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The Testimony
Adopted mother Frieda keeps telling the young Halina that if they survive the Nazi death camps they shall have to testify until they die, but My Testimony is also a record of Halina’s experiences after the camps – including her arrival in Australia after the war where, as a young woman, she worked with charwomen at Collins Street doctors’ surgeries before pursuing a career in pathology at the Alfred Hospital. Described by the author as her last testimony ‘before she drops off the twig’, this carefully crafted work is no straightforward autobiography but one in which the people and places Halina has known take centre stage. The short stories within these pages offer jewels of wisdom from a woman who has lived a truly full – richly rewarding as well as horrifically harrowing – life. Eighty-one-year-old human rights activist Halina Wagowska survived Auschwitz and Stutthof concentration camps in her early teens before immigrating to Australia. Over the years she has frequently testified to the consequences of prejudice she witnessed: she has provided material for Thomas Keneally’s book on Schindler; and for Spielberg’s Shoah institute, via the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne; as well as presented at international psychology conferences as a child survivor.
206 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 31, 2012
I’m the kind of person who cries watching sad advertisements, so as a general rule I tend to steer clear of tear-jerking non-fiction. With that said, my Polish heritage has created a significant interest in the Holocaust and the genocide of World War II, and it was with great interest that I read 81 year-old Holocaust survivor Halina Wagowska’s autobiography, The Testimony. Told in a concentration camp that survivors will “have to testify and bear witness for the rest of their lives”, Halina has dedicated her time in Australia to helping the plight of others who are oppressed and marginalized. Her life is a true testament to the strength of the human spirit, and this book will move you in the very best ways that words on a page can.
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Halina was about to start her fourth year of primary school. Her vivid recollections of her childhood paint a happy and loving picture; with caring and supportive parents and a privileged but not spoiled life. Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, and the contrast of her life as told through the stories from before the war and whilst being held in concentration camps is heartbreaking. Survival tactics came easier to Halina, given her young age, and as her agility and senses became heightened, the brutality she experienced helped numb her emotions. As she states, “wisdom or experience was of little use as there was no precedent, only total unpredictability.” Upon reflection it appears a combination of these two factors, inexperience and weak emotional development, saved her life.
The atrocities of war Halina experienced are unfathomable – the mass execution of millions of people was beyond traumatizing to someone of such a young age. But from despair comes hope, and a winter miracle in the form of a Russian soldier saved Halina’s life. Her stories of re-entering a normal life are nearly as heartbreaking, as anti-Semitic undertones still existed in post-war society. She was on board the infamous voyage of the Derna to Australia and her assimilation into Australian society will make you laugh out loud.
The Testimony is an emotional journey of the rarest kind. It may make you laugh, it will most certainly make you cry, but at the end you are filled with a sense of warmth, of unwavering hope and inspiration, that we can endure, conquer and survive.
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Halina was about to start her fourth year of primary school. Her vivid recollections of her childhood paint a happy and loving picture; with caring and supportive parents and a privileged but not spoiled life. Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, and the contrast of her life as told through the stories from before the war and whilst being held in concentration camps is heartbreaking. Survival tactics came easier to Halina, given her young age, and as her agility and senses became heightened, the brutality she experienced helped numb her emotions. As she states, “wisdom or experience was of little use as there was no precedent, only total unpredictability.” Upon reflection it appears a combination of these two factors, inexperience and weak emotional development, saved her life.
The atrocities of war Halina experienced are unfathomable – the mass execution of millions of people was beyond traumatizing to someone of such a young age. But from despair comes hope, and a winter miracle in the form of a Russian soldier saved Halina’s life. Her stories of re-entering a normal life are nearly as heartbreaking, as anti-Semitic undertones still existed in post-war society. She was on board the infamous voyage of the Derna to Australia and her assimilation into Australian society will make you laugh out loud.
