Such a harrowing account. Felt very emotional while reading this. Its well written and felt myself connecting with the characters. Definitely recommend

Poweful and well written, I couldn't help but ride the eomtional rollercoaster of the harrowing and heartbreaking journey. It's hard to even begin to contemplate what they suffered and how deeply it still affects people today. Its a beautifully written page turner that really helped me to better understand something that has been sensationalised in the media in a way that doesn't fully encompass the suffering and hope.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this book.

I felt the writing was done well in this book but there was just something missing for me and I couldn't get into it and enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

A really heartfelt short book about two children surviving Auschwitz against all odds. Really inspiring and perfect for fans of Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Tati and Andra were torn from their beds In the middle of the night and sent to a camp with their mother, aunt and cousin. Separated from their family and facing death this is their story. It feels wrong to mark this out of five as it’s a life story boy fiction but it’s haunting, tragic and upsetting. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The more I read about The Holocaust the more I cannot understand how the horrors that happened did happen, how people can be so evil. This is another thought provoking tale of the miraculous survival of two young girls and the horrors they faced and survived. A must read

I was given a copy of Always remember your name by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is a true life account of Andra & Tatiana Bucci when they were taken to Auschwitz as very young children. A powerful read.

"By all rights, this book should not exist.' The opening line of the forward and it says everything that's needed to say really. They shouldn't have survived - how they survived was against all odds. But it's not just that they shouldn't have survived - it shouldn't have ever happened.

The Bucci story is haunting. It's so sad to think what the sisters went through at such a young age and how they coped with it in life afterwards. The book is well written.

It’s hard to say you enjoy a book on the holocaust or what they did to children, but I bought a physical copy of this as soon as I was able to. I have read books on Mengeles before so the fact they survived is incredible. The description of what happened to their cousin is harrowing and heartbreaking, the fact that they accepted the terrible things happening around them, the fact their mother managed to get back to see them reminding them who they were, it’s all so raw and although this happened so many years ago, I fear the way the world is we are so close to another terrible genocide happening. These accounts need to be shared and read, we need to remember and know what humans did to other humans. A harrowing , heartbreaking and sad read but ultimately uplifting , Always remember your name must be read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest

I’ve read many books in this genre. Being Jewish it’s a subject close to my heart and I feel I owe it to these brave survivors to read their story. This is well written. I can’t call it enjoyable as the subject matter most certainly isn’t. But an uplifting message that the Nazis didn’t win

This book is the story of two Italian sisters who along with other members of their family were transported to Auschwitz. Only four members of the family survived and eventually the sisters returned home.

The impact of this time in history is unimaginable. We must never forget the horrors which occurred and the bravery of authors who share their personal painful experiences. This felt very different from many of the other Auschwitz books I have read, it felt much more raw and personal - if that is at all ever possible.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is an excellent book, and it seemed apt to read it on Holocaust Memorial Day. Andra and Tati were only very young children when they and members of their family were taken to Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. They were separated from all the others apart from their cousin Sergio and their mother, and very soon she too was taken elsewhere. The mystery was why the little girls survived at all, as most children were executed on arrival. The book speculates that maybe the Nazis thought they were twins, which were always prized for their pseudo-scientific experiments.

The book is written by the two women, and their voices speak out. Sometimes it jars a little as the speaker moves from one to the other to a third person, and the timeline leaps occasionally, but they are minor issues. What they say is very powerful.

The description of what happened to their little cousin is just heartbreaking. The girls' resilience was amazing; possibly they were just so young that they accepted the vile things happening around them as 'normal'. Their mother also supported them incredibly, managing to get back to see them when she was still in the camp, reminding them who they were, and then helping them to cope once they had made the tremendous journey home, via other camps and institutions around Europe.

They didn't talk at all about their experiences for many decades, but once they did, they helped to spread the story of what really happened in those awful places, presumably following the axiom that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK and Manilla Press for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fascinating account of a childhood in Auschwitz told by two sisters, who were sent there at the ages of six and four, with their mother and other family members. Of a family of 13 deported from Fiume, then in Italy, only 4 survived. The stoicism of these young children and devotion of their mother is incredible. Torn apart from their mother on arrival, yet spared the gas chamber, this is an extraordinary story of how living in the extermination camp for a year became normal to the girls and they seemed to just get on with it. Death was normal and not something that scared them - adult bodies piled up around them. To have the inner resources they had at such a young age is a real testament to their families. They settled into the environments that came afterwards, until their parents found them through the Red Cross. Today, Andra and Tatiana tell their story and ensure the horror is not forgotten. #netgalley #alwaysrememberyourname

Always remember your name.

