Rena's Promise Reviews

• Danka's Grandson

  
  By A35OELG1ODBO30 on 2004-08-11
  Hey everyone, I am Danka (Dina) Brandel's grandson, Andrew Brandel. Rena is my great aunt. It's really great to hear all of your praise about the book, and that you enjoyed reading about the stories I grew up on. My grandma gave these first hand accounts often, especially when I was younger and I know our whole family was very excited when my Tante Rena wrote it all down. They are both as amazing people in real life as they are portrayed in the story, I can assure you first hand. Anyway, I am glad you all enjoyed their story!
  
  

• Outstanding tale of love and evil.

  
  By A1P4F6HIXU6WYE on 2005-05-15
  There have been many first person accounts of the concentration camps. Rena's story is among the most detailed and gripping.
  
  Rena as a young woman turned herself in as a Jew in order to prevent problems for a family that was helping her. Little did she know of the ordeal that lie ahead. And when I say ordeal that does not begin to describe the terrifying journey that Rena takes.
  
  In the camps, Rena is eventually reunited with her sister Danka and makes a promise to her (hence the title of the book) that if she (Danka) is to be killed Rena will go with her. They will die or live together. As the story unfolds you really grasp the utter evil of the Nazi's as they played their evil games with the prisoners. How Rena and Danka manage to escape deaths door on so many occasions is a miracle. But they do. Yet the pain and suffering they experience is unimaginable. And the pain and suffering of those who meet untimely, unthinkable torture and deaths is described too.
  
  Whenever I am tempted to whine or moan or b*tch about something, I think of Rena and Danka and their incredible endurance. It puts my problems in perspective. The book also has made me appreciate the little things, like a hot shower or good book, a warm meal or a lazy morning sleeping. Things that Rena and Danka never received but could only dream of.
  
  This is a graphic book, but one that can change your way of thinking of life. A truly bold tale that opens your eyes to the deepest evil and the strongest love.
  
  
  
  

• Rena's Promise is a testimony of love, survival & triumph.

  
  By on 1998-10-31
  Rena's Promise is the beautifully told story of two remarkable young women in their early twenties who endure and survive nearly three and one half years as prisoners of the Nazis in Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. The love that Rena has for her younger sister, Danka, sustains her and helps her to endure the atrocities and indignities forced upon them on a daily basis by the Nazis. During the time they are prisoners, Rena never once forgets the promise to her mother to take care of her younger sister. There are numerous times when Rena unhesitatingly gives up her daily crust of bread in exchange for medicine or a much needed salve for Danka. And at times when Rena is able to "organize" an extra tidbit of food such as a tiny piece of potato peeling, she meticulously divides it and without exception shares it with her beloved sister. Although Rena is the stronger of the two sisters, Danka's strength emerges during the death march when Rena becomes so weak she cannot stand and walk without assistance. Danka refuses to leave her and with the help of a friend, they support Rena until she regains sufficient strength to walk. In the mist of thousands of starving prisoners when a crust of bread could mean the difference of life or death, Rena retained both dignity and honesty. She was once chosen unanimously by more than a hundred women prisoners with whom she worked to divide ten Red Cross packages of food that miraculously made their way into Rena's block. Numerous footnotes are provided by Rena's freelance co-author which helps the reader to place the events of Rena's story into the sequential order of previously documented facts of the Holocaust. Rena's Promise is a testimony of how the love for her sister gave her the will to go on and how something so simple as the offering by a Nazi of a rag to clean her beaten and bloody face was viewed as a great act compassion.
  
