If you want to know what makes George Soros (and his brother Paul) tick, the clues are to be found in the story told here by their father. . . . A tale of resourcefulness outside the death camps--and another worthy addition to the still burgeoning literature of the Holocaust.

A hopeful book about the Holocaust is a rare find. Billionaire financier George Soros, the author’s son, is known for his optimistic, bold philanthropical support of open societies in post-Communist Eastern Europe. After reading this sober but surprisingly cheerful memoir, it’s clear where George got these traits. . . . Soros relates the fascinating details of his search for hiding places and skilled forgers. The book’s remarkable, upbeat tone predominates. The book is a tribute to the power of the individual to maneuver through devastating, dangerous circumstances. Those interested in the Holocaust and the psychology of survival will find it compelling, as will those seeking inspiration.

[Masquerade] is a spirited, often charming and humorous description of the surreal life of Jews in hiding. [Masquerade]is an important book, because it challenges the claim of the terribles simplificateurswho hold that during the Holocaust there were only perpetrators, callous bystanders, victims, and a mere handful of saviors.

While relating his personal experiences, Soros chronicles the fate of less fortunate Jews living in the ghetto, tormented by overcrowding, filth, and hunger, presenting a graphic account of the life and survival in Nazi-occupied Budapest and a remarkable portrait of this most resourceful man.

Tivador Soros' wry, unsentimental voice, fully of canny insights and a sly, discerning appreciation of life's vagaries, recalls the eloquence of another survivor -- Primo Levi.

A useful and welcome addition to the vast body of literature about Europe during the Nazi era.

In the 10 months of [Nazi] occupation more than half of Hungary’s Jews perished, but Soros and his brood were not among them. How they kept going in the face of murderous brutality is the text of this engaging and--yes--urbanely funny memoir. Soros himself is so delightful there’s a tendency to view him apart from his story, to enjoy him as a raffish sophisticate, a sort of mittle-Europa Noel Coward tossing off world-wise epigrams. His insight into [Hitler] is startling.

What makes this record stand out among other moving testimonies is the author’s uncanny ability to celebrate life, as much as possible, in the midst of the destruction of the proud Hungarian Jewry.