All But My Life Reviews

• Be strong, be strong!

  
  By A3HTKV1AW14EDB on 2001-06-20
  These lasts words, Gerda Weissmann hears ring out over the crowd of Jews as they are herded away like cattle to an uncertain end. The person shouting them is her mother who is about to be ripped from her life. The Nazi's have taken everything she holds dear, family, home, friends and now she will fight for all that remains, her life and dignity.

  This book is a remarkable slice of time and life, written by a true survivor who lived through the times that tried men's souls. As she wades through the atrocities of a Nazi occupation, concentration camps, and a death march amidst freezing temperatures, to be liberated by her one true love, she is true to her mother's request. This is an amazing story that will stay a part of you forever. I am astonished at her strength of spirit and her continued belief in the future. A book doesn't get much better than this. Kelsana 6/19/01
  
  

• Saved by her boots--and her soul

  
  By ATDE9JYCPI0L1 on 2001-07-17
  On the hot June day that Gerda Weissmann left her home for the last time, her father insisted that she wear her hiking boots. Gerda resisted, but an unspoken plea in her father's eye convinced her to strap them on. During a death march from January through April of 1945, those boots saved Gerda Weissmann's life. Many other women died of cold and starvation, but most fell for simple lack of footwear. Her camp sister, with whom she survived the worst horrors in several concentration and slave labor camps, died of exhaustion at a water pump minutes after American liberators freed the women from the march.

  Ms. Klein's tale about her boots, screened at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, led me to her book. I wanted to know every detail--although, over the years, I have been privileged to hear many personal accounts from Holocaust survivors I know. Too many still cannot not speak about what they lived through. Millions never had the chance at all. By itself, the silence of the majority makes Ms. Klein's testimony priceless, like every other personal Holocaust chronicle. So does her reminder not to take anything for granted. So does her gem of a soul. Alyssa A. Lappen
  
  

• One of the most moving books I have ever read!

  
  By A1V3W53IBNGNHN on 1999-01-15
  I want to thank Gerda for sharing her experiences in Nazi Germany. Her accounts are so horrific, but within it all I also felt her profound sense of hope and faith. In reading her memoir I was moved by the thought of what an incredible plan God had in store for Gerda. She survived to tell not only her story but that of so many Jews who lost there lives in WWII. Gerda, God is working through you to share with the world what Mankind is capable of.....ManKind, such an ironic word to use in that sentence, for Gerda saw very little kindness in most of Nazi Germany, yet she lights the precious moments of when kindness was shown to her and her friends. It is a book I shall never forget, and when I am feeling challenged in my own life, I will pick up Gerda's book and re-read, and re-read, for I know I have more to learn for this work. Thank-you Gerda! God Bless!
  
  

• Imagine

  
  By on 2005-11-03
  Before reading this book I had visited Dachau, a labor camp in the south of Germany. I was shocked and appalled by what I heard went on in this camp, but until I read this book I never fully understood what it would be like for someone my own age living in a camp such as this one. The things she had to deal with just aren't what a girl my age should be dealing with, but obviously Gerda had no choice. I cannot even imagine what it would feel like to watch my family be torn apart, or watch my friends slowly drop like flies as the Germans worked them to the bone. Honestly, no one can relate to what these people went through.
  
  Now, after reading this book, I realized how I take many things for granted, like food that my parents put on my plate every night. I mean I never even thought of a life without it, and even my family itself. What would I do without them, they give me so much support in my everyday life. It is unfortunate that Gerda wasn't able to be with them during such a rough time like the holocaust. She may have had her good friends from Bielitz but that could never fill the "holes" of missing family members.
  
  I would recommend this book to anyone, because we can all learn a lesson for this woman. You will laugh and cry, and from the first page you will be drawn in by her descriptions and all her experiences during the holocaust that you will just have to read it cover to cover.
  