This is the astonishing story of two little girls, 6 year old Tatiana or Tati and 4 years Andra who survived Auschwitz. The Bucci girls, they came from Italy and, although their mother was Jewish and had married a Catholic, that wasn’t enough to save them. The sisters were almost the same size and so looked like a pair of twins which could be why they were saved. The notorious Dr Mengele liked to experiment on twins. They lived in the kinderblock or the children’s block and played amongst ‘pyramids of corpses.’ Children rarely survived in Auschwitz beyond a year, so the sisters survival is truly incredible
A child’s view of Auschwitz was fascinating and macabre as they heard the guards calling the detained and interned prisoners ‘corpses on vacation.’ As they say in the book, ‘the camp was meant to be a well oiled death machine but a look from a guard could spell the difference between life and death.’ And yet having known of the Nazis cruelty in the camps, I was still shocked by the horror meted out to 20 children from the camp which included the girls’ cousin, Sergio. Their mother was determined to stay ‘human’ and survive the camp with her girls. She inculcated this into her daughters by telling them to remember their names. Hence the book’s title.
After liberation, no one wanted to hear or talk about the death camps as everyone was trying to re-adjust to some kind of normality. But their camp number, tattooed on their arms when they arrived at Auschwitz was a constant reminder.
The second half of the book is more involved with their lives after liberation. They moved to England and had an education but they believe that their parents are dead. But they find them again and return to Italy. The Bucci girls went onto have fulfilling, happy lives. Tati and Andra grow up, marry, have children and then grandchildren. But they don’t want to talk about Auschwitz and when people ask if their tattoos are phone numbers they agree. It must have been hard for them to not want to talk about it, but it was only when other survivors began to speak about their experiences in the death camps that the sisters also started to tell their story. They have experienced anti-Semitism in Italy after the 2nd World War which is very sad.
I think that as the Holocaust survivors begin to die, it is still vital to hear and preserve their testimonies for future generations. This is a short book at less than 200 pages and yet it captures a terrible time in history. The Holocaust is something that should never be forgotten. The terrible fate of their little cousins, Sergio, is rightly commemorated. I admired the fortitude and courage of their mother in keeping up the girls spirits and managing to remain a presence in their lives despite the danger and degradation of the camp. They remained a family unit by their mother always encouraging them to remember their names. It’s an important story as it shows that a mother’s love and the bond of sisters can triumph over evil. It’s also a book that remembers the lost: entire families, children, mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, a whole generation, culture and history.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

The sisters’ story is one of survival. Separated from their mother on arrival, they lived in the kinderblock. To this day they do not know why they were spared the fate of so many children who were sent to the gas chambers on arrival at Auschwitz. They wondered if it was because the Nazis believed them to be twins. “There on the ramp our fate was sealed.” It is impossible for us to imagine the horrors they faced but as young children do, they ‘normalised’ what they saw. “Even the idea of ‘going out through the chimney’ seems normal to us.” Fabulous and inspirational

Amazing true story of two sisters who were taken from their home in Italy to Auschwitz aged 4 and 6 and survived! This is certainly different to other Holocaust books that I have read as it follows the sisters after they left the camp and how they coped with life afterwards. Harrowing but also uplifting and well worth reading

Always Remember Your Name is a very different perspective of Auschwitz as ifs from a child’s perspective. Or rather two children’s perspective.

This makes it a very unusual read as its recollected from adulthood and sometimes its writing in the second person narrative, and then it switches to individual recollections which makes it feel that its being told to you in person, like a documentary, rather than read as a book.

Whilst the novel goes through Auschwitz with you, it deals with the aftermath. Their transfer to Lingfield House which I had never heard of before. And their eventual return to Italy and how their trauma was dealt with by “not talking about it”. Which I found harrowing.

This novel brings a new perspective of the Holocaust to me, not just surviving deportation, but also surviving coming home. And being a survivor when those around you have lost so much.

This is hauntingly beautiful. This heartbreaking book is written by two sisters who survive Auschwitz as children. Prisoners there at a very young age, unimaginable things happen to everyone unfortunate enough to have been captured and carted off there. Many give up when they are there as the will to live is gone because they see no way to escape from this life. This is the sister's story written by the as adults so we get a complete perspective of what they went through and how they survived despite their piteous treatment when those all around them perished including their own family members.
Sad but uplifting as we see these sister's changing lives with the way they encourage other's not to give up.

Pub Date 20 Jan 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of two sisters who as children found themselves deported from their home in Italy to Auschwitz concentration camp. Later when the camp was liberated they were moved to different countries until the were reunited with their parents. Today the provide testimony to their experiences.

This is such an interesting read I have read a lot of biographical works regarding holocaust survivors but this book is different. The reader learns about sisters experiences in the camp but there is more of a focus on their lives after the holocaust and how they came to terms with what had happened to them.

In particular I found the cruel fate of Sergio one of the most horrific things I have ever read. While the strength the sisters mother showed and the devotion she had to them one of the most touching.

This is a fantastic read I would 100% recommend. My only complaint and the reason I am giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 is it isn’t very long. I feel there was definitely room to expand on more parts of the sisters lives and tell the reader more.

As the granddaughter of an Auschwitz survivor this was always going to be a poignant read for me. I found it fascinating to hear of the sisters story and what they endured and overcame. Like my Grandmother they didn't speak much of their experiences after they reclaimed their lives until much later when they realised their story needed to be told so it would never be forgotten or repeated.
It is humbling to understand the fortitude and resilience of their generation to overcome such events (especially in current times when being told to 'Stay at home' is considered a hardship).
An thought provoking read my only reservation is that the narrative is slightly light on details and potentially a deeper explanation of some events could have given a more in-depth vision of their memoirs.