2008-09-12 Amazing story of courage & survival

Most of you will be familiar with the story of Oskar Schindler and the subsequent movie starring Liam Neeson. This story is of Laura (Hannelore)who became one of the people on that list.

Her life was a happy one prior to the rise of the Nazis in Northern Germany but when they took power and began the inhumane decrees preceding their genocide - Laura's family life began to deteriorate.

Laura writes compellingly - I simply could not put this book down and virtually read it in one sitting. I actually have this on my wishlist as I borrowed it from my library. Now I have to get it.

Laura's story is very much like the others from the Holocaust - so why buy it? Well, as I said, she's one of the Schindler Jews and she didn't automatically go to one of the more well-known Factories of Death. By simple turns of fate and could one say "luck", she ended up being one of the lucky ones taken from Plazow to Brinnlitz.

As Steven Spielberg said in his movie "Shoah", survivors of the Holocaust are now at the very earliest, in their mid to late 70s and slowly one by one they are dying and their stories with them. Each one deserves to be heard because at the end, we feel warmed by their very need to survive and their hollow endings. I feel that we can't say "happy" simply because so very many families were separated and countless numbers of them never saw their loved ones again. I cannot imagine how that would feel because I have tried to make that leap and it's painful for me to imagine.

I would certainly recommend this book for any child studying this period of history in school as it is not written in a heavy style - it's also not a very long book but Laura Hillman engages and pulls you into her story and you feel her pain and joy in equal parts.

Yes, I can recommend this book.