  

• Wonderfully Moving

  
  By A23EL2EFJY6HET on 2000-07-23
  I read this book very recently as part of my school system's summer reading program. I had expected it to be an intriguing and saddening story about a girl's experiences in the Holocaust, but I did not expect it to be so moving, inspirational, and relateable true story. This book opened myself, and my friends to what these women must have felt. The fact that Gerda was our age at the time of her captivity and was going through the exact same experiences that we were help us to understand what was going on and how she must have felt about personal problems and boys, and basically everything that teenage girls still go through. We realized how truly lucky we were to live our lives free and have all of our friends to go to when we need help, and not have to worry where and if we are having our next meal. I recommend this book to anyone, any age, and sex, any race. Although she is a teenage girl, anyone can profit from this book.
  
  
• What an insightful, honest look into the Holocaust camps
  By A1BI8PUEHA5CHW on 2001-04-26
  We of today's generation are bombarded with historical information that has happened in the past 100 years and they tend to lose their sting ~~ we're not all that interested in what had happened 50 years or so ago. We hear about it too often and become desensitized to it. But Klein's book will sting you with its brutal honesty and descriptions of life in a German camp. But at the same time, she will write of the glimmer of hope that persuades her to keep on living through the darkest hours of her life. She writes of the horror in such a way, that you feel that you are there, marching beside her to a future filled with dread. You are there when she was separated from her parents. You will weep when she realizes that her entire family is gone. And you will revisit the memories of the war during her happiest moments in life. You will fall in love with her husband ~~ the first American on the scene at the camp. You will shudder at the horrors that were visited upon the girls in those camps and the near misses of shootings, bombings and near death experiences. And a lot of us today have no experiences with starvation, disease, being invaded and being tortured simply because of our religious beliefs. We have no idea of how fortunate we are ~~ and Gerda Weissmann Stein reminds us that we are fortunate. We have never gone through anything even remotely close to what she, along with millions of others, have endured.

  I did promise myself after reading "Schlinder's List" that I was never going to read another book on the Holocaust again ~~ it was just too hard on the heart and soul to read about others' suffering. But when a friend of mine suggested this book, I decided to try it. And I have nothing but words of praise and admiration for Gerda Weissmann Klein. This is a well-written account of her life before WWII, during the war and after the war. She has given me a new appreciation of the life I have now. I cannot imagine going through a life that she has endured simply because she was a Jew.

  Mrs. Stein puts a human touch on the horrible camp experiences and she tells the story as if you were sitting in the room with her ~~ it's a personal story. One full of hope and courage and despair. It's a story that every one should hear because we shouldn't forget what had happened in Germany/Poland and other countries. We should listen to this story and be reminded of the fact that we all are part of the human race despite our differences.

  I suggest that everyone should at least pick up this book and keep a box of kleenexes close by. It is one book that will change your whole outlook on the Holocaust. You won't forget it ~~ nor will you forget the courage that Mrs. Stein showed throughout the book. You will be haunted by some of the stories she shares with you ~~ but you won't forget. Not all Jews in the Holocaust are victims, there are survivors too. And Mrs. Stein is one who I call a survivor ~~ she doesn't let bitterness taint her story. She tells it as it is and shares her lessons on life along the way. It is an unforgettable book that I think belongs in every library.
  
  

• Moving account of Holocaust experience
  By A2HR1Y2FK5KTWM on 2001-05-20
  In *All but My Life*, Gerda Weissmann Klein tells us the story of a young girl forced into the events of the Nazi Holocaust. The story of a family torn apart never to see one another again. The story of Nazi work camps and death camps and seemingly endless inhumanity. Sadly, this story was her own.

  Klein provided a heartwrenching account of the events leading from her teens to her adult years. We met her family, lived vicariously through her relationships with friends and neighbors and hoped and prayed the Nazis never capturedd the Weissmanns. But the inevitable occurred.

  Over the years that Gerda was a prisoner of the Nazis, we learned of the unspeakable acts the Germans performed. And we cried with Gerda through her experiences. And we finally felt the joy of freedom and the love relationship that ensued.

  *All but My Life* should go up on our shelves next to *Schindler's List* and *The Diary of Anne Frank*. It's an absolute must read and a classic. Thank you, Gerda, for showing all of us what must not ever happen again.
  
