In 2003, Michael Admiraal and his father embarked on a road trip across Europe to visit eight concentration camps. Along the Roads to Hell is the legacy of this trip; an account of their experience and memories infused with historical fact.
Admiraal begins by prefacing his reasons for writing the book. He has no personal connection to the Holocaust but as remembrance becomes increasingly important, Admiraal felt that their journey was a powerful lens through which to explore its history. The book offers the perspective of two outsiders visiting the camps, a demographic that is key in keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. Growing up in the Netherlands, Admiraal was surrounded by stories of the war and learnt about the persecution of Jews at school. His parents, born in the 1920s, have their own stories of the war, both having experienced it from their small, rural villages in the north of Holland. His father’s own relatively uneventful wartime experience is used as a contrast to the atrocities they encounter as they visit the camps.
The journey lasted seven days, covering 2,300 miles and crossing the border of four countries. Travelling from the Netherlands to Germany, then to the Czech Republic and Poland and Austria, Admiraal and his father visited eight concentration camps in total.
Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a camp or a region that the pair visited. Using the travel reports they made during their trip, Admiraal introduces each chapter with an insight into where they were staying, their mood or their journey. This brings an interesting juxtaposition to the detailed historical accounts of the camps and the circumstances surrounding them. By relating the history to the remains of the camps and the memorials that Admiraal encountered in 2003, the book is both an examination of the Holocaust and of how it is remembered. At the end of each chapter, Admiraal supplies practical information useful for anyone planning to visit the camps themselves.
Along the Roads to Hell is a moving and haunting account. The writing is evocative and Admiraal carefully intertwines his own memories of the trip and those of his father with history. In many ways it is also a touching exploration of generational values; the notes written by Admiraal’s father being far more devoid of emotion than his own. The photographs interjected throughout the text and the scanned tickets and receipts from the trip are a reminder that at the centre of this book is a powerful shared journey between father and son. Always at the forefront, however, is Admiraal’s unwavering focus on the importance of remembrance.
Michael Admiraal is the author of Along the Roads to Hell, published by Chiselbury. Lily Lowe is an Editorial Intern at Aspects of History.