The Testimony is an emotional journey of the rarest kind. It may make you laugh, it will most certainly make you cry, but at the end you are filled with a sense of warmth, of unwavering hope and inspiration, that we can endure, conquer and survive.
April 13, 2012
I am sure that many of us have played that game when out and about, where you wonder about the lives of the people sitting opposite you on the train or next to you in a doctor’s surgery. But no matter how fervent our imaginations, real life always manages to trump it.
In her dedication the author quotes Aldous Huxley; "Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you." It is this sentiment that for me best sums up this moving, inspiring and ultimately uplifting memoir by an incredible woman who not only beat the odds and survived the death camps of the holocaust but went on to live a life of such generosity of spirit that I found myself reflecting on her story for reasons other than those I had first imagined.
The Testimony is the memoir of Halina Wagowska a Polish refugee who came to Australia after the war having survived, albeit barely, the horror of Auschwitz and Stutthof concentration camps. While the details of Halina’s wartime incarceration are horrific and confronting, she refuses to let these experiences define her and indeed her decision to recount her testimony through her encounters with the people and places who shape her life’s journey is evidence of her willingness to embrace life and her passion to take the learning from her wartime experiences and make a difference in peacetime for other for whom life is a struggle.
The power and profundity of her observations are present in their very simplicity. Halina Wagowska’s story is not just that of a survivor but of a woman whose testimony about the worth of every human life is one that we should all sit up and take notice of.
In her dedication the author quotes Aldous Huxley; "Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you." It is this sentiment that for me best sums up this moving, inspiring and ultimately uplifting memoir by an incredible woman who not only beat the odds and survived the death camps of the holocaust but went on to live a life of such generosity of spirit that I found myself reflecting on her story for reasons other than those I had first imagined.
The Testimony is the memoir of Halina Wagowska a Polish refugee who came to Australia after the war having survived, albeit barely, the horror of Auschwitz and Stutthof concentration camps. While the details of Halina’s wartime incarceration are horrific and confronting, she refuses to let these experiences define her and indeed her decision to recount her testimony through her encounters with the people and places who shape her life’s journey is evidence of her willingness to embrace life and her passion to take the learning from her wartime experiences and make a difference in peacetime for other for whom life is a struggle.
The power and profundity of her observations are present in their very simplicity. Halina Wagowska’s story is not just that of a survivor but of a woman whose testimony about the worth of every human life is one that we should all sit up and take notice of.
February 27, 2016
This is a memoir of an Australian Polish-born Jewish woman, who survived the Holocaust. It is written simply, which makes it pack more of a punch. Halina's experiences are fascinating and horrifying, and her insights into her own life, the war and the Holocaust are very admirable.
If I could, I'd make this part of the senior curriculum within Australia...
If I could, I'd make this part of the senior curriculum within Australia...
March 24, 2012
It is a good read. Halina presents global views on humanity and life through her long life. She is now 90 years old, survived Auschwitz, came to Australia in 1948 and is very active in helping people.
June 22, 2012
This is a must read for anyone who wants to read about the Holocaust and a survivor's story. I will say this a lot when it comes to Holocaust books but people should read this and be educated in what happened in the world.
August 6, 2013
Great book and testimony about a survivor of the horrific holocaust. Had me hooked from the start with its recounts of this tragic event in history. Glad that Halina turned get life around and put her passions to good use.
March 23, 2012
Very thought provoking. Amazing how human strength can survive the utmost adversity. A wonderful woman, I feel priveleged that she shared her lifestory.
February 28, 2019
Ultimately having survived the Holocaust, a young Jewish girl in Poland had been imprisoned in the concentration camp Stutthof. The author feels it a "duty" to give testimony to its horrors. Wagowska returns to this obligation several times throughout her memoir, reminding her reader that each recall leaves her "with a sense of inadequacy." She affirms that the "indescribable aspects of [her] landscape had a profound and dehumanising effect on [the survivors'] behaviour."
