About this title: Gerda Klein has expanded her story, originally published in 1957, to include a description of her new life in the United States. She recounts in detailed prose the nostalgic story of her home and family--none of whom survived the war--in prewar Bielitz, Poland, and her three-year imprisonment in German work camps and the 1000-mile winter march. It is also the story of her marriage to the infantryman who liberated her in 1945. Includes photographs. In the epilogue, she addresses her readers' questions.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Date Published: 1985
ISBN-13:9780809013609ISBN:0809013606
Description: Good. Gift inscription on endpaper will partially blocked with a sticker. Photos: We now have a scanner in-shop and can provide you with a picture of this item if you do not currently see one. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very Good. 0809015803 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Hill and Wang
Date Published: 1995-03-31
ISBN-13:9780809015801ISBN:0809015803
Description: Very Good. Minor edge wear, a very nice copy. NOT an ex-library book; no publisher's remainder marks. No spine creasing. Military (APO/FPO) orders are welcomed-Thank you for your service. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Orion mass market paperback
Date Published: 1997-09-25
ISBN-13:9780575401358ISBN:0575401354
Description: Like New. (B-35) minimal edge/reading wear. clean book with tight binding. points sharp. no marks on pages, no defects. like new. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Hill & Wang Pub, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780809015801ISBN:0809015803
Description: Fair + Paperback in fair + condition. The book has a slight bow, a little edge wear, and inside there is some small spotting on a few pages, other than that the pages are clean, [Satisfaction Guaranteed! ]. read more
"At 9:10 a.m. Gerda Weissmann's life ended; the Nazis invaded Poland and red, black, and white flags with swastikas hung from her neighbor's windows. Uncertainty turns into upheaval first with the deportation of her brother and then with the loss of her family's home. Her ill father becomes listless; her mother withdrawals into herself. And almost as quickly as it begins Gerda finds herself in the Bielitz ghetto where she separated from her father, then to a transit camp where she is separated from her mother, and then onto the labour camp, Bolkenhain. This is only the beginning of Klein's story, a story that ends with the Nazis robbing her of all but her life.
This is the book that's been missing from my course on the Holocaust. We've learned about Merin, a member of the Judenrat who lined his pockets; we've learned about the difference between labour camps and concentration camps. And according to our syllabus, in the coming weeks we're going to learn about death marches. But as well as my professor is at telling stories for lectures instead of saying "these are the facts you need to know," there is something you can only get by reading the memoir of a survivor. The "I" makes it personal; the "I" makes facts visible realities.
Even on the written side, All But My Life is one of the most, if not the most, well-written written memoirs I've ever read. It's heart-wrenching, emotional, and personal when other Holocaust memoirs are distant. You relive Klein's past, and I can understand why in the preface Klein says she is now, finally, emancipated from her burden.
It's so personal, so powerful, and worth every tear I shed. And I would love to read The Hours After, a collection of letters between Klein and her husband, U.S. Army lieutenant Kurt Klein, who liberated her on May 7th, 1945, after the war."
"This woman is an inspiration to me in so many ways. Having the beautiful blessing of knowing her in person I can say that the brilliance and resilience that pours out of her is something to marvel. Her life as a young child was tragic but the outcome is beyond what anyone could have dreamed of. Gerda's story is about a passion to survive...a passion that many of us never experience in our lifetimes. I suggest all of her books for anyone looking to venture outside of themselves and read of a human experience bigger than themselves."
"Gerda revealed a lot of her personality as she wrote her memoirs, but she also left a lot up to the reader to assume. She described actions and reactions of other people, but did not go into detail what inspired them to treat her that way. I kind of liked it that way. For example, I get a bit put off when people say things like, "I always got a lot of attention because of my great beauty." I would much rather prefer to infer on my own that if 2 men loved her at first sight, she was probably a looker. And that she didn't mention her appearance--neither directly nor indirectly. So she leaves out the vanity stuff, but doesn't hold back on confessing her imperfections. If I end up inferring THAT on my own, I get rather annoyed with the character.
I guess I'm a contraction in terms. :) But good job Gerda, in telling your story in a reasonable light."
"A very moving memoire recounting the author's years in concentration and labour camps during WWII. Her story is not really very different for anyone else's - she lost her parents and her brother and her entire extended family, but she does write with a refreshing point of view in that she focuses on trying to find humanity during a period of extreme inhumanity"
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