BooksCanada Reads 2019

By Chance Alone by Max Eisen

In this memoir, Max Eisen recounts how he narrowly escaped death in the Auschwitz gas chambers during the Holocaust.

Defended by Ziya Tong

CBC Books Posted: Jan 31, 2019 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 29, 2019

Ziya Tong is defending Max Eisen's memoir By Chance Alone on Canada Reads 2019. (CBC)

By Chance Aloneby Max EisenwonCanada Reads 2019,defended by Ziya Tong.

The debatestookplace March 25-28, 2019 and werehosted by Ali Hassan.

AboutBy Chance Alone

Tibor "Max" Eisen was born in Moldava, Czechoslovakia into an Orthodox Jewish family. But in the spring of 1944 five and a half years after his region had been annexed to Hungary and the morning after the family's yearly Passover Seder gendarmes forcibly removed Eisen and his family from their home. They were brought to a brickyard and eventually loaded onto crowded cattle cars bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau.

At 15 years of age, Eisen survived the selection process andwas inducted into the camp as a slave labourer. One day, Eisen received a terrible blow from an SS guard. Severely injured, he was dumped at the hospital where a Polish political prisoner and physician, Tadeusz Orzeszko, operated on him. Despite his significant injury, Orzeszko saved Eisen from certain death in the gas chambers by giving him a job as a cleaner in the operating room. After his liberation and new trials in Communist Czechoslovakia, Eisen immigrated to Canada in 1949, where he has dedicated the last 22 years of his life to educating others about the Holocaust across Canada and around the world.

Eisen will be donating a portion of his royalties from this book to institutions promoting tolerance and understanding. (FromHarperCollinsCanada)

It reminds us how fragile the world we know is, and how terrifying its breakup can be.- 2017 RBC Taylor Prize jury

By Chance Alone was a finalist for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prizeandfor the2017 Non-Fiction Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature.

Max Eisen shares the hardest thing about being a writer

Watch the book trailer

By Chance Alone trailer

5 years ago

0:44

Canada Reads trailer for By Chance Alone by Max Eisen.

Why Max Eisenshares his story

"I lived through a traumatic and cruel period of history. There are important lessons to be learned and personal accounts to be recorded.

I am inspired by the need to document my story so others may learn from the past.- MaxEisen

"I am inspired by the need to document my story so others may learn from the past. On a personal level, I have a highly developed sense of observation of the world around me, which constantly inspires and motivates me to take action."

From the book

When I was born in MoldavanadBodvou, Czechoslovakia, in 1929, my parents could not have foreseen the danger and destruction that would befall our family only a decade later.

Our town had a population of approximately 5,000 people, most of whom were Roman Catholic and Reformist Christian. There were also about 90 Jewish families, totalling not quite 500 people. The town had a secure atmosphere and I had many friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish. At one end of the main town square there was the Roman Catholic church, and at the other end there was the Reformist church. Constructed during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the baroque-style public elementary school and the post office were also near the main square. There was a high school located nearby.

I lived with my immediate family my father, mother, grandparents, uncleand aunt in a large dwelling; each segment of the family had its own quarters. The businesses of the town were operated mainly by Jewish owners, including the confectionerystore, a large general store, two bakeries, two pubs, several stores for yard good and materials, a glazier, and an herbalist. My father owned a pub called the Cellar, where people came to drink and socialize, and where he made and sold a variety of bottled liqueurs in mint, apricotand chocolate flavours.

FromBy Chance Alone byMax Eisen 2016. Published by HarperCollins Canada.

Interviews with Max Eisen

Why Canada Reads author Max Eisen wrote a book about escaping death during the Holocaust

6 years ago

2:52

Max Eisen is a Hungarian Jew who was deported to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944. As an author, public speaker and Holocaust educator, Eisen travels throughout Canada giving talks about his experiences as a concentration camp survivor. In 2019, Eisen's memoir By Chance Alone is one of the five books featured on CBCs annual "battle of the books" competition Canada Reads.

CBC Books8:27Max Eisen on his memoir By Chance Alone

The Holocaust survivor speaks with Adrienne Pan on the Edmonton, Alta. program Radio Active about writing a Canada Reads contender.

CBC Books8:15Holocaust survivor Max Eisen on Canada Reads

The author of By Chance Alone speaks with Chris Dela Torre on the London, Ont. program Afternoon Drive.

Ottawa Morning7:20Holocaust Survivor Max Eisen shares personal stories

Author Max Eisen on his new book about living in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War....and the random acts of kindness that helped him survive and rebuild his life.

Information Morning - Moncton12:13Holocaust Survivor

Author Max Eisen on his new book about his horrifying time in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War

Ziya Tong reflects on heeding words of wisdom from elders before they are gone

5 years ago

1:12

The science journalist and Canada Reads 2019 panellist outlines why a Holocaust memoir is timely and relevant for our times.

Why Ziya Tong chose By Chance Alone for Canada Reads

"Before 2016 I don't remember seeing swastikas,but these days I see them often inthe news and on social media. But here's something even more shocking: onein five Canadian young people have not even heard of the Holocaust. They don't know what it is.

It is a powerful reminder of what happens when we see the signs around us but choose to look away.- Ziya Tong

"There has never been a more important time to readMax Eisen's Holocaust memoirBy ChanceAlone. It is a powerful reminder of what happens when we see the signs around us but choose to look away. This book not only moved me, I believe it has the power to move the nation."

Ziya Tong on By Chance Alone

AboutZiyaTong

ZiyaTongis best known as the longtime co-host of the Discovery Channel'sDaily Planet, which she anchored for a decade from 2008-2018. BeforeDaily Planet,TonghostedZeDon CBC, earning a Gemini Award for viewer's choice for lifestyle host. In 2007, she hosted and producedWired Scienceon PBS andThe Leading Edgeon The Knowledge Network. Her book,The Reality Bubble,comes out in May 2019.

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