The Nazis knew my name : a remarkable story of survival and courage in Auschwitz / Magda Hellinger, and Maya Lee ; with David Brewster.
"In March 1942, at the age of 25, kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger was deported from her hometown in Slovakia along with 998 other young women. They were some of the first Jews to be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Very few would survive the next three years until liberation. The SS soon discovered that by putting prisoners in day-to-day charge of the accommodation blocks and even the camps at large-so called Blockalteste and Lageralteste respectively-they could both reduce the number of guards required to use these "leaders" to deflect attention away from themselves. Magda was one such Jewish prisoner selected for leadership. Like many others during the war she found herself constantly treading a fine line: how to save lives-if only a few at a time-while avoiding being too "soft" and likely sent to the gas chambers. Through her own inner strength and ingenuity, she was able to rise above the horror and cruelty of the camps and build pivotal relationships with the women under her watch, and some of Auschwitz's most notorious Nazi senior officers. Based on Magda's own personal account and completed by her daughter's extensive research, this awe-inspiring story offers us incredible insight into human nature under the pressure to survive, the power of resilience, and the goodness that can shine through even in the most horrific of conditions"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781982181222
- ISBN: 1982181222
- Physical Description: 312 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm
- Publisher: New York : Atria Books, 2021.
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Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Festus Public Library | 940.531 Blau (Text) | 32017000082366 | Adult Non-Fiction | Checked out | 05/09/2024 |
The Nazis Knew My Name : A Remarkable Story of Survival and Courage in Auschwitz
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Summary
The Nazis Knew My Name : A Remarkable Story of Survival and Courage in Auschwitz
The "thought-provoking...must-read" (Ariana Neumann, author of When Time Stopped ) memoir by a Holocaust survivor who saved an untold number of lives at Auschwitz through everyday acts of courage and kindness--in the vein of A Bookshop in Berlin and The Nazi Officer's Wife . In March 1942, twenty-five-year-old kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger and nearly a thousand other young women were deported as some of the first Jews to be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The SS soon discovered that by putting prisoners in charge of the day-to-day accommodation blocks, they could deflect attention away from themselves. Magda was one such prisoner selected for leadership and put in charge of hundreds of women in the notorious Experimental Block 10. She found herself constantly walking a dangerously fine line: saving lives while avoiding suspicion by the SS and risking execution. Through her inner strength and shrewd survival instincts, she was able to rise above the horror and cruelty of the camps and build pivotal relationships with the women under her watch, and even some of Auschwitz's most notorious Nazi senior officers. Based on Magda's personal account and completed by her daughter's extensive research, this is "an unputdownable account of resilience and the power of compassion" ( Booklist ) in the face of indescribable evil.