Light One Candle: A Survivor's Tale from Lithuania to Jerusalem

Thank you for making Light One Candle available. This book is out of print, and one of the only ways to buy the book is through Amazon. The author has taught me about my family's history. I learned about the Japanese American Concentration Camps in America which occurred simultaneously with Concentration Camps in Germany. I learned about the Matsumura family from California along with Solly's family from Lithuania and the discrimination that both families suffered. Solly Ganor continues to be an avid writer and thinker. Readers can appreciate his willingness to share his experiences, as well as his thorough research of historical events . Thanks to Mr. Ganor, I learned more about my uncle by reading this book than I had ever known before. My uncle passed away in May 1995, shortly before the book was published. Fortunately he and Mr. Ganor were able to meet each other, the rescuer and the survivor. My uncle's name is Clarence Matsumura. I live in Wyoming, where Clarence was born, and where his family was incarcerated at Heart Mountain,

The first person account of the Holocaust makes it difficult to put the book down . It envelopes you with the author's feelings, every step of his ordeal culminating to that final liberation by the American soldiers; bringing life to hopelessness. The irony of the liberation is the soldiers are Japanese Americans whose parents and relatives (US citizens) are held behind barbed wire , similar in circumstances to those liberated

This book is a very detailed account of life prior and during WWII. heartbreaking, I cried through a good portion of this book. What hits hard is the moment that one of the characters points out that Solly has had a sheltered experience in the war. To consider the horrors he lived through sheltered makes your heart sink for the many experiences lived by others.

What a book! I didn't know so much that happened pre-war in Europe and this book opened my eyes. He actually met Mr. Sugihara and I loved how he told what Mr. Sugihara did for the Jews. Then, Clarence Matsumura and the 442nd saved him in Dachau. I never knew that the 442nd were the first to arrive in Dachau and unknowingly what they were going to see. How they saved the Jews in that camp. This is truly an amazing book.

A survivor diary. No blame, no gory details, just a day to day story of the life of a young man that survived some of the atrocities that happened in the past. A very good read that is easy to follow. Should be read in schools just to show what is possible and maybe prevent these things from happening again.

This book, entitled as "Light One Candle" was the memoir of Solly Ganor, a Lithuanian Jew, who was buried in snow during the death march from Dachau Concentration Camp in May, 1945. He was rescued by PVT Clarence Matsumura. The camp was liberated by 522 FA out of 442RCT. The book is proceeded the story of him and his rescuer (from JA's internment camp) simultaneously. It is a great book to read. I recommend.

Having read many books on the Holocaust, I found this first hand experience, genuinely raw with a sense of history only survival can offer.

This book captures the cruelty of the Nazis. What happened there could happen anywhere. We should always remember this lesson.

A moving story of survival, love, friendship and brutality. I cried, laughed (unbelievably), raged and hoped. And, I lamented not knowing my family’s Lithuanian relatives who didn’t leave for America and elsewhere. An emotionally difficult read that I highly recommend.

The frightening thing about this book is that it is built around true occurrences. That people are resilient enough to go through all of this travail and can still bounce back is a monument to humanity. The journey that this book takes one on is oftentimes dark, but then contrast is necessary to any good plot, and while the road is bumpy, the destination is worth the read.

Thank you for making Light One Candle available. This book is out of print, and one of the only ways to buy the book is through Amazon. The author has taught me about my family's history. I learned about the Japanese American Concentration Camps in America which occurred simultaneously with Concentration Camps in Germany. I learned about the Matsumura family from California along with Solly's family from Lithuania and the discrimination that both families suffered. Solly Ganor continues to be an avid writer and thinker. Readers can appreciate his willingness to share his experiences, as well as his thorough research of historical events . Thanks to Mr. Ganor, I learned more about my uncle by reading this book than I had ever known before. My uncle passed away in May 1995, shortly before the book was published. Fortunately he and Mr. Ganor were able to meet each other, the rescuer and the survivor. My uncle's name is Clarence Matsumura. I live in Wyoming, where Clarence was born, and where his family was incarcerated at Heart Mountain,

The first person account of the Holocaust makes it difficult to put the book down . It envelopes you with the author's feelings, every step of his ordeal culminating to that final liberation by the American soldiers; bringing life to hopelessness. The irony of the liberation is the soldiers are Japanese Americans whose parents and relatives (US citizens) are held behind barbed wire , similar in circumstances to those liberated

This book is a very detailed account of life prior and during WWII. heartbreaking, I cried through a good portion of this book. What hits hard is the moment that one of the characters points out that Solly has had a sheltered experience in the war. To consider the horrors he lived through sheltered makes your heart sink for the many experiences lived by others.

