"Kor relates memories of life in the village of Portz, Transylvania (Romania), where she was raised on a large farm, 'never aware of the anti-Semitism [that pervaded the country] until 1940, when the Hungarian army came.' Six-year-old Eva and her identical twin, Miriam, the only Jewish children in their small mixed-grade classroom, suddenly found themselves taunted and beaten by once-friendly classmates. At 10 years of age, the twins and their family were forced to live among seven thousand other Jews in a fenced-in field, ...
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"Kor relates memories of life in the village of Portz, Transylvania (Romania), where she was raised on a large farm, 'never aware of the anti-Semitism [that pervaded the country] until 1940, when the Hungarian army came.' Six-year-old Eva and her identical twin, Miriam, the only Jewish children in their small mixed-grade classroom, suddenly found themselves taunted and beaten by once-friendly classmates. At 10 years of age, the twins and their family were forced to live among seven thousand other Jews in a fenced-in field, protected from the elements only by tents made of their own blankets and sheets and by the clothes on their backs. They were soon taken on a four-day train ride to Auschwitz, standing all the way, with no food or drink. There the sisters were 'selected' to be victims of Dr. Josef Mengele's medical 'research.' Eva's amazing fortitude and her desire to protect her sister helped her to survive a horrible disease brought on by an injection. Both twins endured a terrifying daylong separation during a forced march between camps; the remaining Auschwitz prisoners were liberated by Soviet soldiers, and the girls found a way to go home in search of family survivors."--Amazon.com.
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Many of us will have seen the photographs and moving images of those 2 little girls at the head of a line of survivors walking out of Auschwitz and many of us, me included, would have asked ourselves "I wonder who they are, where they came from, how they survived that nightmare and where are they now?"; this book sheds light on all those questions and introduces you to a very brave little girl.
"At Auschwitz dying was so easy. Surviving was a full-time job."
The words that came into my head as I was reading this book was how amazing, brave and inspirational Eva was and still is. For a 10 year old to have that level of insight and an unbelievably strong will to survive is humbling. You can feel the pain, the fear but also the love coming through the words and pages. Her descriptions of the horrors she, her twin sister and the others interred in that godforsaken place were told in a non-sensationalised way and without the usual shocking, graphic details. In some ways, this made it more upsetting - it was told from the eyes of a child and those eyes should never have seen the things that she saw.
Eva was careful to ensure that she make it known that in amongst all that evil, there were people who risked their lives for others - the supervisor who gave food in the infirmary and shared her birthday cake and the barracks full of Jewish women who kept a child hidden during their entire stay - just two instances. These acts of extreme bravery and selflessness provide hope that there is still some humanity.
I don't know if I could ever forgive anyone who systematically murdered someone in my family let alone everyone in my family but Eva is obviously made of something else and her quote:
"Anger and hate are seeds that germinate war. Forgiveness is a seed for peace. It is the ultimate act of self-healing?
tells you all you need to know about her inner strength and the type of person she is.
Eva is an inspiration and her message of hope should be a mantra for us all:
"The life lessons I have learned through all my pain and everything I have been through and survived:
1. Never ever give up on yourself or your dreams, for everything good in life is possible.
2. Judge people on their actions and the content of their character.
3. Forgive your worst enemy and forgive everyone who has hurt you - it will heal your soul and set you free"
This book is designed for Young Adults but, to be honest, I think anyone of any age could read this and should read this.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher, Tanglewood Press, for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.
