Description: In her luminous and engrossing memoir, Natalie Hess takes us from a sheltered childhood in a small town in Poland into the horrors of the Holocaust. She is a survivor of the Ravensbrück women's camp.
Brief description: Natalie Hess is a child survivor of the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp.
Review Quotes:
"Natalie Hess's memoir provides an interesting read for a life filled with difficulties and overcoming. Throughout the book you are drawn into Natalie's experiences and it is impossible to put the book down until you are finished. Her journey from child to survivor to immigrant and into adulthood is a story that should be read especially in light of present day. Natalie has a story that is accessible for 8th grade to adults. I highly recommend reading this book for a glimpse into one person's experience in the Holocaust, but also what a survivor's life is like after, which is often overlooked." - Shannon Fleischman, Full Time Educator of Museum and Holocaust Education, Oregon Jewish museum and Center for Holocaust Education
"I finished your manuscript a couple of days ago and immediately went back to read the Holocaust section for the third time. You have a warm, comfortable style of writing. It seems to beckon the reader to come into your world. There are things about your life the world can never understand. But, there are also many things most can appreciate you verbalizing - awkwardness as a teenager, only two dresses or how to dress, not feeling accepted, feeling there is no place where you belong, etc. These things drew me into "you" and made you a role model who triumphs in the midst of unimaginable circumstances, and yet, walks the same walk as though we were friends and grew up together. I don't know how long it took you to write this, but the world thanks you for every word and every hour dedicated. It is imperative that no Holocaust hell should be relegated to oblivion." - Diane McNeil, Unknown Child Foundation "Within the vast, ever increasing Holocaust literature Natalie Hess's autobiographical account stands out. Following the chronological sequence of events and eloquently written, often in a dialogue form, it is compelling testimony of a child survivor. At the age of 82, Natalie Hess broke the prevailing code of silence and began to tell her life story.Intertwining history and memory early childhood images are presented and connected with post-war episodes and reflections. Natalie Hess remembers the horror of the Holocaust - the survival in the Polish ghetto of Piotrow Tribunalski, the cattle train deportation to and the treatment in the women concentration camp of Ravensbrück and the arrival of the "white buses" in April 1945 which brought her and other inmates to Sweden. She spends some years in Sweden, moves to Israel and finally settles down in America. Reconstructing her long journey she reveals the successful professional career as language teacher and happy family life with a loving caring husband and three adorable daughters, indeed, a child survivor who experienced the Holocaust and succeeded in rebuilding her life." - Emeritus Professor Dr Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian, Sydney Jewish Museum
The style made it very readable and the humor and down to earth approach made very heavy material palatable. I was especially appreciative of the footnotes and the student questions at the end. It makes the book both an enjoyable personal read and an educational tool. - Gary Hill