The first part of her writing is engaging as she portrays an almost idyllic life enjoyed with her beloved parents in Poland, living as secular Jews. And, with the coming of the Nazis and the family's forced move to the ghetto and, ultimately, to Stutthof, Halina fought to stay alive. She recounts with controlled writing her suffering, the loss of her parents, and her illness and near death experiences, "testimony" that the reader absorbs with the degree of incomprehension that always accompanies the reading of Holocaust experiences. There were also times when she was protected and cared for after Liberation, which showed her that humanity had not completely been eradicated.
Because the memoir is a series of stories, scenes that paint particular periods of her survival and later life in Australia, I question her choice to include distractions from her focus. For example, a lengthy discussion of her later travels to Russia seemed peripheral to her "testimony" and became tedious to read. Perhaps more stringent editing would have steered her back to her readers' primary interests, that of her adjustment to Australia and her reflections on how she had been impacted by the war years.
The first part of her writing is engaging as she portrays an almost idyllic life enjoyed with her beloved parents in Poland, living as secular Jews. And, with the coming of the Nazis and the family's forced move to the ghetto and, ultimately, to Stutthof, Halina fought to stay alive. She recounts with controlled writing her suffering, the loss of her parents, and her illness and near death experiences, "testimony" that the reader absorbs with the degree of incomprehension that always accompanies the reading of Holocaust experiences. There were also times when she was protected and cared for after Liberation, which showed her that humanity had not completely been eradicated.
Because the memoir is a series of stories, scenes that paint particular periods of her survival and later life in Australia, I question her choice to include distractions from her focus. For example, a lengthy discussion of her later travels to Russia seemed peripheral to her "testimony" and became tedious to read. Perhaps more stringent editing would have steered her back to her readers' primary interests, that of her adjustment to Australia and her reflections on how she had been impacted by the war years.
October 29, 2017
This is not something I would naturally want to read. This was a book club read.
I always feel that I am uneducated when it comes to the history of world war 1 and 2.
But I can feel pain and compassion for those people who had such horrible things done to them. And after finishing this book I feel the heaviness in my chest and the need to give this lady a hug.
What a horrible thing to have to endure and what an amazing life she has led since. Her idea to never be a victim is inspiring.
The whole book is not focussed on the camps and her survival but also on her life after. Along with her migration to Australia. I found this book interesting to read and I found that a lot of the time I was googling things she referenced so I could understand better.
Bless her and let this book be one voice amongst many that ensures this horrible event never happens again.
I always feel that I am uneducated when it comes to the history of world war 1 and 2.
But I can feel pain and compassion for those people who had such horrible things done to them. And after finishing this book I feel the heaviness in my chest and the need to give this lady a hug.
What a horrible thing to have to endure and what an amazing life she has led since. Her idea to never be a victim is inspiring.
The whole book is not focussed on the camps and her survival but also on her life after. Along with her migration to Australia. I found this book interesting to read and I found that a lot of the time I was googling things she referenced so I could understand better.
Bless her and let this book be one voice amongst many that ensures this horrible event never happens again.
January 25, 2018
A powerful true story of trauma, deprivation, survival, resilience, recovery, contribution, community and friendship. Ms Wagowska's writing style is easy to follow, even when presenting the most difficult stories from concentration camps. Each chapter in the book focuses on specific anecdotes or events, making it easily to relate to. The story begins with her childhood in Poland, her wartime incarceration and survival in concentration camps, the challenges of reintegrating into society after the war, her move to Australia and her roles in activism and preserving the testimony and memory of the war. This is a book that everyone should read to discover the best and worst of the human spirit.
July 18, 2021
What an interesting 9 decade of life I read a book called “The testimony” by Halina Wagowski. She tells her story life, for those of us not living through the Holocaust needs to read this incredible book and never let it happen again. She lived through the horrors through ghetto then deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Stutthof. She lost her family and moved to Melbourne alone at the age of 18, working and studying to support herself. She also found time to help others, from homeless teenagers to asylum seekers, to bushfire victims.
