Struggle

by Sara Zyskind

A teenage boy struggles to stay alive in Nazi-occupied Poland and then as he travels aboard a cattle train bound for Auschwitz

Genres: Holocaust

284 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Sara Rachela Plagier was born into a well-to-do Jewish family in Łódź, Poland. In 1939, at the age of 11, her world came crashing down after the Nazis invaded the country. Within three months of the Occupation, the Jewish citizens of Łódź were forced into a Ghetto, which was sealed off from the outside world in 1940. Sara's mother died that year, and Sara began work in a corset sewing workshop. She and her father successfully evaded arrest and deportation until Anschel Plagier died in 1943. The following year, the Nazis liquidated the Łódź Ghetto and Sara was deported to Auschwitz and then to other slave labor camps.

Sara survived and returned to Łódź in the spring of 1945, at age 17. All her relatives and friends were dead, so she decided to emigrate to Palestine. She left Poland with forged papers and, aided by a Jewish relief group called Escape, travelled across Europe for two years before entering Palestine in May 1947. In 1948, she married Eliezer Zyskind, a fellow Łódź survivor, and the couple had three children. Sara Zyskind described her Holocaust experiences in Stolen Years, first published in 1977. In her other book, Struggle, Sara Zyskind told her husband's story in the first person, from his point of view.

Reviews

[Ollendorff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my view on humanity forever. Harrowing descriptions. Reality which can not even imagine.

[Kevyn Webber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking story. Very well written. Couldn't put the book down.

[John L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased a lot of 40 holocaust volumes. This is the 13th I've read and it is by far the best. It is written by the wife of the main character, but from his point of view. All holocaust stories are filled with cruelty, suffering, and death and this book is no exception. However, it is written in a highly emotional style and there are many uplifting moments of rescue and redemption, several episodes of great suspense, and of haunting memories. It is indeed a struggle by our hero, his parents and grandparents, his sister, and other family members to survive. He makes a promise to his dying father that he will survive until liberation and, with the help of some miraculous events, he does. It is impossible for me to express how deeply this book moved me. I will never forget it.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book