  

• Raw and moving

  
  By A62G4QX6XQVLP on 2005-01-03
  This was a very involving and detailed book; even though the content can be too much for some people, I really like how many specific details were given about what happened every day, instead of, like some other Shoah memoirs, just skipping between the most important events during the author's incarceration, or not giving enough details about daily life. I've read some pretty detailed Shoah memoirs, but this one by far has been the most intricately detailed one, complete with footnotes elaborating even further on the event or date being described. Rena and Danka were also prisoners in the camp from practically the very beginning, among the first civilian transports, as opposed to how there were originally only male political prisoners there. These incredible sisters had some incredible strokes of luck the way they escaped nearly certain death so many times, like when they just walked away from the roll call taking place before Mengele was to begin medical experiments or when Rena evaded detection at several roll calls after she stole potatoes in the last camp they were in. I would have liked some extra chapters on how they got by after the liberation too, but the afterword sufficed, telling us the basics about what happened to them and their friend Dina, as well as the fates of the various other people we met throughout the book, like the male prisoners who helped to save them at various points, or the fate of their other relatives and friends. I also liked how the story was told in nonlinear perspective at the beginning (i.e., in different voices and at different times). It was also surprising to read at the beginning that Rena had had her tattoo surgically removed and kept it in a jar of formaldehyde; I've only heard of a handful of survivors who elected to have their tattoos removed.
  
  

• Horrific and uplifting

  
  By A1UODWQ2K6DFXT on 2005-08-01
  I am still trying to come to terms with the Holocaust,although it happened long before I was born. I am trying to understand how humans could act with such incredible hatred and cruelty toward their fellow humans.
  This book has helped me in a different way.It has shown me how holding on to the sanctity of life can allow you to act in a totally selfless way.Rena promised she would bring her baby sister Danka back to Mama.The two endured years of struggle,and starvation,and disease and unspeakable cruelty,and they did it with the goal of freedom in sight. Day after miserable day.Year after miserable year.Rena's tenacity in keeping her promise shows just how good a human being can be when she is without greed,or vindictiveness. When she is faced with seemingly one insurmountable challenge after another.
  I will keep the memory of Rena and Danka and her family,and the lives of the women that Rena touched in Auschwitz the rest of my life.
  If you have a need to reaffirm your belief in the basic goodness of human nature,I suggest you read this book.In it you will find the worst a human can be,but in the end,who won out? Not the nazis .But Rena and Danka and thousands of others who simply hung on and endured.
  
  
• I had to read this one to my daughters
  By A2AS1AUF6VST1F on 2000-07-07
  I've been looking for a book about the Holocaust that I could read to my two daughters for a long time, and now I have found it!

  My daughters instantly bonded with Rena and her younger sister Danka. Seeing the world through Rena's eyes they were able to see many things I found hard to tell them. Though the eyes of a young girl-woman whom they could identify with, my daughters listen to and follow every word as I read.

  They see the devoted love of Rena's mother who shaved her head in Jewish Orthodox style in devotion to her husband, they watched as Rena flirted with a prohibited young gentile boyfriend who steals a first kiss, they see Poland invaded by Nazi power, they listen unbelievably as Rena steps in front of German soldiers with guns ready to shoot as she tells them you will have to shoot me first before I let you kill my father. We follow as she mistakenly sacrifices herself to save the others by turning herself into the German authorities and then becomes one of the first to be interned at Auschwitz only to see her younger sister Danka follow. My daughters listen on the edge of their seats as Rena makes a solemn death oath to her sister to protect and if necessary die for her and with her. We listen in tears as Rena is badly beaten for letting the older women in her work group rest. My girls recoil in shock as Rena tells of mothers and daughters waiting in line nude to be shaved from head to toe sometimes even by their own brothers and fathers under threat of death.

  There is much more, but, I can't do this book justice by trying to describe it here. So, in closing, I say this, Rena's Promise is a must buy and should be read by every teenager in the world.

  A MUST BUY!
  
  

• my promise
  By A20Z8YB55ZUJZT on 1999-12-21
  hello! i am 17 old and my name is tali koren from israel. this book is very special for me because Erna Drenger was my grandmother (she died 3 years ago) . my grandmother never told anyone what happened to her in the holocost . last year , after i read this book i desided that it will be the most respectfull thing to do for my grandmother sake that i loved the most from all my family, is to go to polin and birkenau to visit all those places that my grandmother had been. only because this book I desided to go and that trip changed my life. so I like to thank here to the writer and to rena for telling her story to us and to me and by no knowingly , she changed my life as well.
  