May 5, 2019
It strikes me as somewhat incredible that Halina, who survived the Lodz ghetto and concentration camps, also experienced Black Saturday... really brings home how the Holocaust really wasn't THAT long ago, you know? And she was one of many post-war refugees who moved to Melbourne, who I could well have walked past in the street.
February 25, 2022
I read this in 4 hours. I was captivated, saddened, revolted, hopeful, scared, excited and thankful throughout this recount of Halina's life. I am so grateful that I was able to experience her storytelling of her life from a young child to her twilight years. I feel empowered to continue fighting for the rights of those who have no one to speak up for them.
January 5, 2020
A harrowing, yet essential read; it takes someone very brave to continue to re-tell their story as Halina did. She shares glimmers of humour, love and hope but in reflecting on the beginning of her story, leaves your heart feeling heavy, but with a sense of reverence and hope for the future
September 11, 2012
“The Testimony” was generously supplied to me by the publisher, and it had been on my to-read list for some time due to my interest in books about WW2. Halina Wagowska’s autobiographical story is as inspiring as it is shocking and sobering. Having survived unspeakable horrors at the hands of the German Nazi regime, she has been able to not only reclaim her life, but also to stand up for other oppressed groups in society, such as our indigenous people and the refugees landing on our shores.
The author’s account of the atrocities committed in German concentration camps is factual and almost detached – which makes it even more chilling. Having read many such accounts I was no stranger to some of the facts recounted in this book, but it is impossible not to be touched and repulsed by the actions of people against fellow human beings. And despite the unspeakable horrors she has endured as a young girl, Wagowska still manages to be baffled by the hatred she has had to face, rather than submitting to hating her tormentors. In fact, she tells of a moment when she is so overcome by hatred that she fantasizes about killing German officers – and how her mother reacts to this with shock and horror.
“I could not see why Mother got so upset. Later I heard her say, to a woman who kept talking about the damage to property, that the greatest damage was being done to the minds of children – would they ever be normal if they survived? I must have been on the verge of insanity then. But in Frieda, as in Mother and Goldie, neither regression nor brutalisation was evident.”
Maybe it is due to her parent’s inherent belief in the goodness in people imprinted in the author’s own heart which has allowed her to move past the unspeakable suffering, and feel love instead of hate. Wagowska states in the beginning of the book, that “bridge-building across the human divide” is the recurrent theme in her story. Focusing on the positive acts of human kindness which in the end ensured her survival, as well as her love for her new country Australia, the book becomes an inspiring account of triumph over adversity. I felt grateful to the author for sharing her amazing story, which in me renewed the faith in possibility of the survival of love and joy against all odds. If forgiveness has been possible for this person, who has seen hell and has come out of it with a loving heart, then we must also try to find the human core within ourselves and build bridges to our fellow human beings rather than condemn them for their differences.
A book well worth reading – it will shock and inspire you and make sure that history is not forgotten and that its lessons are passed on to future generations.
The author’s account of the atrocities committed in German concentration camps is factual and almost detached – which makes it even more chilling. Having read many such accounts I was no stranger to some of the facts recounted in this book, but it is impossible not to be touched and repulsed by the actions of people against fellow human beings. And despite the unspeakable horrors she has endured as a young girl, Wagowska still manages to be baffled by the hatred she has had to face, rather than submitting to hating her tormentors. In fact, she tells of a moment when she is so overcome by hatred that she fantasizes about killing German officers – and how her mother reacts to this with shock and horror.
“I could not see why Mother got so upset. Later I heard her say, to a woman who kept talking about the damage to property, that the greatest damage was being done to the minds of children – would they ever be normal if they survived? I must have been on the verge of insanity then. But in Frieda, as in Mother and Goldie, neither regression nor brutalisation was evident.”
