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Bitter Freedom: Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor
A rivetting account of a unique survival in an earthen hole dug under a cellar floor next to the Gestapo Headquaters of a small Polish town.And the story of a heroic Pole who risked his life and the lives of his family to save the hunted ones.
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First published April 25, 2006
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April 17, 2012An accurate tally of Holocaust survivors alive today is elusive and varies from source to source. What does not vary is the Jewish cultural mantra, “we must never forget.” And, what is certain is the miracle of Jafa Wallach’s long life—she died at the age of 101 in 2011—permitting her to draft and reflect upon a memoir that is a visceral testament to an unparalleled atrocity.
“Five minutes to liberation; four minutes to death,” writes Jafa Wallach in, Bitter Freedom: Memoir of a Holocaust Survivor. This shocking, terrifying statement catapults the reader into German-occupied Poland in December 1942, when the author thought liberation imminent.
Wallach spent twenty months with her husband and three grown siblings hiding underground in a space that was six-by-four-and-a-half feet and just under four feet at the tallest point. This insect-infested space was shorter and narrower than a queen-size bed. Given the dimensions, muscles that had not been used for just shy of two years were of little concern to Wallach when, “at 11 in the morning of September 15, 1944, we left Józio’s house, hobbling weakly on canes but strong in our resolution. We tottered through the town in which 5,000 Jews had once lived. We were all that remained alive of these, we and two others.”
Why read Bitter Freedom? Because it is a no-holds-barred account of a grotesque existence that did not stamp out Wallach’s faith in God; because the suffering Wallach endured for years did not dampen her empathy for others, which was evidenced in her concern for her protectors (Józio and his family) and those suffering alongside her. Micro amounts of food were shared not only with those who came begging on a near-daily basis, but with the animal inhabitants of Wallach’s hiding space. Her husband, Natan, a physician, matched his wife’s generosity and concern for humankind as he continued providing medical services at the behest of the government under extreme circumstances, including lack of equipment, medications, and a tsunami of paperwork and quotas.
The author’s daughter, Rena, the only surviving child born in the area of Poland formerly home to 30,000 Jews, adds her memories along with those of her Aunt, Helena Manaster, to this memoir—corroborating points of view from family members is unusual in memoirs of the Holocaust due to the annihilation of complete families.
Wallach’s words are never bitter, and her belief in survival, God, and mankind is astonishing. “We heard the bombers more often now. We met each air raid with prayer. My heart and thoughts were always, always with you. God would save you, I believed, as He had until now.”
“We hadn’t washed in over a year. One could not imagine that we would have been able to survive this way for so long, but we did.” Reading Bitter Freedom with the mind-set of 2012, where everything possible is done to avoid discomfort of any kind, even for a millisecond, it is mind boggling to suspend the twenty-first century, enter Wallach’s world, and imagine the bravery and unwavering hope necessary to survive.
The memoir genre has become tainted and overwrought in recent years with the highly publicized unmasking of fictionalized “remembrances” employed to spice up the story line. Bitter Freedom is a fine example of a tautly written account that needs nothing but facts and one woman’s commitment to the telling of these facts to make this an exceptional read.
“Five minutes to liberation; four minutes to death,” writes Jafa Wallach in, Bitter Freedom: Memoir of a Holocaust Survivor. This shocking, terrifying statement catapults the reader into German-occupied Poland in December 1942, when the author thought liberation imminent.
Wallach spent twenty months with her husband and three grown siblings hiding underground in a space that was six-by-four-and-a-half feet and just under four feet at the tallest point. This insect-infested space was shorter and narrower than a queen-size bed. Given the dimensions, muscles that had not been used for just shy of two years were of little concern to Wallach when, “at 11 in the morning of September 15, 1944, we left Józio’s house, hobbling weakly on canes but strong in our resolution. We tottered through the town in which 5,000 Jews had once lived. We were all that remained alive of these, we and two others.”
Why read Bitter Freedom? Because it is a no-holds-barred account of a grotesque existence that did not stamp out Wallach’s faith in God; because the suffering Wallach endured for years did not dampen her empathy for others, which was evidenced in her concern for her protectors (Józio and his family) and those suffering alongside her. Micro amounts of food were shared not only with those who came begging on a near-daily basis, but with the animal inhabitants of Wallach’s hiding space. Her husband, Natan, a physician, matched his wife’s generosity and concern for humankind as he continued providing medical services at the behest of the government under extreme circumstances, including lack of equipment, medications, and a tsunami of paperwork and quotas.