  

• Strength and Courage without Measure
  By A1XY3SJZLJIXSI on 2005-03-25
  I recently had an opportunity to hear Gerda Weissman Klein speak of her experiences as a Holocaust survivor. You may remember Ms. Klein from the HBO Film based upon her startling story, which won an Academy Award. As a pampered, fifteen year-old Jewish girl in 1939, her idyllic family life came to an abrupt halt when the Nazis rolled into their small Polish town.
  
  For a short period of time, her family was permitted to remain in their house, albeit in the basement. Over time, her family unravelled, shipped off one at a time to the death camps. Her beloved brother, Arthur. Her father. Her mother. All disappeared, never to be seen again. By 1942, she began her journey through a series of increasingly harsh slave-labor camps, using an ability to speak German and a quickly acquired expertise on garment looms. Only through a series of fortuitous coincidences, sacrifices of friends, and even a few benefactors among her captors, was she able to survive the factories.
  
  By 1945, the Nazis were on the run and their prisoners were forced to move back into Germany. Stripped of all possessions except for some photographs tucked into her ski boots (which her father had presciently demanded she wear the summer she left home), she survived the 350-mile winter "death march". Only 120 of 2000 girls survived the forced march and Gerda herself was liberated by American soldiers only hours from death: she weighed 68 pounds when Lt. Kurt Klein, who was to become her husband, rolled into town.
  
  There are few, if any, more compelling first-person stories of survival against all odds. Perhaps John Ransom's Andersonville Diary qualifies. But those who are unfamiliar with the concept of true evil would do well to read Gerda's unbelievable story of human spirit, and courage without measure.
  
  
• Moved to tears.
  By A24Z5M3RWR65MS on 2000-02-16
  This wonderful yet appalling, touching yet poingnant memoir is a horrific revelation of one young woman's fight for survival against a demeaning opponent: the holocaust. Her story will effect you in a great way and make you ponder life, love, and what happiness truly is.
  
  
• A Tribute to the Human Spirit
  By A1UVY6E63SAA9K on 2000-01-16
  I first saw Gerda Weissmann Klein on the Oprah show. Then I was so fortunate to hear her speak at Northern Kentucky University. With her lovely accent, she explained how memories of her brother, father, and mother kept her spirit from faltering into the depths. She told us how a friend had shared a single raspberry. She shared with us the command of her father to wear her skiing boots in the heat of summer which was one of the factors that saved her life. This book gives the miraculous details of her life during the Nazi take-over and a brief glimpse into her life during and after her liberation. I am a teacher and I believe this would be a great book to be read to students of the appropriate maturity level. God bless you, Gerda. Vivian Schardt
  
  
• Gerda Weissman Klein, the horrors that made her survive
  By A1Z8O749NGZ9UF on 2000-04-10
  We had to read this book for Western Civilization in College, and I could not put it down. I read the entire book in only four hours, the first time. I have read it four times since it was assigned, and could not put it down any of the times, until I reached the final page. Trying to write a paper on this book has been an eye opening experience for me, knowing that such a beautiful story about this person could in fact bring me to tears every time I read it. I applaud Mrs. Klein for having the courage to talk so intimately about her life, and to share her life with us all. An outstanding book, making me want to read more by this outstanding author.
  
  
• An unforgettable story
  By A2PV2GB1R4EA9K on 2005-02-03
  I have just finished reading All But My Life. I was deeply moved by Gerda's strength, but I have also come to admire the language she uses in her memoir. It's amazing that Klein has survived so much and can still retell her tale with such vivid detail. One of the things I enjoyed about her writing was the way she told the reader what would happen to a certain character in the future. For example, when her father is leaving , she writes, "We watched until the train was out of sight. I never saw my father again". Although some readers may be disappointed because they know what will happen, I think that this makes a much stronger impact. The reader knows what Gerda doesn't yet know, and it makes her struggle that much more unforgettable. I would strongly recommend this book to everyone, it's a story that needs to be heard.
  
