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Summary Of All But My Life By Gerda Weissmann Klein

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The memoir that I chose to read was All But My Life written by Gerda Weissmann Klein. Klein’s memoir begins in 1939 in Bielsko, Poland, she was 15 years old at the time. The war had just begun and her family was only beginning to feel the effects. Klein’s family consisted of her brother Arthur Weissmann, mother Helena referred to throughout the book as “Mama”, and her father Julius referred to as “Papa”. The memoir starts in 1939, but the first major changes for Klein and her family do not come until April 19, 1942. The Weissmanns were moved into a ghetto and then, 18 years old at the time, Klein’s journey of survival during the Holocaust truly beings. When the war began Klein and her family strongly believed that it would be over sooner …show more content…

Here the girls had a relatively easy time, working at looms from 7 A.M. to 6 P.M. They were even given Sundays off, a very rare occurrence in many camps. Here Klein wrote skits to entertain Frau Kügler and the other girls at the camp. She considered it one of her greatest accomplishments because, “the knowledge that it was in my power to bring them an hour of fun, to help them forget”(Klein 141), made her smile. From here, Ilse and Klein had luck on their side and stayed together as they headed to Märzdorf. This camp was very disorganized and became quite brutal on Klein. On one of the first few days there Klein was working in the factory when a supervisor tried to get her to sleep with him, “ ‘Perhaps bread and butter,’ he suggested. ‘Apples, sausage, warm soup.’ … ‘And for all that, I don’t want much from you’”(Klein 148). When Klein refused him he responded with, “You will be sorry!”(Klein 148), and this she was. He made her time at this camp torture by having her work both the morning and night shift. Leaving Märzdorf, Klein, Ilse and ten other girls were taken to Landeshut, where they were to work in a weaving mill. Here they were placed near a men’s camp and though the work was difficult they were much happier here than they had been in Märzdorf. At the men’s camp nearby Abek was working. Klein was lucky enough to be allowed to sneak visits and see him now and again. In May of 1944, the girls were transferred again, this time to Grünberg. Here, they worked in a factory in the spinning-room. The girls working in this room were x-rayed every month to search for tuberculosis and those that did not pass their screenings were sent directly to Auschwitz. After working here for quite some time the war had progressed and they were to be transferred again. Now, the train was not to be taken, but they were to walk, “We took the first step. I thought: I am marching to death or

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