What a book! I didn't know so much that happened pre-war in Europe and this book opened my eyes. He actually met Mr. Sugihara and I loved how he told what Mr. Sugihara did for the Jews. Then, Clarence Matsumura and the 442nd saved him in Dachau. I never knew that the 442nd were the first to arrive in Dachau and unknowingly what they were going to see. How they saved the Jews in that camp. This is truly an amazing book.

A survivor diary. No blame, no gory details, just a day to day story of the life of a young man that survived some of the atrocities that happened in the past. A very good read that is easy to follow. Should be read in schools just to show what is possible and maybe prevent these things from happening again.

This book, entitled as "Light One Candle" was the memoir of Solly Ganor, a Lithuanian Jew, who was buried in snow during the death march from Dachau Concentration Camp in May, 1945. He was rescued by PVT Clarence Matsumura. The camp was liberated by 522 FA out of 442RCT. The book is proceeded the story of him and his rescuer (from JA's internment camp) simultaneously. It is a great book to read. I recommend.

Having read many books on the Holocaust, I found this first hand experience, genuinely raw with a sense of history only survival can offer.

This book captures the cruelty of the Nazis. What happened there could happen anywhere. We should always remember this lesson.

A moving story of survival, love, friendship and brutality. I cried, laughed (unbelievably), raged and hoped. And, I lamented not knowing my family’s Lithuanian relatives who didn’t leave for America and elsewhere. An emotionally difficult read that I highly recommend.

The frightening thing about this book is that it is built around true occurrences. That people are resilient enough to go through all of this travail and can still bounce back is a monument to humanity. The journey that this book takes one on is oftentimes dark, but then contrast is necessary to any good plot, and while the road is bumpy, the destination is worth the read.

This is a well written book although, it is a hard subject to read. It tells about what happened in Lithuania during WWII with vivid details. It is amazing that Solly and his father and sister survived a the war. There were so many times that they evaded being killed. For those who want to learn more about this subject, this is a must read.

How do you survive one of the worst tragedies in human experience and walk away unscathed? You don’t. All of those faces you see in your mind’s eye never leaves you.

Solly Ganor has told us a powerful story of his life as a child and youth during the Holocaust. His details and honesty reveal a family that loved and cared for each other, worked hard, and took chances to survive. His autobiography with its details helps remove many misconceptions about Jews in the Holocaust that people create from the more common short and simplified accounts of the period. This is not an easy book to read, but it will greatly help you to redefine your understanding and respect for people caught in difficult situations as well as other genocide situations.

This is a well written work that brings to life the horrors of the Nazi regime and yet stirs hope in the soul for a better world.

A very well written account about a family and, in particular a young son, of his experience in the Holocaust prior to and during World War II.

This is one of the most moving and courageous books I've ever read. If you are interested in Lithuania during the Holocaust years it's a must read. Solly and Cooky are so brave.

as described

A well written book of courage and the will to live.

wonderful

We can never forget. Extremely well written .I could not put it down. Amazing story of life at its worst. Never give up .

It was a terrific book written by a person who had gone thru much suffering and finally did get to become a person with life and feelings in his body and soul again after WWII. Actually the book took on a different meaning after getting reconnected to family members of one of my mother's high school classmates.My uncle was in the D-Day action and her uncle came in and rescued the author when the German invasion was over; and Hitler 's reign was over.The author is Lithuanian and the rescuer was first generation U.S. born Japanese.They were able to meet after the war on several occasions.

Excellent.

Super read, difficult, important and compelling. The more I read, the more the more involved I became. Beautifully written and very, very important. Honest and heartfelt. Great book, important subject.

so well written. I can't begin to find the words to say how this book touched me. Everyone should be required to read this.

