Synopses & Reviews
In 1939, Helga Weiss was a young Jewish schoolgirl in Prague. Along with some 45,000 Jews living in the city, Helga’s family endured the first wave of the Nazi invasion: her father was denied work; she was forbidden from attending regular school. As Helga witnessed the increasing Nazi brutality, she began documenting her experiences in a diary.
In 1941, Helga and her parents were sent to the concentration camp of Terezín. There, Helga continued to write with astonishing insight about her daily life: the squalid living quarters, the cruel rationing of food, and the executions—as well as the moments of joy and hope that persisted in even the worst conditions.
In 1944, Helga and her family were sent to Auschwitz. Before she left, Helga’s uncle, who worked in the Terezín records department, hid her diary and drawings in a brick wall. Miraculously, he was able to reclaim them for her after the war.
Of the 15,000 children brought to Terezín and later deported to Auschwitz, only 100 survived. Helga was one of them. Reconstructed from her original notebooks, the diary is presented here in its entirety. With an introduction by Francine Prose, a revealing interview between translator Neil Bermel and Helga, and the artwork Helga made during her time at Terezín, Helga's Diary stands as a vivid and utterly unique historical document.
Review
"What's startling, throughout, is the resilience with which her buoyant spirit keeps bobbing up past the hardships, indignities, and cruelties of her captors." Francine Prose
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"A breathtaking account...a chilling testament to the tragedy of the Holocaust." Publishers Weekly
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"Weiss' moving eyewitness portrait adds a deepening to the understanding of the Jews' plight during this horrific period in history." Kirkus Reviews
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"The most moving Holocaust diary published since Anne Frank." The Telegraph
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"As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles dramatically, the potency of first-hand accounts increases with each passing year.... Illustrated with family photographs and her own paintings and drawings, serves as a remarkable testament to her horrific journey and the ultimate resiliency of youth. Since so few of the approximately 15,000 children interred in Terezin survived, , like the collective reminiscences in Hannelore Brenner's (2009), must speak for all the young voices that were prematurely stifled." Booklist
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"At times the struggle of this young girl in the face of evil becomes so real that you'll notice yourself adjusting your blanket and thermostat right along with her as she shivers in the worst of conditions." The Daily Beast
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"Page after page of writing that candidly, expertly, showcases humanity at its best and its worst." Malcolm Forbes
Synopsis
The remarkable diary of a young girl who survived the Holocaust--appearing in English for the first time.
Synopsis
In 1939, Helga Weiss was an eleven-year-old Jewish schoolgirl in Prague, enduring the first wave of the Nazi invasion. As Helga witnessed Nazi brutality toward her friends and neighbors--and eventually her own family--she began documenting her experiences in a diary. In 1941, Helga and her parents were sent to the concentration camp of Terezín, where she continued to write with astonishing insight about her daily life. Before she was sent to Auschwitz in 1944, Helga's uncle, who worked in the Terezín records department, hid her diary and drawings in a brick wall. Miraculously, he was able to reclaim it for her after the war. Of the 15,000 children brought to Terezín and deported to Auschwitz, Helga was one of only 100 survivors. Written in school exercise books and translated here for the first time, Helga's Diary is a strikingly immediate and exceptional firsthand account of the Holocaust.
About the Author
Helga Weiss was born in Prague in 1929. After surviving the Holocaust and the Second World War, Helga returned to Prague, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, and became an artist. She has two children, three grandchildren, and lives to this day in the apartment where she was born.Francine Prose is the author of sixteen books of fiction, including Blue Angel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Among her most recent works of nonfiction is the highly acclaimed Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife. A former president of PEN American Center, she lives in New York City.