Shaul Ladany

Shaul Ladany, an Israeli scientist, is mostly known for his world records as a race walker. This amazing man set record after record for his phenomenal endurance in race walking, distances up to 100 miles. Can you image walking 100 miles?!!! But having survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, he was a survivalist. However, this is not a Holocaust survival book as very little of the book actually focuses on his time in the camp.

If you love the details of race walking, you will love this book. I, however, was not that interested in the details – how he trained, how he wanted his drinks handed to him as he passed by stations, the difficulties of getting recognition from Israel for his successes. I admit I skimmed through most of the book. I was not interested in the nitty-gritty details.

What caught my interest was when I realized he was part of the Israeli Olympic team in Munich. So here was a man that not only survived a concentration camp but also survived the massacre in Munich. I wanted to know how he survived that. For me, that was the most interesting part of the book.… (plus d'informations)

[This review also appears on FingerFlow.com, a site for review and discussion of creative works.]

Shaul Ladany was certainly an inspiring man, having survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to become a record-holding race walker and distinguished industrial engineer.

My interest in the book was Ladany's experience during World War II and the Holocaust, but only a small portion of the book was devoted to this (less than half a chapter). The main focus of the book is on the sport of race walking.

I couldn't muster the interest to do more than skim and flip through the book, but that's just my personal preference; I'm not very interested in sports and I was expecting more about the author's Holocaust experience. The tone of the writing is conversational, like someone relating a story to a friend. It's definitely serviceable for the content. For someone interested in race walking, and sports competition in general, I'm sure this book would be an enjoyable read.

I should add that the section about the massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich was fascinating. Ladany makes it a point to correct some details that had been previously reported about his escape. Mainly, he describes following the lead of other Israeli athletes and escaping through the back door of his hotel room (no jumping off a second floor balcony, as most reports, including Wikipedia, state). Of additional interest are his thoughts on why the terrorists didn't take his roommates and himself hostage (there were two Israeli marksmen among them), his opinion of the German military of the '70s (inept and clumsy, a far cry from the German military of the last World War), his anger at the Israeli government for recalling their athletes home, the mistaken reports of his death in the massacre and his lawsuit against an author who fabricated details of the events of that tragic night. I wasn't at all familiar with this incident and Ladany's report was as good as any to learn about it.… (plus d'informations)