  
• Life, Hope, Survival
  By A3J5XYMTZ0YYTE on 2005-11-28
  It may have been serendipity that the author survived the German labor camps. This book, however, is about more than serendipity--it's about character, and the ability of a survivor to heal and find beauty, purpose and love in the aftermath of great personal tragedy.
  
  
• An etraordinary novel filled with hope and terror.
  By A3JQ1UTUNSLDL4 on 2000-04-20
  This novel is one of the best novels about the Holocaust that I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The horrifying tale about one young woman's experience as a slave laborer to the Nazis touches your heart. Not only does it tell the tale of the Holocaust, but it is a tale of hope and survival. I would not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 13 however because the subject matter might be to much for them to bear. I myself am 13, and I found myself in tears towards the end of the novel. This wonderful novel by Gerda Weissmann Klein is a definate must read.
  
  
• All But My Life
  By on 1999-12-13
  After I read this book I had to evaluate how I actually handled events that I felt were "overwhelming" in my own life. This story , from the very beginning, is so well described with feeling that I could feel and see exactly what the author had experienced. I have referred this book to all my friends.
  
  
• Unforgettable Experience!
  By on 2005-11-02
  When I started out reading the book, I thought it would be another amazing book about the struggles and hardships of the Holocaust, I was extremely wrong, it was way more than that! Gerda Weissmann Klein takes you through every night, every tear that was shed and every breath that was taken in her journey of survival with her family.
  Gerda went through, along with thousands of others, the fear and desperation that millions of others couldn't even fathom in a life time. She has recreated the scenes from her house; the burned down church and the Nazis marching down the street as if you were right by her side.
  The part that I loved the most about the book was the entire idea of getting truly in touch with the family. You feel for each and every one of them, you heart reaches out to them in hope you ease their pain; and the surreal attraction is, is that you finish the book and you feel like apart of you just ended with it.
  I recommend this book to every one that wants to find the true meaning of love, and triumph. This book has changed my life and I know it will change many others!
  
  
  
• one of my favorites!
  By A21SEFNC0IUZUN on 2000-03-09
  this was an amazing book. i have read it over and over so many times that i've lost count. i aslo heard ms. weissmann klein speak, and that was just as powerful. if you liked all but my life, watch "one survivor remembers."
  
  
• Another View of the Holocaust
  By on 1999-07-10
  Having obtained a Bachelor's degree in Jewish Studies, I have read alot of Holocaust literature. This text stands out as perhaps the finest memoir I have ever read. It exposes a side of the Nazi work camps that I have not read alot about. Yes, it is graphic, but the humamity and courage of Gerda's life shine through. Having met Gerda in person, and attended a lecture of hers, she is in person just as she is in her memoir; a wonderful and shining soul. She embodies the meaning of strength.
  
  
• This is the best book I have ever read!
  By on 1997-08-18
  All But My Life is the true story of one girls life during the second world war. Gerda Weissmann Klein writes about her six horrific years and her many brushes of death. She is seperated from her parents after living in their cellar for over a year. The Nazis order the men to one city and the women to another. Once she and her mother reach the town, she is shoved in a different direction. This story displays one teen-agers courage while she was living in Hell. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone, especially those who, like me, love to read and learn about World War Two. Congratulations Gerda Weissmann Klein on the best book I have ever read!
  
  
• Captivating story of survival
  By A274MK2L351W8D on 2000-11-18
  Having put down her experiences during the Holocaust down on paper, Gerda Weissmann Klein helps insure that this dark age in our history will never be forgotten. The way the words flow from page to page add a fleck of beauty to such a story of terror at the hands of the Nazis. This is a book that everyone should read in their lifetime; a classic work.
  
  
• A True Story Of Never-Ending Hope
  By ADEMI6DLI0T16 on 2001-05-21
  I read this book for my Best Sellers class my Senior year. Mrs. Klein came to our school and spoke numerous times before I had even heard of this inspirational story. I wish I had been reccommended this book much earlier in my life. Gerda's story has inspired me to never give up hope in what I truly want. Even when things may seem their worst, they always find a way of getting better. Gerda Weissman Klein is such an inspirational writer. The story of her life during the Holocaust was one that I will never be able to forget. I can think of no greater hero than her. I have always been interested in books relating to this topic and time period. I am so thankful I finally found one this moving. What a great job describing your past! This novel will always remain on the top of my favorite book list!
  