  
• What an AWESOME book-movie material big time!
  By A3QOKPU4NGANT6 on 2002-11-12
  This is the best Holocaust book I have read so far. It was touching, sad, and really heartwarming. Like most books written by survivors of concentration camps, it makes you angry that people could be so cruel and ruthlessly kill people and children at the drop of a hat.

  Rena and Danka are sisters, aged 21 and 19 when they are sent to Auschwitz. Rena promises her mother that she will take care of her baby sister Danka, and watch after her, and never leave her side. Rena sticks by that promise and lives it out.

  The book shows that there is strength in numbers, and how sticking by each other, can help people through the most horrible situations. Even at the camps, where murder, starvation and disease was rampant, Rena and Danka managed to make alot of friends, including some male inmates on the other side of the electric fence. These men managed to sneak medical supplies,food and notes to Rena and Danka, giving them the strength to try and survive one more day.

  There are helpful footnotes at the bottom of many of the pages explaining some historical facts and definitions the reader may not have been previously familiar with.

  I was particularly disturbed at the part where the SS selected some girls to practice gymnastics for a few days so that they may put on a show for the very SS guards that sometimes yelled and beat them. All for a little bit of extra food. The girls were already sick and weak and to make these girls do this was outright cruel-no surprise though to people who know how evil the SS and Nazi's were.

  Rena's quick thinking got her and Danka out of a couple situations which would have resulted in imminent death.

  There is also a nice update at the end of the book and Rena does her best to update the reader on some main characters in the book-the friends that helped her, and the enemies that made her life hell.

  Excellent book. 10/10. Speiberg, take note.
  
  

• Rena's Promise should be required reading in schools throughout the world
  By A3OZPA2Y2SUYX5 on 2007-03-09
  This was undoubtedly one of the most horrifying, detailed and memorable Holocaust survival books I've ever read, and I've read many. At times throughout the book my tears would not stop - not just for the brutality of it all, but for the fact that despite all the evil surrounding her and committed upon her, Rena continued to live an altruisticly and humanely. Consistently, Rena shared every morsel of food she "organized" with her sister, always dividing it evenly, never willing to take food away from another prisioner - never reducing herself to the Nazi's level. It is incredible to read how she was able to survive despite all the odds and obstacles. She is not only a survivor but a true hero and I am forever changed and better for having known her story; I just wish I could have known her.
  
  I recommend this book to everyone and think it should be required reading for schoolchildren throughout the world. NEVER FORGET!!!
  
  
• A testimony of love, survival and triumph
  By A3V68CD8CYSJ56 on 1997-11-22
  By: Joe E. White

  Rena's Promise is the beautifully told story of two remarkable young women in their early twenties who endure and survive nearly three and one half years as prisoners of the Nazis in Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. The love that Rena has for her younger sister, Danka, sustains her and helps her to endure the atrocities and indignities forced upon them on a daily basis by the Nazis.

  During the time they are prisoners, Rena never once forgets the promise to her mother to take care of her younger sister. There are numerous times when Rena unhesitatingly gives up her daily crust of bread in exchange for medicine or a much needed salve for Danka. And at times when Rena is able to "organize" an extra tidbit of food such as a tiny piece of potato peeling, she meticulously divides it and without exception shares it with her beloved sister.

  Although Rena is the stronger of the two sisters, Danka's strength emerges during the death march.
  
  

• The Best!!!
  By A2DIMJBSPS25S0 on 2004-10-01
  My son sent me this book and I loved it. I have always felt that I was a Jew in the Holocaust and a lot of the dreams and fears I have were shown in this book. If you like this kind of material-please do not miss this one.
  
