By
– October 10, 2011
Many of you may have read the 1988 edition of this book, which begins where Anne Frank’s ends. The girls were close friends in childhood, but Anne, her sister Margot, and their mother succumbed, while Eva and her mother survived. For those new to this title, it is an entire account of the Holocaust as it occurred in the Vienna- Holland journey — the Nazi invasion, hiding in Amsterdam and being deported to Auschwitz- Birkenau. There is a full account of the author’s experiences there. They survived because of the support that the mother and daughter, and her mother’s friend who had an important position in the infirmary, gave to each other despite the starvation, illness, and relocations. The postwar period is equally interesting — their surfing the fluctuating tides of Russian advances and retreats, and finally victory with its own challenges — especially the immediate post-war period in Russia among the various camps that were converted into hospitals and DP camps. This has always been one of the best told accounts of this period of history and bears testimony to the courage of the human spirit and the phenomenon known as “camp shvesters” or camp sisters It made all the difference between survival or not. This edition includes an interview with Eva Schloss who was reunited with Otto Frank after the war, and her mother eventually married him. Grades 7 – 12.
Marcia W. Posner, Ph.D., of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, is the library and program director. An author and playwright herself, she loves reviewing for JBW and reading all the other reviews and articles in this marvelous periodical.