  
• This book deepy moved my soul
  By on 2002-04-23
  I could not put this book down. I was sorry when I finished reading it because I could have gone on forever with reading it.
  The things that Gerda Weissman Klein suffered, her deep thoughts, her gratefulness now for the small things that we take for granted such as a loaf of bread, an apple, clean sheets--all of these things made me realize how very grateful I am for just the plain things in my life.
  I feel so much and so sorry for what she had to go through, for the losses that she incurred. As a Jewish person myself, I identify with her and her story moved me to tears.
  I was horrified to read of the cold and calculating cruelty to which Gerda and her family and the Jewish people had to suffer, and to learn of the unbelievable cruel manner in which this systematic cold torture and cruelty was carried out.
  I recommend this book so highly. No one who reads it will be able to forget this deeply moving story.
  
  
• A fitting Title for a Touching Story
  By on 2002-08-22
  "All but My Life" by Gerda Weismann Klein was one of he the most emotional books I've ever read. It's not fiction, it's reality, and the author told it like it was in the Europe in the forties; depressing, stressful, and very, very horrifying. This book tells a story no one should avoid; the story of anti-semitism and hate for other human beings and above all, the fact that everyone has different beliefs. I think the author is very brave for letting the world in on what really happened in Nazi Germany, and I suggest that you read or buy this book. It is touching and educational, but is a rather high level of reading and I suggest it for people 11 and up, if not 13 and up. This book doesn't just tell a story, it tells life.
  
  
• Great Book!
  By A2BJH7YFX7J8W on 2004-03-01
  All but my life is a memoir about a girl named Gerda Weissmann having to deal with being Jewish during the Holocaust. She grew up in Poland with her parents and brother Arthur in a small town called Bielitz. Gerda was 16 years old when the war with Germany started. She had to get used to a "not-so-normal" life. From her brother being sent to a camp to teir family having to move into the basement of their own home, Gerda has to adapt to so many new things. Finally when they get settled into their new lives they get a letter from the German government telling them they have to move to a camp. Devastated, their family packs and then settles into their new "shack" they have to call home. A few days after getting used to the shack, they found out that Gerda's father was being sent to a camp and then day later Gerda and her mother get separated from eachouther and both sent to their own camps, never to see each other again.
  All her life Gerda had relied on her parents for security. She never had to worry about working because her parents were taking care of their family. How in a new camp, all alone with just her best friend and many other Jewish girls her age, they all had to do everything the Germans told them to.
  Gerda is one of the stongest girls I have ever read about. She has to go through so much throighout the whole book. She has to deal with leaving everyone in her family; after having to work in a Jewish camps run by the Germans, she has to walk miles after miles to Auschwitz. During her walk, the war ends and the Jewish survivor are all set free, Gerda meets her future husband while recovering from malnutrition. When she recovers, She and her husband move to the U.S. where she had to get used to being "free" for she had not been for so many years.
  "Freedom" is a work I have seemed to always take for granted for I have never been a slave or been told everything that I was allowed to do. All of my life I have been free and after reading this book I have realized how luky I am. Gerda had to deal with so much and never gave up. She was so strong when everything else game up. One of her quotes from the book that always sticks out when I think of her book is "Now I have to live, because I am alone and nothing can hurt me anymore."
  She lost everything, and when most people would give up she kept going. This was one of the things that made me enjoy this book. Gerda's ambition was amazing at times, and you just wanted to see what she might do next. The emotion that Gerda puts into this book made it a great book to read, It helps you understand what she was feeling at this time.
  After finishing this book I felt I had a different feeling towards life. So many things I can do on a daily basis I take for granted. This book really showed me that the problems i thought i had arent really problems at all. Gerda went through so much during this book and she still continued. Anything you want to do, you can do it if you believe in yourself.
  So in conclusion I think this book is a very good book. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the Holocaust because although in may seem sad at times it gives you a whole different prospective on the word "Life".
  