  
• Retaining human bonds and spirit in Auschwitz
  By on 1996-09-09
  In her book, Rena's Promise, Rena Kornreich Gelissen reveals what it means to survive inAuschwitz, a system which flourishes through death. We see through the eyes of a civilian turnedprisoner and learn that, in a time and place where a person comes within a hair of dying by a crushing boot, to lift her head and see her sister still breathing next to her lends persistent hope. To one who is beaten and nearly sent to a gas chamber, an offer of a rag to clean her tortured face is the ultimate compassion. And to be led to the barracks of more "privileged" prisoners means to see blankets and sinks as an unattainable luxury. In retelling her experiences in the largest death camp of the Third Reich, Rena shows how all external complications of civilized life are stripped away and survival is nourished by any hint of a human soul. Humanity can be found in varying degrees and transcends rank, power and "race". An offering of a fellow prisoner's bread lends the will to go on, and the love for her sister lends her the strength to survive for over three years within a system geared toward mass killing. Yet Rena always keeps in mind the element of chance and the memory of those who were not so lucky. This is a highly spiritual story, saying that even through the worst of times, when all else is gone, the presence of love gives us hope, and hope gives us strength. It is the remarkable story of a woman who has dealt with the worst, and yet we can relate to her story because she is so straightfoward and very much like us.
  
  
• This is a must read for every Holocaust Research Project
  By A34MMAKJS44KZ7 on 2000-10-28
  Rena does everything she possibly can to survive the concentration camp, but she must also keep her sister, Danka, alive. It has footnotes that are remarkable. It takes you all throughout World War II from the stand point of this survivor. This is actually an interview done by Ms. Heather Dune MacAdam with Rena looking back at this awful time in her life.
  
  
• Amazing
  By A17JO8TVI4M7JX on 2002-06-21
  Even though I am already in college, I am not a big fan of reading, especailly for classes and especially for History class. However, the Holocaust is the one event I find the most interesting. Everyone knows Anne Frank's story, but Rena's story is much more compelling. I found myself breathing with her or having the same curiousities. Rena is amazing and I hope she reads this! Being one of the first women there and going through so much, well, I am in awe of her. It puts this horrifing event into a realistic perspective and since she is my age, it was easier to relate. Her life there was like a movie written for suspence. I couldn't put the book down for fear something would happen without me. How her spirit did not die with those people I will never know, but she is something special and so is any survivor of that hard to imagine event.
  
  
• More than words can say!!!!
  By A1AMUA2K8KFBXK on 2004-03-17
  A deeply moving and vivid story of survival! I will think of Rena and Danka on May 2nd of every year and always when I see red and white carnations together! I've read numerous books on the holocaust, from memoirs, bios, etc., this one was so moving! Highly recommend!!!! Let us all NEVER forget!!!!!
  
  
• A Deeper Understanding
  By A1H1M5OSBILBDJ on 2006-01-07
  Rena's Promise has helped me reach a deeper understanding of life inside the gates of Auschwitz. I read it because of a reccomendation from a friend, and I am glad that I did. Rena has done the most important thing by sharing her story. She has allowed the reader to see her at the lowest moment of her life, and has helped us see that the shame is not on her, but on those who acted upon the evil they were allowed. This is a story which can not be read lightly, and which will rest within you for the remainder of your days.
  
  
• Beautifully written story
  By A3LL9ATIY8DMR5 on 2000-01-24
  Last eyar I went to e Holocaust Museaum in Washington DC with my organization. My grandfather was directly involved in the holocaust, and I was very anzious to visit. A firend bought this book for me att he end of our tour, I read it in about two hours. It broke my heart, and filled me with joy when I read the ending and learned about Rena's and Danka's liberation. I HIGHLY recommend you read this book, it not only fills you with insight on what people went through at camps, but you're are placed in the story as if you were there. Its a wonderful book. Read it!
  
