go, my darling,' Mamishu told me as tears streamed down her face. 'I promise, I will see you again someday. We'll be free and I will find you. But right now, I have no choice. I have to leave you for a little while.'

After the war, Michael Bornstein emigrated to New York City, where he worked in pharmaceutical research for over forty years. Now retired, Michael visits schools, talking about his experiences in the Holocaust.

Debbie Bornstein Holinstat is Michael Bornstein's third of four children. A producer for NBC and MSNBC News, she lives in New Jersey.

'Here is the unforgettable story of how a father's courageous wit, a mother's fierce love and a perfectly timed illness saved his life, and how others in his family dodged death at the hands of the Nazis. Working from his own recollections as well as interviews with relatives and survivors, Bornstein relates his shocking, heartbreaking and ultimately inspirational story.' Australian Jewish News

'A powerful first person narrative for young adult readers: an important, confronting, absorbing and well-written story. Highly recommended.' Reading Time