  
• A very well written book on the holocaust.
  By A44IPLYXYEWCF on 2004-11-28
  I just finished this book. Amazing would not describe to you what I felt. Gerda went through so much, the death walk, how she survived that,is in itself a miracle. She lived with discrimination, just for being a Jew. I read this book and am brought to the understanding of how very fortunate I am to have never gone through something like this. What a life we all live, everyday with food in abundance and all the things we have. How so many people don't realize how lucky they have it!
  
  However, it is even more than that, being sad for all the Jews who died, and the ones who lived with the painful memories the rest of their lives. It is such a learning experience. Our children need to read these books, to know not to treat anyone unkind and never never to think of ones self as better than any other.
  
  Thank you Gerda for writing this book! What a blessing it was to me, to be able to read your experience. I am so horrified people had to endure these experiences. Nobody should ever have to go through those experiences.
  
  T B, Oregon
  
  
• REMARKABLE WOMAN
  By A1M6OG7HQ64281 on 2005-06-14
  I HAVE HAD THE HONOR AND PRIVALEDGE TO HAVE MET THIS WOMAN AND SPEND TIME WITH HER. I READ THIS BOOK FOR THE FIRST TIME WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN AND HAVE SINCE READ THIS BOOK ALMOST EVERY YEAR. THIS BIOGRAPHY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. INSIDE THE BOOK THERE ARE SOME PHOTOS, HER ONLY PHOTOS OF HER FAMILY THAT SHE KEPT HIDDEN INSIDE HER WINTER BOOTS THAT HER FATHER FORCED HER TO WEAR EVEN IN THE SUMMER. IF YOU GET A CHANCE TO HEAR THIS WOMAN SPEAK, IT IS MUST, SHE WILL HAS A WAY OF SPEAKING AND WRITING THAT WILL LEAVE YOU SPEECHLESS. I HAVE BEEN TO MANY SPEAKERS BEFORE AND HAVE READ COUNTLESS MEMOIRS ON THE SUBJECT, BUT SHE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS MADE ME CRY. THE WAY SHE CAPTURES HER AUDIENCE IS MESMORIZIING AND IT WILL LEAVE YOU WANTING TO KNOW MORE. GERDA'S STORY ALSO WON AN ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FEATURE. THIS IS A MUST READ. I READ IT IN LESS THAN A WEEK.
  
  
• Amazing
  By A3VJ3RVZQEHJWG on 2006-05-10
  I read this book for an eigth grade English project last year. It is truely touching and amazing to think how the world once was, and still is in some areas of the world. When I read this book, I could hardly put it down. Even now, it makes me remember the pain the war caused. This is a good read that speaks the truth.
  
  
• The Next to Greatest Story Ever Told!
  By A26B3AC993Z40 on 2000-04-26
  I was so touched by Gerda's heartfelt writing. I feel as though she truly brought me with her to meet those she loved and lost. Her accounts were not just horrific tales from a distance, but a story of a young girl full of hope and love for others, living through what had to have been the most dificult time in history. I am so glad to know there are more books she has written for me to read.
  
  
• An amazing tale of horror and love
  By A2CIQ3M5YTPAQY on 1999-11-06
  I read this book in my senior year of high school. From the second I picked it up, I could not put it down. Gerda Klein put her life down on paper in a way that I felt as though I was right there next to her, feeling her pain and racked with confusion of the reasons of the Nazi's. Now, being in college, I re-read the novel and was reborn to the emotions of the book, and the symapthy was there with full force. An excellent tale of a life filled with sorrow and insecurity. Definatley a must for the winter reader.!
  
  
• ALll But My Life
  By A1ZUHZGCXMRLZA on 2000-07-08
  I am 14, and I normally do not read books because I can, but in the summer of the year 2000, my english teacher told me, if I wanted to get into English 10XL, I would have to read this book, so I did.

  -- This book is the best book I have ever read , i was crying at the end of it, it was so horrible for the jews..
  
  

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• Five Chimneys: The Story of Auschwitz
• Survival In Auschwitz