  
• Rena's Promise MUST BE READ BY ALL !!
  By on 1998-09-01
  Everyone must read Rena's Promise. Especially those of us who live in a wealthy country such as Canada or the United States. Reading Rena and Danka's story will give you a new respect for your life as well as ALL life. What losses we endure are nothing compared to those suffered in the 'Nazi Death Camps'. The value of these lessons cannot be measured nor can the price paid for them be. All testimonies of suffering by the Jews of Europe were paid with blood. Even a simple evening at home, is to courageous people like Rena and Danka, a luxury. Over and over again we hear the teaching "We must never let this kind of nightmare happen again." And yet it does. Current "Ethnic Cleansing" in Bosnia is but one example of how our wealthy countries ignore the horrors of the Evil that men and women do. "There is nothing monetary to be 'gained' by involving ourselves to assist those persecuted in other countries." I have no doubt people like Rena and Danka will surely rank among the highest in Heaven. May God Bless them richly and may God help us to attain our potential for living a peaceful and respectful life from sharing their story. You must read their story.
  
  
• Rena's Promise: A testimony of love, survival and triumph
  By on 1997-11-19
  Rena's Promise is the beautifully told story of two remarkable young women in their early twenties who endure and survive nearly three and one half years as prisoners of the Nazis in Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. The love that Rena has for her younger sister, Danka, sustains her and helps her to endure the atrocities and indignities forced upon them on a daily basis by the Nazis.

  During the time they are prisoners, Rena never once forgets the promise to her mother to take care of her younger sister. There are numerous times when Rena unhesitatingly gives up her daily crust of bread in exchange for medicine or a much needed salve for Danka. And at times when Rena is able to "organize" an extra tidbit of food such as a tiny piece of potato peeling, she meticulously divides it and without exception shares it with her beloved sister.

  Although Rena is the stronger of the two sisters, Danka's strength emerges during the death march when Rena becomes so weak she cannot stand and walk
  
  

• A powerful account of horror
  By AO3BAW8YSYFLW on 2002-02-17
  "Rena's Promise" is a powerful first-hand account of life and death in the Women's camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Rena Kornreich submitted herself to the Germans in 1942 on the assumption she was doing the right thing under the Anti-Jewish laws of the time. Certainly the last thing she expected was the boxcar ride to Auschwitz.

  The book is very well written, and kudos are due to Heather Dune MacAdam for her ability to listen to, draw out, and summarize Mrs. Gelissen's memories. I found the footnotes relating events in the narrative to external documentation are very useful. I would have liked more of these, but I think their inclusion would have spoiled the overall flow and the book is better for their absence.

  A particularly powerful theme in the book is the sense of monotony that Mrs. Gelissen and others survived: "4 a.m. Raus! Raus!"--this is repeated over and over in each section--followed by hard labor.

  After reading "Rena's Promise" I could not imagine how she (and the other survivors) reconstructed their lives after 1945. It is an amazing thing.

  I think "Rena's Promise" and Elie Wiesel's "Night" provide excellent personal accounts of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Neither are heavily footnoted historical references (Gutman's "Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp" being an example). I would also recommend "We Were in Auschwitz".
  
  

• Moving And Beautifull
  By A1O4UBZ7G4ID65 on 2003-02-09
  Rena's Promise is a most moving and beautifull Holocaust book, and without all the gore, it still shows the atrocity that was hapenning during the holocaust. Rena also manages to stay un-bitter about her past in the Dark War, making this book a classic memoir to the dead. Astonishing and breath taking, you will be held captive by the past, held in this book.
  
  
• Fantastic Read!
  By A27DMTZEGXVZJ on 2005-03-17
  This book was very touching and intriguing. It flowed well and kept me interested throughout the entire book. I finished it in 3 days. The writers detail of her experience is so gripping you feel as if you are with her in the concentration camp. Great read!
  
  
• Rena's Promise
  By A3KK5MVJVH9X73 on 2006-02-06
  This is one of the most haunting, gripping books I have ever read. I first read this book when I was 11, and from the second page, I could not put it down. Rena, a young jewish girl, transported to Auschwitz, writes vividly about her memories, and what really got me, was that she wrote with no self pity or hatred whatsoever. Her love for her sister, Danka, was another amazing thing about her. Rena swore to Danka that if she was selected (chosen for death) she would not go alone. This, to me, seemed such an incredibly selfless act I wept when I read it. This book is a must read for all adults and teenagers.
  