Maybe it is due to her parent’s inherent belief in the goodness in people imprinted in the author’s own heart which has allowed her to move past the unspeakable suffering, and feel love instead of hate. Wagowska states in the beginning of the book, that “bridge-building across the human divide” is the recurrent theme in her story. Focusing on the positive acts of human kindness which in the end ensured her survival, as well as her love for her new country Australia, the book becomes an inspiring account of triumph over adversity. I felt grateful to the author for sharing her amazing story, which in me renewed the faith in possibility of the survival of love and joy against all odds. If forgiveness has been possible for this person, who has seen hell and has come out of it with a loving heart, then we must also try to find the human core within ourselves and build bridges to our fellow human beings rather than condemn them for their differences.
A book well worth reading – it will shock and inspire you and make sure that history is not forgotten and that its lessons are passed on to future generations.
October 20, 2012
All royalties of this book go funds to the Towards a Just Society. You can donate my going to this link: http://www.melbournecf.org.au/donors-...
Or by buying the book and supporting Halina.
Synopsis
81 year old Holocaust Survivor and Human rights activist Halina Wogowska testifies her story and that of many in her memoir.
My thoughts?
I have always had a keen interest in history from a young age. Medieval times were my favorite to explore, but also the war times were a prominent part of myself learning and it was around the age of eleven or twelve that I read Anna Frank’s Diary and became obsessed with the reign of Hitler and from that the Holocaust. It has been many years since I have read anything about it, and as an adult facing the brutality and the unfathomable emotions that arise when you really delve into the history of the times, taking it all in can me intensely uncomfortable, but amazingly revealing.
Halina Wogowska has written her story, and the story of many other people and places she has met and explored in her lifetime. He story is one in thousands of those who have the courage to testify to their lives and for the lives of others lost. Her memoir is astounding, from the beginning to the end. So many emotions, positive and negative flowed through while reading this book and when I closed its final pages I felt that even though I could never fully understand the horror that was the holocaust I was better educated and it refreshed my passion for human rights and the need and thirst for more knowledge.
To face up to the past is difficult. When you have been through any kind of control, and depravation and had your rights as a human and as a living being stripped and taken away from you one by one there is a total sense of loss, and so many people suffered madness and lost their lives many years after the war; Halina faced her life, she took what happened and spent the rest of her life fighting for those who could not fight for themselves, taking her pain, accepting it and sharing her story with the world. There is a lot of anger between the pages, but there is also hope, resistance, beauty, humor and overall raw honesty. To tell the truth and to do is so graciously; I’m at a loss of words.
Read it please. And read more stories. Educate yourself. Do not look away from the shocking pictures or scenes or skim over the passages where it’s too much, to brutal and inhuman. Look at it, see it, understand it so that it never happens again and so that we as humans can learn and look at each other in a different light. I recommend The Testimony with every fiber in my body.
I am giving this :
★★★★★
Birds of Passion
Or by buying the book and supporting Halina.
Synopsis
81 year old Holocaust Survivor and Human rights activist Halina Wogowska testifies her story and that of many in her memoir.
My thoughts?
I have always had a keen interest in history from a young age. Medieval times were my favorite to explore, but also the war times were a prominent part of myself learning and it was around the age of eleven or twelve that I read Anna Frank’s Diary and became obsessed with the reign of Hitler and from that the Holocaust. It has been many years since I have read anything about it, and as an adult facing the brutality and the unfathomable emotions that arise when you really delve into the history of the times, taking it all in can me intensely uncomfortable, but amazingly revealing.
Halina Wogowska has written her story, and the story of many other people and places she has met and explored in her lifetime. He story is one in thousands of those who have the courage to testify to their lives and for the lives of others lost. Her memoir is astounding, from the beginning to the end. So many emotions, positive and negative flowed through while reading this book and when I closed its final pages I felt that even though I could never fully understand the horror that was the holocaust I was better educated and it refreshed my passion for human rights and the need and thirst for more knowledge.