Satisfactory, I was hoping to read more about the Nisei involvement in WW2

I found this book at a Japanese mall in Torrance, California! It was one of the only a handful of english books in the store. That intrigued me so I bought it. What followed was 5 days of me reading this book every spare moment I could. Being Jewish, I have been very fortunate to meet many holocaust survivors but reading this book was something I can't quite explain. It causes you to be very reflective about you life. It is both a traumatic book to read and one that serves as a remarkable testimony. I don't know where the strength to endure came from during those times for the author and his family. The writing is simple and he tells the story so very well. It is also important because it documents a first hand account of the righteous man - Consul Sugihara of Japan who saved 6000 people as well as documents the brave Japanese American regiments in WW2 who fought bravely while relatives at home were put in internment camps. These 2 facts explain why it was in the store I found it - I am grateful for having stumbled upon it. This book has made an indelible mark on my life.

After the holocaust, many survivors did not tell what they witnessed. It was too painful. Far too many people could not believe that what they heard really happened and it was decades before the full story came to light. Even today, people don't want to believe that there could still be a force of evil in this world that could perpetrate sadistic genocide. So explains the silence of many after the war. When you read this book, you become a witness. Ganor's story opens when he was invited to a reunion of some survivors of Dachau with some of the Japanese American soldiers who liberated them at the war's end. Ganor saw and remembered the face of Clarence, the Japanese American soldier who lifted him from the ground and cared for him. At that reunion, decades of silence cracked open as tears poured from his heart and eyes; he was surrounded and supported. Now he could tell the full story. Woven throughout his painful account, Ganor (a name taken after the war which means "garden of light") also tells about the kindnesses of some righteous gentiles who risk their lives along the way. He tells about the loyalties among the Jewish victims who withheld information from the Nazis and were tortured to death without ever giving away their friends. Amongst the telling of the horrors of man's brutality against man, Ganor reveals the hope and humanity that shined even in the darkest of times and places-- and even the moral inner wrestling that took place in the conversations and hearts of Ganor's friends, youths who shine, even in their suffering. Solly Ganor gives a detailed and frank accounting of his experiences of life and death in the Lithuanian ghetto through his rescue at the end of the war by the Nisei soldiers. To survive that kind of ordeal, then to relive it by transmitting the darkest of details, is a gift to the generations that follow. Why do we need to know? We need to prevent such a thing from happening again. We need to remember what is the best in each of us and call it forth in dark personal or national times. We need to see that we can build even from pain and loss, and that in each of us is that same spark of goodness and meaning, promise and triumph.

Most accounts of the Holocaust I've read, especially memoirs tend to be by Jewish survivors from Germany, Poland & Hungary. This memoir is by Solly Ganor, a Lithuanian Jew who describes the horrors of the Holocaust as experienced by him, his family, and other Jews...his tale is one of hope, courage & faith in the most horrific times...and is told with amazing clarity. His descriptions of life in the Kaunas ghetto is told with vivid detail, the hunger, suffering, and the ever present threat of 'actions' are all described with a level of intensity that often reduced me to tears. It is an emotional account, and the images evoked will not soon fade from one's memory.

this is one of the best books i have ever read and i am a avid reader. the holocaust is obviously very sad. solly ganor writes in a very easy way which keeps the book moving. i am not going to give a detailed review because that is my nature and just the amazon review will describe the nuts and bolts of the book. you will not be disappointed!

This book touched a part of my soul and humanity more than any other book I have read in recent memory. The incredible detail in which Mr. Ganor describes the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, and his subsequent confinement in concentration camps is absolutely chilling. I turned each page with horrid fascination with the thought that things couldn't get worse for Mr. Ganor and his family; it always did. Mr. Ganor recounts his story with eloquent but simple prose that draws the reader directly into his world of loss, torture, cruelty, and often times heroic deeds. Even if you consider yourself a fairly good student of history (which I did), this book will most likely destroy any notion that you really "understand" the overwhelming horrors and atrocities committed during this dreadful time in our history. This book is one for the ages, and is proof positive that we should never forget.