All But My Life
Gerda Weissmann Klein, 2007 Cohen Center Holocaust Memorial Lecturer. All But My Life is the World War II memoir by Gerda Weissmann Klein. In these pages, she recollects when the Nazis arrived in Poland on September 3, 1939. She was imprisoned in German work camps until the camp was liberated on May 7, 1945. Gerda was born and raised in Poland; and she probably would have lived peacefully in her hometown her whole life–if the Nazis hadn’t invaded and taken her from her home in Bielitz. Her journey is not an easy one; she is one of the few who survived. Holocaust stories are nothing new. The Diary of Anne Frank–along with other memoirs and autobiographical works–depict the Nazi occupations, marches, death camps, and other atrocities. These personal stories are important because they add the human dimension to the history of a time. Gerda saw everything stripped away–"all but her life." Her life was shattered; and her experiences were such horrors. Friends, family, home–all was lost; inextricably gone. But, then… life goes on. She married one of the men who liberated her from the camp. She went on with life, and she manages to infuse her faith and passion for life into this tale of survival. BOOK ON TAPE.
Categories:
- Ghettos, Concentration Camps, and Death Camps
- Survivors, Children of Survivors, and Witnesses
- The Holocaust
Requesting Materials:
Cohen Center materials are available for school libraries to borrow for classroom use. If your school would like to borrow any of these materials, please contact Mason Library Interlibrary Loan at ill@keene.edu to register for a Lending Web account.
