I think my overall critique is not towards the book, but rather the reaction of the Americans and others to the Nazis involved in the genocide. When the concentration camps were liberated and the Nazis were captured, the Americans had the idea to kill the Nazis or hold them in camps just as the Jews were. I think this is very interesting. I am not saying that the Nazis should be released without punishment, but the irony appears high. Many Nazis were put on trial and ordered to be killed. Many people were just killed, so they chose to continue killing? I know the crimes and hatred of the Nazis were extreme and are inexcusable, but again, I ask why do we kill? Wouldn't it be more torturous to leave them in jail? Who has the right to take the life of another human? Didn’t the Allies fight to prevent the death of many? All of these questions circulate in my head when I read this novel and especially the ending. “No words can express the terror of a man condemned to die.” (Ayer 183).
Overall, I would recommend Parallel Journeys to anyone and I even mentioned it to my mom and grandma. I think it presents a unique point of view that many other Holocaust books do not include.