To face up to the past is difficult. When you have been through any kind of control, and depravation and had your rights as a human and as a living being stripped and taken away from you one by one there is a total sense of loss, and so many people suffered madness and lost their lives many years after the war; Halina faced her life, she took what happened and spent the rest of her life fighting for those who could not fight for themselves, taking her pain, accepting it and sharing her story with the world. There is a lot of anger between the pages, but there is also hope, resistance, beauty, humor and overall raw honesty. To tell the truth and to do is so graciously; I’m at a loss of words.
Read it please. And read more stories. Educate yourself. Do not look away from the shocking pictures or scenes or skim over the passages where it’s too much, to brutal and inhuman. Look at it, see it, understand it so that it never happens again and so that we as humans can learn and look at each other in a different light. I recommend The Testimony with every fiber in my body.
I am giving this :
★★★★★
Birds of Passion
August 9, 2015
This book is my first time reading autobiography after a long time naively avoiding such genre or the similar because I was never "in the mood". And this book gave me a sense of wonder whether I've missed a lot all this time. I mean, this book just constantly sent me chills, tears, and life-enriching inspiration. Also, I found a quite extensive comprehension and awareness of the Holocaust era, and a picture of the negative discrimination and injustice of human rights then and now and how it affects humanity and society, unconsciously.
The author describes the setting and plot very well by dividing the chronological order of her story into separated chapters, each for which I admire the author's mastery of language and way to convey and construct such a vivid and real imagery of the incidents to be processed in my mind. And within every chapter is a significant value of life that I'm often unwittingly ignorant to.
This book is such a wake-up call for me. It left me pondering about what life is all about. How precious is the value of friendship, how luxurious it is to have them in difficult times, how it creates such a deep remarkable friendship in sharing one another's burden together, how love that is found in friendship and bond, is the most trusted and proven aid to cure of physical and emotional pain. Questioning myself what makes a life worthy, devouring how persecution shapes one's life and perspective, how those who never encounter such tragedy and brutality have a different perspective and defense, and of all, how we are supposed to cope with life. Maybe the author didn't plan to include implicitly all of this inspiration to be perceived by the readers but it definitely echoes in my mind.
And what makes it special, although coincidentally, is that it somehow sustains and yet at the same time complements everything I recall about The Book Thief by Zusak I finished reading last month. Yes, I know, basically it's because what's described in both books actually happened that way back then. But, the sentences Death uses to intercede the story he's telling you: how humans haunt him, how he has seen the best and the worst of humans: the noble hospitality and abomination of brutality, and all, seem to be making more sense now.
I think the more you dive deeper into something, the more it feels real. Like diving into the sea: your skin gets tighter to your bones and as you are deeper than before, the water feels like slipping in beneath your skin as if to say, now you know what the sea does.
I'll definitely consider a few biographies in months to come!
The author describes the setting and plot very well by dividing the chronological order of her story into separated chapters, each for which I admire the author's mastery of language and way to convey and construct such a vivid and real imagery of the incidents to be processed in my mind. And within every chapter is a significant value of life that I'm often unwittingly ignorant to.
This book is such a wake-up call for me. It left me pondering about what life is all about. How precious is the value of friendship, how luxurious it is to have them in difficult times, how it creates such a deep remarkable friendship in sharing one another's burden together, how love that is found in friendship and bond, is the most trusted and proven aid to cure of physical and emotional pain. Questioning myself what makes a life worthy, devouring how persecution shapes one's life and perspective, how those who never encounter such tragedy and brutality have a different perspective and defense, and of all, how we are supposed to cope with life. Maybe the author didn't plan to include implicitly all of this inspiration to be perceived by the readers but it definitely echoes in my mind.
And what makes it special, although coincidentally, is that it somehow sustains and yet at the same time complements everything I recall about The Book Thief by Zusak I finished reading last month. Yes, I know, basically it's because what's described in both books actually happened that way back then. But, the sentences Death uses to intercede the story he's telling you: how humans haunt him, how he has seen the best and the worst of humans: the noble hospitality and abomination of brutality, and all, seem to be making more sense now.