  
• Excellent Book!
  By A23V4NIWRA17E6 on 2006-07-21
  I have read hundreds of Holocaust survivor stories. This is by far one of the very best. You won't want to put it down.
  
  
• "I do not have room in my heart to hate. To hate is to let Hitler win." --Rena
  By A1RDIR8E25E1PL on 2006-09-26
  For those fans of Rena, who have not heard, she passes away on August 8, 2006. It is up to you now to carry her voice and her story to the world. Among those sending condolences, The Museum of Women at Auscwitz, Poland, wrote, "Our historians still feel this is one of the most historically accurate and important book on Auschwitz ever written."
  
  You can learn more about Rena's Promise, where a study guide is available for teachers and book clubs at www.heatherdune.com
  
  
  
• Survival in Auschwitz
  By A1G9FX1KV45N41 on 2007-02-22
  Rena Kornreich was 19 years old when the Nazis swept into Poland. She recounts her experiences under the brutal Nazi occupation of Poland, and her deportation, along with her younger sister Danka, in March 1942. to Auschwitz, where in harrowing detail she tells of the horrifying conditions there, and the preverse cruety of the Nazis.
  She tells of her promise to stand by her sister to the end, and describes the gas chambers and the cruel experiments on Jewish girls and women by Mengele.
  She recounts the logic of Nazi genocide...how any consistent Nazi plan had to traget Jewish women specifically as women., for they were the only ones who would be able to ensure the continuation of Jewish life.There is sound evidence that the odds for surviving the Holocaust were worse for Jewish women than Jewish men.
  
  [...]
  
  Rena tells how she and her sister survived against the odds, and the epilogue tells of the lives of those who survived, and their experiences after the war.
  
  
  
• simply amazing
  By A2ODJ3RUD25SUN on 2000-07-09
  this book is just simply amazing. I loved reading about how friendships could be formed so easily despite the conditions and how they were so resourceful. There always seemed to be a bright side. What I like about this book is that it doesn't just go on about how bad things were, but how good simple pleasures could be and how hope was always there.
  
  
• Rena's Promise: A Riveting Read
  By A3V1SKJ5QUANI8 on 2000-08-06
  This is definitely one of those books that you can't put down. I carried on reading through the night. It incites every human emotion. It is shocking, heart rending, exciting and very moving. My son, aged 15, also read the book and thought it an excellent read also.
  
  
• A remarkable story by a honest, trustworthy, modest, woman
  By A31MN5C98LFB56 on 2002-07-11
  The first time I read Rena's Promise, I was inspired and surprised that the young woman seemed unaware of how truly
  remarkable she was, and what she did. Her honesty, integrity,
  trustworthiness, and promise to care for her sister, can only
  be understood by reading her book. Her book is 1 of my 2 favorite
  books written by Holocaust survibors'. I have read so many yet her book stays in my mind. As I read her book I felt like she had
  taken my hand and I was right beside her as she struggled through
  the daily survival of the death camps, protecting her sister.
  If you haven't read her book, you have no idea what you have missed. I read that she lives in North Carolina, and I was there
  working for six months. I have never written a fan letter to
  a celebrity, yet I wanted to write one to her. More so I wanted
  to meet her. I rate this book as a 12 STAR+
  
  
• the best account ever
  By A3BT8MF0VXTUR8 on 2003-06-18
  rena's promis is one of the best accounts of consintration camps i have ever read. it shows how two sisters fight together and stand together when all the odds are against them. rena never leaves her sister's side and together, they stand up to the forces against them, and bake it through the consintration camps together. this book was heart wrenching, but you always love the two girls and the people who help them through out the book. this book makes you want to just run up and give these two girls a hug; it really is one of the best accounts of the brutality of the S.S. i have ever read, and i will always remember this book.
  
  

• I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In The Holocaust
• Five Chimneys: The Story of Auschwitz
• The Seamstress
• All But My Life
• In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer