Odds of survival for adults in Auschwitz were dismal. They were even worse for children, particularly preteens and younger. Generally, a “selection” took place upon arrival at the concentration camp, where the young, elderly and invalids were separated and immediately sent to the gas chambers.

Buergenthal, 74, a judge on the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, tells his story as he remembers living it, not from an adult perspective 60 years later. On the run with his family —- first escaping with his parents from his native Czechoslovakia and later enduring a ghetto and two labor camps before arriving at Auschwitz —- Buergenthal had almost no formal schooling. But he was fluent in German and Polish and was able to act as interpreter. He quickly developed an ability to live by his wits.

“A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy” by Thomas Buergenthal; Little, Brown and Co.; $24.99; 228 pages