I think the more you dive deeper into something, the more it feels real. Like diving into the sea: your skin gets tighter to your bones and as you are deeper than before, the water feels like slipping in beneath your skin as if to say, now you know what the sea does.
I'll definitely consider a few biographies in months to come!
April 6, 2012
With The Testimony 81 year old Holocaust survivor and humanitarian Halina has put a human face, a personal touch to one of the world’s greatest shames taking us in to her world, a world shattered by war and ignorance and hate. Halina claims early in the book that she is not a ‘writer’ but let me tell you, she is one hell of a story teller as harrowing as those stories may be. With a simple straightforward style Halina brings you into her world, a world that as a child turned horrendous when her family was interned first into the Polish ghettos and then the concentration camps of Stutthof and Birkenhau, a world where her parents did not survive but she did. It’s that personal touch, the ‘colloquial style’ that make the stories resonate even more and though at times the stories are harrowing, making you wonder at the validity of the word humanity when it comes to our own species these are stories that need to be told, that we need to remember.
This is not simply a book about the holocaust though, yes it is a book about what people can do to each other, in the name of ignorance and fear but it is also a book about hope, about freedom and survival. The second half of the book consists of snapshots and stories of new friends, like the Reads, who helped her settle here in Australia and who, four generations later, still consider her family, of her battles here confronting a different world, a different way of living and sadly, a different sort of prejudice, not perhaps as evil but still all intrusive. Being a ‘refo’, an outsider, Halina found more battles to fight but instead of shrinking away she has spent her life educating, tackling ignorance, raising issues and making waves. She will not go quietly and nor should she. Hers is a story that can’t be forgotten, that shouldn’t be forgotten but with the headline grabs, the sound bites, the celebrity endorsements, the gossip, I fear it’s a story that may well get lost. Our esteemed political leaders should be reading this book instead of scoring points with human lives because ignorance, well that is no longer an excuse.
This is not simply a book about the holocaust though, yes it is a book about what people can do to each other, in the name of ignorance and fear but it is also a book about hope, about freedom and survival. The second half of the book consists of snapshots and stories of new friends, like the Reads, who helped her settle here in Australia and who, four generations later, still consider her family, of her battles here confronting a different world, a different way of living and sadly, a different sort of prejudice, not perhaps as evil but still all intrusive. Being a ‘refo’, an outsider, Halina found more battles to fight but instead of shrinking away she has spent her life educating, tackling ignorance, raising issues and making waves. She will not go quietly and nor should she. Hers is a story that can’t be forgotten, that shouldn’t be forgotten but with the headline grabs, the sound bites, the celebrity endorsements, the gossip, I fear it’s a story that may well get lost. Our esteemed political leaders should be reading this book instead of scoring points with human lives because ignorance, well that is no longer an excuse.
March 19, 2012
Halina Wagowska’s experiences as a young Jewish child in Poland– leading inexorably to ghetto life and transportation to death-camp horrors of the Third Reich – up to her emigration to Australia and subsequent life as a ‘refo’ are the basis for this collection of autobiographical fragments.
The book’s title refers to a deal the author made in a death camp – if she survived, she would not be able to stop testifying. So rather than being a continuous what-happened-next autobiography, the text is more like a collection of tales – short blasts of history told lovingly and with a sense of historical disbelief still rightfully intact.
The clarity with which Wagowska relates these events is appealing; she eschews big-picture political nuts-and-bolts for personal experience. Whether detailing methods of escaping imprisonment beatings, migration setbacks, postwar education, travels through the former Soviet Union or membership of a gang of profanity-wielding cleaning-ladies, the stories are always deeply personal. Sentimental sometimes, true, but this is expected when an author writes of long-lost friends or inspirational figures.
