What do readers think of Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson? Write your own review.

Interesting conversation is not always right at hand, but the conversational style of this book hooked me.
If you are interested in the Holocaust, and you are not a purist and do not mind a good story, along with the facts, then historical fiction is a good bet for you.. Angst, rage, honesty, empathy, loyalty and persistence are ever present in the pages.
I would recommend this book for a thoughtful read and I am quite sure book clubs would find plenty to digest and discuss.

This is an provocative story of two boys who grew up together in Poland prior to World War II. Ben Solomon is Jewish and ends up in a Nazi concentration camp during the war. Otto Piatek lived with Ben's family until his parents felt it was politically dangerous for him to be living with Jews and he chooses a different path as a Nazi. Fast forward 60 years and Ben seeks to prove that a wealthy and revered Jewish benefactor living under an alias is indeed Otto and that he not only destroyed Ben's family but committed many other war crimes. I couldn't put this book down and finished it during the middle of the night.

I had high expectations when I started this book but soon became disappointed. I found myself becoming confused and irritated when the story was becoming intense and interesting and the lawyer would interrupt and ask the narrator if he would like a cup of tea. The actions of the survivors trying to escape from the Nazi's did not seem at all believable nor was someone in 1940 Nazi occupied Poland naming his horse Buttermilk after Dale Evan's horse on the Roy Rogers show.

Although the premise of the story was interesting, a holocaust survivor filing a civil suit against a former Nazi, I found the story to be predictable and cliche. The dialogue between the characters was not as well written as it could have been. The narrative from the protagonist at times seemed to be descriptions of scenes from Holocaust films. It was an ok book, I wanted to finish it to see if I had the correct prediction of the ending. I did. I would recommend it if someone wanted to read an easy, light historical fiction.

If you haven't read many stories about the Holocaust/World War 2 and the aftermath on the survivors, this book will be enjoyable. I did enjoy the book overall, but the writing seemed disjointed, and I struggled with the female character throughout the book.

This was a good story of one family's journey through the Holocaust. Story had a good pace and kept me captivated enough to keep reading even though I suspected how it would probably end. Ben Solomon was the type of character you couldn't help but feel his pain and want to see the person who betrayed his family exposed and brought to justice.

A very powerful story and one of the best books that I've read recently. It depicts the lives of people in Poland before WWII in such a tender and sincere way. You feel as though you are part of their experiences and the morbidity of the situation isn't spelled out in a gruesome manner. The characters are all very strong. Ben remains steadfast in what he believes he knows. Catherine is willing to sacrifice her career for what she believes is the ethical thing to do. Elliot feels that money can buy him everything and everyone. Supporting characters added emotional substance to the story. The book has already been picked as a selection for a number of reading groups and you can envision the story being made into a compelling movie. Strongly recommended.

Once We Were Brothers is an impressive (I'm assuming) first offer by Mr Balson. It sucks you in from the first chapter and you will be up all night reading it. It follows a potential lawsuit, going back and forth between the past and the present as the two separate and then collide. Ben Solomon wants to sue a person he claims was once his 'brother' during pre-America's entry into WWII, who is now a wealthy philanthropist in Chicago. What we don't know is: Is the 'brother' who Ben Solomon says he is? and, Did he do the things Ben Solomon says he did? It follows a village in Poland from pre-Nazi takeover, through the end of WWII, into post-WWII and present Chicago. Compelling read--a mystery, with a historical lesson. We all know what happened, in an esoteric way, in Germany and the smaller East European countries under Hitler's rule, but after reading this, you will KNOW viscerally.
I HIGHLY recommend it...you will not be sorry.