The author’s daughter, Rena, the only surviving child born in the area of Poland formerly home to 30,000 Jews, adds her memories along with those of her Aunt, Helena Manaster, to this memoir—corroborating points of view from family members is unusual in memoirs of the Holocaust due to the annihilation of complete families.
Wallach’s words are never bitter, and her belief in survival, God, and mankind is astonishing. “We heard the bombers more often now. We met each air raid with prayer. My heart and thoughts were always, always with you. God would save you, I believed, as He had until now.”
“We hadn’t washed in over a year. One could not imagine that we would have been able to survive this way for so long, but we did.” Reading Bitter Freedom with the mind-set of 2012, where everything possible is done to avoid discomfort of any kind, even for a millisecond, it is mind boggling to suspend the twenty-first century, enter Wallach’s world, and imagine the bravery and unwavering hope necessary to survive.
The memoir genre has become tainted and overwrought in recent years with the highly publicized unmasking of fictionalized “remembrances” employed to spice up the story line. Bitter Freedom is a fine example of a tautly written account that needs nothing but facts and one woman’s commitment to the telling of these facts to make this an exceptional read.
April 26, 2008
The author and her daughter live in our area and worked with the school children. Interesting book - it was written by the mom to explain their experience to the daughter just after liberation. Then the book was put away and forgotten. The book has not been rewritten and fancied up by publishers. It has been kept in the mom's words. At the open house displaying the school children's artistic works, they had a wooden replica of the hiding space. I can't even begin to imagine.
August 9, 2012
Imagine for one minute living for twenty months in a hole in the ground, measuring 5 feet by 3 1/2 feet and about three feet deep, making it impossible to stand up and even difficult to sit up. "For two years, we could not stand up, but had to sit or lie prone . . .two persons on one side and two on the other with our eight feet intertwined. For two years, we did not see the light of day. We never left the place." A very moving account. Highly recommended.
August 25, 2012
This is the story of a Jewish woman who survived WWII while living in a tiny hole in the ground with several other people. Really pretty incredible what she went through and how she survived.
May 31, 2023
Addictive, in the way Holocaust memoirs generally are - the thriller, cat and mouse of it. "Five minutes to liberation, four minutes to death" is the quote Wallach references, and it speaks to the desperate, urgent, hopeless, hopeful tone of this memoir. Wallach writes in simple, matter of fact prose, a simple account of the general horrors this family underwent to survive, the worst of all, being 22 months quite literally buried alive, living in a dug out hole in the ground under a loyal friend's cellar. The key limitations of this memoir was that it can be glancing on details. I wanted to know, in particular, how Anna (used to a comparatively pampered life in hiding above ground), adjusted to the horrors of joining the family underground. What detracted from the potential power of this memoir, is is the way the story ceased suddenly, upon news the family would be migrating to the US. I felt invested. I wanted to continue alongside the family on their new journey. Instead, the story simply drops off. It is half-heartedly picked up by the daughter in rushed, dull, perfunctory prose. Overall, interesting, but unpolished.
January 10, 2021
Another book with great memories of survival. Very intense. I admire the will to survive.
February 24, 2018
I have read numerous books on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. If you're looking for a book that speaks to life in the concentration camps, this isn't it. This is, however, a wonderful account of what someone will do just to stay alive. The story that is told throughout this book is one that makes you take an account of everything that you have in life, even the most basic needs, going to the bathroom, was near impossible for the author and her family. I would recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a non-traditional account of what happened during WWII.
July 9, 2012
A gripping read that should remind everyone that the right of every human being is to have a life free of oppression and one of respect for others.
Beautifully written from Jafa Wallach's notes and spoken to her daughter, Rena. The pain and the horror the Jewish people went through will again be very evident to the reader. This book was not about a concentration camp, but about being in hiding. The Wallach family....five of them at one point....lived and hid in a hole that they had dug themselves under a friend's home. A hole that was so cramped they couldn't even stand up. A hole that they shared with vermin and insects and one that was either too hot or too cold and one with barely any air and a life filled with daily starvation and no water.