Early on, Wagowska confides that she often could not talk of the Holocaust with those who had not been there because they wouldn’t understand. But she acknowledges that she cannot understand others’ viewpoint as she doesn’t know what it was like to have not been there. This book bridges that gap. While I can’t possibly understand what it would be like to make the sacrifices made under the pressures of the Forties, I can appreciate how the strength of will and love of life have nourished the author, and how her need to testify has seen her lend help to all manner of charitable organisations.
The story between these covers is a timely reminder of how much of modern Australia was formed from compassion and generosity – something we would do well to kindle once more.
The book’s title refers to a deal the author made in a death camp – if she survived, she would not be able to stop testifying. So rather than being a continuous what-happened-next autobiography, the text is more like a collection of tales – short blasts of history told lovingly and with a sense of historical disbelief still rightfully intact.
The clarity with which Wagowska relates these events is appealing; she eschews big-picture political nuts-and-bolts for personal experience. Whether detailing methods of escaping imprisonment beatings, migration setbacks, postwar education, travels through the former Soviet Union or membership of a gang of profanity-wielding cleaning-ladies, the stories are always deeply personal. Sentimental sometimes, true, but this is expected when an author writes of long-lost friends or inspirational figures.
Early on, Wagowska confides that she often could not talk of the Holocaust with those who had not been there because they wouldn’t understand. But she acknowledges that she cannot understand others’ viewpoint as she doesn’t know what it was like to have not been there. This book bridges that gap. While I can’t possibly understand what it would be like to make the sacrifices made under the pressures of the Forties, I can appreciate how the strength of will and love of life have nourished the author, and how her need to testify has seen her lend help to all manner of charitable organisations.
The story between these covers is a timely reminder of how much of modern Australia was formed from compassion and generosity – something we would do well to kindle once more.
June 12, 2013
This got a very strong recommendation by a regular customer who usually has very good taste in books, and this being my favourite subject matter I was there. The first half of the book which deals with the actual wartime and her horrific experiences in concentration camps was nothing new to me. Harsh maybe, but like I said, WW2 is my favourite subject matter so I've read a fair few accounts. In saying this I still did enjoy it and really felt for Halina and all she had to go through.
The second half of the book dealt with her immigration to Melbourne and how she then supported minority groups in Australia. This was all new to me and I really got into it. It was fascinating to see how her experiences changed her view on life and what she did with all that new information. Typically, war bios end shortly after the war does so it was really good to get that insight about life afterward. There was one chapter where she went on a holiday to the Silk Road and I really didn't get why it was there. What point did it make? What significance did it offer? I'm not sure, and I think it would have been better without it.
Initially her frequent use of colloquialisms annoyed me but she did explain in the beginning and by the end I found it endearing. She was really just trying very hard to fit in. Her view on Australia was very favourable and it made me proud to live in such a country as she described. For the love of all that is good, I hope it still comes across this way.
Whilst not brilliantly written (though she apologises for this early on) The Testimony was yet another great example of a wrongly persecuted person's struggle through both physical and mental abuse and the pure luck that is survival in such tumultuous times.
The second half of the book dealt with her immigration to Melbourne and how she then supported minority groups in Australia. This was all new to me and I really got into it. It was fascinating to see how her experiences changed her view on life and what she did with all that new information. Typically, war bios end shortly after the war does so it was really good to get that insight about life afterward. There was one chapter where she went on a holiday to the Silk Road and I really didn't get why it was there. What point did it make? What significance did it offer? I'm not sure, and I think it would have been better without it.
Initially her frequent use of colloquialisms annoyed me but she did explain in the beginning and by the end I found it endearing. She was really just trying very hard to fit in. Her view on Australia was very favourable and it made me proud to live in such a country as she described. For the love of all that is good, I hope it still comes across this way.
Whilst not brilliantly written (though she apologises for this early on) The Testimony was yet another great example of a wrongly persecuted person's struggle through both physical and mental abuse and the pure luck that is survival in such tumultuous times.
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