Thanks to My Mother
by Schoschana Rabinovici
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Book Summary Information
Author: Schoschana RabinoviciTranslator: James Skofield
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-03-01
ISBN: 0141305967
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Puffin
Book Reviews of Thanks to My Mother
Book Review: Riveting account
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an incredibly well-writtten and involving account of how young Susie Weksler was able to survive the Shoah because of her mother's determination, love, courage, and hope. For someone who was as young as Susie was when they were in the Vilnius Ghetto and later the three camps, there are a lot of details about just about everything; these people, places, and events are doubtless so strong and vivid because one is more likely to remember traumatic memories than mundane everyday ordinary things, even at a young age. One really comes to feel for and to know Susie's many friends and family members, and feels sorrow that so few of them managed to survive. It even works in the other way; there were many times I just wanted to shake some sense into her older stepsister Dolka, who didn't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation the way she was acting on numerous occasions, like she didn't want to preserve her own life even if it meant doing things like eating disgusting-looking soup or working in indoor quarters despite how she wasn't feeling very well. One also gets a vivid picture of how a child as young as Susie was able to survive three camps; there were actually a number of children in the first camp, Kaiserwald, but before long Susie was the only one left. And she didn't think it was all part of some elaborate game and stay unaware of what was really going on, untouched by the horror around her, like the kid in the unrealistic movie 'Life Is Beautiful'; this is a real portrayal of what life was like for one of the lucky few children who made it through the camps. She was worked as hard as any adult, be it in the battery factory, standing naked in the snow for hours before starting a death march, or getting beaten by guards. It's also a change of pace to read about a Lithuanian survivor; most Shoah memoirs are written by people from other places in Europe, so here we have a different perspective and experience, such as being transported from camp to camp by ship, the selection taking place in a graveyard during the liquidation of the ghetto, and a camp where a number of young children were initially allowed entry to.
Summary of Thanks to My Mother
Susie Weksler was only eight when Hitler's forces invaded her Lithuanian city of Vilnius. Over the next few years, she endured starvation, brutality, and forced labor in three concentration camps. With courage and ingenuity, Susie's mother helped her to survive--by disguising her as an adult to fool the camp guards, finding food to add to their scarce rations, and giving her the will to endure. This harrowing memoir portrays the best and worst of humanity in heartbreaking scenes you will never forget.
Winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award
An ALA Notable Book
An NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
Winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award
An ALA Notable Book
An NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
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