The Nazis Knew My Name
Book Feature - The Nazis Knew My Name by Magda Hellinger and Maya Lee
HBL Note: The world is heavy right now, but as difficult as it is to imagine, things have been worse. Reading about history can put things into perspective and help us to avoid repeating it. For example, Switzerland, who chose not to take a side when it came to the Nazi’s, are taking a stand against Russia. There is a lot of WWII historical fiction out there, and I read a lot of it. But by virtue of being fiction, it adds one more step of separation between the reader and reality. But Magda Hellinger and her daughter Maya Lee’s THE NAZIS KNEW MY NAME, is a memoir. A true story of survival and courage in the face of evil. A story about a survivor who saved countless lives. Scroll down to read more about the moving memoir.
Book Feature - The Nazis Knew My Name by Magda Hellinger & Maya Lee
Book Feature - The Nazis Knew My Name by Magda Hellinger & Maya Lee
From the publisher:
In March 1942, twenty-five-year-old kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger and nearly a thousand other young women were deported as some of the first Jews to be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
The SS soon discovered that by putting prisoners in charge of the day-to-day accommodation blocks, they could deflect attention away from themselves. Magda was one such prisoner selected for leadership and put in charge of hundreds of women in the notorious Experimental Block 10. She found herself constantly walking a dangerously fine line: saving lives while avoiding suspicion by the SS and risking execution. Through her inner strength and shrewd survival instincts, she was able to rise above the horror and cruelty of the camps and build pivotal relationships with the women under her watch, and even some of Auschwitz’s most notorious Nazi senior officers.
Based on Magda’s personal account and completed by her daughter’s extensive research, this is “an unputdownable account of resilience and the power of compassion” (Booklist) in the face of indescribable evil.
Book Feature - The Nazis Knew My Name by Magda Hellinger & Maya Lee