Enduring those 22 months below ground was a horrible nightmare that was shared by many more Jewish people than the five that lived there. I was counting the seconds and the days until liberation as I was reading their story of the terror of fearing for your life every day and the dread of living in that horrific space.
The person who made their survival possible was a wonderful person named Jozio. He lead a seemingly normal, but stressful life during the day and helped the Wallach family by giving them food and water at night whenever he could.
As difficult as their lives were, the human spirit is one thing that the Germans couldn't break or take from Jafa and her family. They survived with the knowledge that their little girl was safe and that they would be reunited with her after the war. These thoughts kept them going even though it was not easy.
As the book ends, you will hear the other side of the story from Rena and how she lived those 22 months without her mother and father.
Being aware of the Holocaust atrocities and the lives it changed forever should hopefully be more than enough to have the human race strive to not let this happen again. This wonderfully written book is a book about love, family, surviving, heartbreak, and compassion. The publisher also included photos in the back of the book. . 5/5
This book was given to me free of charge by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are mine.
Beautifully written from Jafa Wallach's notes and spoken to her daughter, Rena. The pain and the horror the Jewish people went through will again be very evident to the reader. This book was not about a concentration camp, but about being in hiding. The Wallach family....five of them at one point....lived and hid in a hole that they had dug themselves under a friend's home. A hole that was so cramped they couldn't even stand up. A hole that they shared with vermin and insects and one that was either too hot or too cold and one with barely any air and a life filled with daily starvation and no water.
Enduring those 22 months below ground was a horrible nightmare that was shared by many more Jewish people than the five that lived there. I was counting the seconds and the days until liberation as I was reading their story of the terror of fearing for your life every day and the dread of living in that horrific space.
The person who made their survival possible was a wonderful person named Jozio. He lead a seemingly normal, but stressful life during the day and helped the Wallach family by giving them food and water at night whenever he could.
As difficult as their lives were, the human spirit is one thing that the Germans couldn't break or take from Jafa and her family. They survived with the knowledge that their little girl was safe and that they would be reunited with her after the war. These thoughts kept them going even though it was not easy.
As the book ends, you will hear the other side of the story from Rena and how she lived those 22 months without her mother and father.
Being aware of the Holocaust atrocities and the lives it changed forever should hopefully be more than enough to have the human race strive to not let this happen again. This wonderfully written book is a book about love, family, surviving, heartbreak, and compassion. The publisher also included photos in the back of the book. . 5/5
This book was given to me free of charge by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are mine.
May 9, 2013
History remains, and Jafa Wallach recounts her family's fight for survival during World War II with an unerring hope for the future. Bitter Freedom is a story that needs to be retold for every generation. Along with her husband and two brothers, Jafa spent part of the war evading the Nazis by hiding in a five feet by four feet hole under a friendly mechanic's workshop. But the story doesn't stop there: after the liberation, the Wallachs must find a new home amid the desolation of war-torn Europe. Highly recommended for its honest portrayal of a family refusing to give up hope in hopeless times. Winner of the Mom's Choice Awards Honoring Excellence and President's Book Award of the Florida Publishers Association.
February 3, 2013
One of the most gripping holocaust first-person accounts I've read. The memoir tells of how the author, her husband and young daughter survived as Polish Jews during WWII. Some of these events happened within a stone's throw of where we are living now in Ukraine. I use to think of Ann Frank, so cooped up in the attic during their hiding. This husband and wife lived in a dug-out dirt hole below a house for 20 months; no washing, changing clothes or using their legs. Their little daughter lived in the woods with non-Jews; the only child in their city of 30,000 Jews to survive the holocaust. This heart-wrenching firsthand account gives much added insight to this horrid time in history.
August 9, 2013
First-hand narrative account of a couple who survived the holocaust in a small town in Poland by living in a small dugout hole under a friend's auto-repair shop. The grit (and luck) it took for them to survive is gripping and inspiring.
October 5, 2012
Compelling first-person account!
November 24, 2016
Bitter freedom
Was not a easy understanding read to many definitions of words within paragraphs. I probably won't try reading it any more
Was not a easy understanding read to many definitions of words within paragraphs. I probably won't try reading it any more
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews