Where Light and Shadow Meet: A Memoir

by Emilie Schindler, Erika L. Rosenberg, Dolores M. Koch (Translator)

The wife of Oskar Schindler relates her own story of life under the Nazis, detailing what her role was in saving the Jews on "Schindler's List" as well as how she dealt with her husband's many infidelities.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir

162 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1997

Reviews

[Yenta Knows · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this book a five star rating to encourage others to read it.

That said: it's a terrible book. Emilie was a doer, not a thinker, a fighter not a writer. She was the right person to risk her life, many times, so she could protect the 1,300 Jews she and her husband saved from likely death.

But she's not the right person to tell her story. At least not without much more competent help than she received.

She does not give the historic or geographic context that would clarify events she simply narrated. Why, for example, was Oskar spying for the Nazis in the Sudetenland? Just after the war, why were she and Oskar hated by their neighbors in Bavaria? I surmised that the hatred was for political reasons but didn't get enough context to make sense of the routine cruelty.

She doesn't answer obvious questions thoroughly or persuasively. To list a few:
* Why didn't she divorce her philandering husband?
* How did it come about that B'nai Brith supported her with a yearly stipend and a house?
* What happened to the nutrias Oskar bought so they could start a fur business?
* Did Oskar have children from his many affairs, as both she and Oskar's biographer intimate?
* Was her childlessness a source of sorrow for herself and Oskar?

I could list many more such questions.

It's understandable that Emilie is out to settle some scores and get her version of the story on record. ("I am doing this for the sake of truth," she tells us on page 1.) She certainly deserves more credit than she's been given. But her eagerness to settle scores makes her an unreliable narrator.

The clumsy writing increases her unreliability. I don't know who to blame for this deficiency: the original MS was in Spanish not Emilie's native language, and in violation of standard practice, the translator (Dolores Koch) appears not to be a native English speaker. How else to explain such sentences as "in times of war our souls wander aimlessly adrift."

I could wish that the book editor at WW Norton had done more to improve the MS, but I don't know what the MS, as received, looked like.

Let's just give everyone a break and be grateful that, when a transport arrived from Goleschau, Emilie opened the cattle cars and cared for the dead and dying revealed within.

Read the book.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought I would like this book, and I did to a certain extent, yet it lacked something for me. Emilie Schindler certainly led an interesting life, but I just had trouble understanding why she stayed married to a man who treated her so badly. Yet, together they did so much good, which really, she didn't talk much about in the book. It was basically just her life history...where she lived and when, important events of her life.

[Miriam]

This is the memoir of Emilie Schindler who should be given credit beside her husband for the creation of "Schindler's List" and saving over a thousand Jews.

It is ironic that I should read this non-fiction account of a strong woman in between reading Dorothy Gilman's novels about strong women.

This quote from page 64 is Emily speaking: "Events followed one another so fast that every morning when we woke up, life seemed accidental and miraculous. It is hard to convey that feeling to those who have never experienced war."

Except for the war part, this statment summarizes the action into which Dorothy put her characters. (However, the action swirling around Mrs. Pollifax is Cold War.) Everything that propels Dorothy's books are both "accidental and miraculous." Dorothy makes this concept work in fiction. Emilie proves that life happens that way in reality also.

[Gail Hedlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book. It was a little sparse and jumped around some. It kind of reminded me like having a conversation with someone. It was good, but not really in-depth as some books I have read recently.

I learned quite a bit though about Oskar Schindler. Yes, he was a hero to some of those in peril during the Holocaust, but he wasn't all we might believe he might be. A man of faults. Not saying that all heroes need to be "perfect", but often those faults may be glossed over.

[Book Loft Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where Light and Shadow Meet is a memoir written by Emilie Schindler which tells about her childhood, becoming Emilie Schindler, Schindler’s List, and the events that occurred after the war. The book is divided into five parts in addition to acknowledgments, prologue, and an epilogue. Each section is written using headings that tell a major part of Emilie that is related to that specific section. I found this extremely helpful everything that related to that specific heading would be expressed in that section. In addition to this the writing that expressed the headings were very simple and to the point. As a reader I was able to understand exactly what Emilie was trying to get across within each section.
Reading this book was a huge eye opener for me. Having seen the movie Schindler’s List before, I knew a lot of the work that Oskar Schindler did during the war, however was only briefly aware of the amount of impact that his wife had on the Oskar as well as on the 1,300 Jews that they saved. When I first started this book, Emilie stated that, “Some of you will generously forgive me if my story is not precisely what you expected, but I trust that, in the end, you will thank me for not lying to you.” (Schindler, 9). I found this interesting and at first took it when a grain of salt, however by the end of the memoir it has a completely different meaning for me. As Emilie tells her story it is not like the many that we are used it - as it is filled with brief moments of happiness and love while the rest of it was filled with sadness and pain regardless of the amazing work that she did during the war with her husband. After finishing Where Light and Shadow Meet I have a new found appreciation for Emilie and an entirely different view of Oskar. While it is still appreciated what Oskar did, it was not done alone. Reading Emilie’s memoir opened me up to the other and unknown side of Schindler’s List.
Where Light and Shadow Meet by Emilie Schindler is a 5 star read - as it shows the Schindler’s in a normal light rather than how they are portrayed in a movie with its creative license. While the film is still amazing and should be watched by everyone at least once; Emilie’s novel shows the missing half of Oskar and how the Schindler’s cam to recurve 1,300 Jews during WWII.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Walking through my local library, I saw this book on a shelf and picked it up. Like many people, I had never heard of Oscar Schindler or his wife, Emilie, before seeing the movie, "Shindler's List" in 1993 and am interested in learning more about both of them.

In the movie, we do not learn much about Mrs. Schindler and that is reason enough to read her memoir. She did much to help the Jews who worked in her husband's factory, helping to save their lives by getting extra rations and treating them when they became sick. As is often the case, we do not hear the stories of women who worked hard behind the scenes and that is why her story needs to be told.

That said, it is not very well written - it needs editing badly. I did not read every word, but skipped ahead as the writing deteriorated. As with memoirs, this book is only one person's view of history, but it is clear Mrs. Schindler's life was not an easy one.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in a different and more complete story of Oskar and Emilie Schindler then we get in the movie or in Thomas Keneally's book on which the movie is based.

[Allyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure what to say except that I read this with sadness. Clearly written when the author was quite old and with a desire to tell her side of the story before her death and soon after the wild acclaim for the film, it left me wondering about her truth, her distorted reality viewed thru the lens of memory, her co-author’s influence?
But I found myself unwilling to read her pages and accept the authenticity of her tale which disturbed me too- why not believe her version?
Having watched the film, it was very interesting to read her view of events, not the movie version or the Keneally version which would have been manipulated for their audiences. Although I have not read his book so should not comment.
With the After The War section, my overriding feeling was
sadness for her tragedy of remaining aligned with Oskar who was a huge liability and detrimental to her life, actually from the beginning of their marital life in fact. A bad choice but that is my judgement call.
It colored my appreciation of her words however.
I will not keep my copy but instead pass on to others.

[Gable Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book does a very good job of sharing a brief summary of the story of Schindler's List. Other books give more detail and those are good to have as well. But if you just want a general overview of what it was all about this is a good book to read. However, this book paints a different picture of the man himself. It is written by his wife and even though she loved him, their marriage was not the best of marriages. Typically when I see two sides of a story then I tend to believe that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Oskar Schindler had his qualities and he had his vices just like all of us. Emilie tends to point out a lot more of his vices than other authors, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't a good man with a good heart who saved the lives of hundreds of people. All in all it is a good book!

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short, easy-to-read book: I think it took me about an hour. As the title indicates, it is a memoir, with lots of complaints about the author's husband (who was both unfaithful and bad with money, although saintly in other respects).

To me the most interesting part is why she married him: her father was an invalid, her mother was overloaded, and her brother (in her words) was "becoming more and more independent." Life lesson: if you are still living at home, you probably won't be picky enough about who to marry. (This was not useful to me, since I happily got married over 30 years after leaving home!)

[Grayson Hackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say this is utterly fascinating would be an understatement to me. I personally fail to understand the poorer reviews, though I know that taste is subjective. The point of this book is about truth; yes, Emilie Schindler is not a fantastic writer, this is the truth. However, this is not meant to be some grandiose or interesting story or tale, it's meant to be her truth, true and true. It succeeds greatly in that, and I found that any issues in Frau Schindler's writing can easily be overlooked when you instead look at what she is trying to say. I think that this is a book that many should read. Much love.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, if I could I would give this 3.5 stars. It is easy to read, and enlightening given that -- man! -- Oskar Schindler was not a one man show and his wife, Emilie, was just as important as he was in saving so many Jews. It definitely removed some of the luster from the Schindler's List movie for me, but I suppose real life, not Hollywood, is like that. I found the writing was just so-so and felt like it had some holes. I guess you expect that in a memoir?

[Yoursexylibrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emilie Schindler's memoir doesn't meet up with the book Schindler's List or with Mietek Pemper's memoir about being one of Schindler's List. I struggled with how wildly different her accounts were compared to Pemper's when they experienced the same moments in time.

Emilie's memoir meanders and doesn't really have a definitive path. At times, she rambles.

The overall effect of this memoir is that Emilie is just bitter. That made for a rather unpleasant read.

[Anne Vandenbrink · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emillie Schindler reveals her husband's infidelity and alcoholism. She also describes her role in saving the Jews. Her leadership and devotion to the surviving Jews of Goleschau, who arrived unannounced, emaciated, near death in frozen cattle cars in the middle of the night, and her quick thinking saved many at a time when Oskar was away on some business trip. She went to great lengths and risks to make sure the workers had enough food.

[Morning Glory]

“In my wrinkles you can read, as in the lines in this book, the story of my life.” 82 …”each wrinkle was like a line in the book of my life, and time had not been its only author.” 159
“I couldn’t tell then what it was I hated more: Oskar, or myself for being unable to expel him from my mind.” 148

[Jodielayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great insight into the real sort of Schindler’s list

[Kgparkhurst Parkhurst · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skewed!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. I had really liked the movie, as much as one can like that kind of movie. But the book and the story by Emilie Schindler helped me see a more accurate representation of that time.

[Lori Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a wonderful look on her life. She endured so much!!

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope it will be a five star book. It soumds really good though.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Emilie Schindler was a saint and deserved much more recognition than she ever recieved. Bless her.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rest of the story to fill in Schindler's List. Very good!