Book Review: In the Time of Madmen

In the Time of Madmen

Author: Mark A. Prelas

This is a biographical and autobiographical story, primarily about the author’s parents through their struggles of hiding their true identities of Jewish ancestry.

Mark Prelas begins by describing what life was like during the Great Depression when his mother, Katheryn, who was born in 1921, was growing up. Life was hard — bartering was a regular occurrence and using money was a rare luxury — but it was good. And then at the age of 18, his mother was taken from her home to become a slave laborer in Germany.

The author shares a lot of historical information so the reader can understand what life was like for each of his parents growing up before and during the Great Depression, and then the effect of Germany invading Poland. The author describes each parent’s numerous near-death experiences and then the encounter of his parents meeting one another.

While not written in a narrative format, this journey relays important information about historical events that should be captured in time and in words for others to experience and learn from. This book provides remarkable details that the author was able to obtain before his mother’s passing in 2014.

As a special addition to the book, the author includes family photos and further holocaust resource information. The publication of this book is a wonderful tribute to the author’s parents.