Within this past year, I've finally gotten around to reading Night, by Elie Wiesel. It is based on his experience in concentration camps in the Holocaust. So, yes, it is a pretty intense read. This sketch is inspired by the image that popped into my head when Mr. Wiesel said that hunger became so rampant at times that they had to start trading shoes for food. Shoes were a hot commodity. Actually, so was food. So it worked out nicely, I guess. Oh, and watch out if you had gold fillings. As opposed to cream fillings. Mmmmm food.
On a related note, I was kind of surprised to read that the gaurds weren't much better off than the prisoners, in terms of rations. I remember one chapter where a raid hits the camp that Elie and his father are in, and the gaurds rush off too see to it, but leave specific orders in the lunch room for no one to touch the big steaming pot of soup. Of course, someone eventually sneaks up to it, only to get shot by an unseen soldier.
I'm usually more of a fan of fiction, but sometimes I do like to have a dose of reality. And though novels on war, such as All Quiet on the Western Front and The Storm of Steel, can be pretty bleak, they are also very moving and important works.
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