My Mother's Eyes: Holocaust Memories of a Young Girl

by Anna Ornstein, Stewart Goldman

Anna Ornstein is a Holocaust survivor. After emigrating to the U.S., she seldom spoke of the experiences she suffered while a young girl. Twenty-five years ago, at the family Seder gathering, her family asked for a story from her past. In an evocative, understated passage, she shared a bit of the tragedy she saw through the eyes of a child. Every year she has added to this tradition by sharing another chapter of the tragedies she witnessed and the small moments of grace in her survival. Through her family's support, Orenstein gained enough strength to share her experiences in My Mother's Eyes, in hopes of keeping the nightmare from ever happening again.

Genres: Memoir, Holocaust, Nonfiction, Survival, Family, Psychology

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Anna Ornstein was a Hungarian-American Auschwitz survivor, psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, author, speaker, and scholar.

Reviews

[Laura Towvim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book on a difficult topic. Easier to read than other accounts I have read. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a memoir and not fiction. Thank you Anna for sharing your difficult and touching story. May we always remember.

[Ashley Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Begun as a series of stories told one by one at the Passover table each year, Ornstein, a prominent psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, now shares with us the plight of her Hungarian family during the Holocaust. She and her mother were deported to Auschwitz; her father and two brothers died. After the war, she reunited with her childhood sweetheart who had survived a forced labor camp, married and had three children. The power of this book is in its honest simplicity- direct, true, and told with great wisdom and sensitivity. A beautiful, moving read.

[Lisa Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I agree with the brief description on the back of the book:

"Tender, Terrifying and Triumphant"

[Ilene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This great book chronicles the story of a Hungarian Jewish family during World War II. In the telling if her story Dr. Ornate in touches the heart with a story of death, suffering and survival, her relationships and for me especially the story if her mother . A brave woman who barely survived the camps and went on to do good for others in a world she could have become bitter towards. Reading this book also opened my eyes to the experience in Hungary and the history in Europe some of which I was unaware of. Five stars.

[Margi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art work throughout the book helped tell this story. I loved the pairings of the drawings and the stories. I felt like I too was part of the Seder experience while each addition to the story was told. A true testament to the human will and spirit.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very personal and intimate memories of a Hungarian Jewish woman who survived several work camps during WWII. She wrote these vignettes once a year for a Passover remembrance; in the book they have been arranged chronologically.

[Leeann · Rating 4 out of 5]

AMAZING. Met Anna. She is awesome!!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was but a lad in religious school in Cincinnati, Ohio, a Holocaust survivor spoke. Of her talk, I remember most her accent and the anecdote she shared about delighting in a cabbage that had fallen from a truck or cart.

That anecdote is in this book. At times, Dr. Ornstein repeats herself. The writing is clear but simple. The story powerful. How she together with her mother survived deportation to Auschwitz and then to other Nazi work camps.

It is the dedication at the end that gives the book its real meaning and earns it five stars. It is a reflection particularly important in this era of rising anti-Semitism.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

A series of short chapters (usually 2-4 pages) detailing the author's life before, during and after the holocaust. Simple but eloquent. Still hard to wrap my mind around this era of history.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was touched by the candor and very personal feel of this book. As a series of recollections of the author's life before, during and after the Holocaust, it was powerful in the simplicity and honesty of the stories.