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A Time to Speak
A provocative account of the Nazi persecution of Czechoslovakian Jews details the author's life before the German occupation, her deportation - with her husband - to Terezin, their separation at Auschwitz, and her struggle for survival.
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 2, 2014
Quite recently, I wrote a blog post for my website, in which I claim that five books changed my life; that's to say, five books may have formed just who I am today - to a certain degree, at any rate; as much as books can.
But for any avid reader, what a decision to have to make - to be limited to five books only!
Helen Lewis' Time to Speak exemplifies the difficulty of such a choice. My five books are all classics, the 'newest' being written in 1958, and they're all fiction... so where would Helen Lewis fit in?
Never mind that, Time to Speak should still be regarded as a timeless classic.
I've read a few fiction/non fiction books depicting the Holocaust, but never have I read one - non-fiction - written with such blatant honesty, grace and humility.
There is so much 'more' that Helen Lewis - a Holocaust survivor - could have done with this book - Think Schindler's List, Helen, touch up your already extraordinary experience with a bit of colour and creative license; think Spielberg, cash in!!
But no. For the lovely, the beautiful, Helen Lewis, it was simply, finally, a time to speak.
And never did 'less is more' mean so much.
Forget rancour, forget bitterness, you won't find that... But you, the reader, tell us how she makes you feel, when she depicts how a German soldier furtively gives over his lunch, to her, a young woman dying on her feet in Auschwitz, so that she might live... No poetry in the world can match that.
A little gem of a book, that the world should be forced to read...
But for any avid reader, what a decision to have to make - to be limited to five books only!
Helen Lewis' Time to Speak exemplifies the difficulty of such a choice. My five books are all classics, the 'newest' being written in 1958, and they're all fiction... so where would Helen Lewis fit in?
Never mind that, Time to Speak should still be regarded as a timeless classic.
I've read a few fiction/non fiction books depicting the Holocaust, but never have I read one - non-fiction - written with such blatant honesty, grace and humility.
There is so much 'more' that Helen Lewis - a Holocaust survivor - could have done with this book - Think Schindler's List, Helen, touch up your already extraordinary experience with a bit of colour and creative license; think Spielberg, cash in!!
But no. For the lovely, the beautiful, Helen Lewis, it was simply, finally, a time to speak.
And never did 'less is more' mean so much.
Forget rancour, forget bitterness, you won't find that... But you, the reader, tell us how she makes you feel, when she depicts how a German soldier furtively gives over his lunch, to her, a young woman dying on her feet in Auschwitz, so that she might live... No poetry in the world can match that.
A little gem of a book, that the world should be forced to read...
December 9, 2019
Helen conta-nos um relato emocionante sobre o seu período nos campos de concentração, e como apesar da fome e das torturas ela encontrou a liberdade através da dança e das histórias que contava as crianças.
Nunca é de mais ler livros sobre o holocausto. Todos precisam de ter consciência desta realidade para que não se repita tais actos bárbaros se repitam.
Nunca é de mais ler livros sobre o holocausto. Todos precisam de ter consciência desta realidade para que não se repita tais actos bárbaros se repitam.
July 25, 2017
Categoria: Livro de Não-Ficção
June 1, 2023
Hard to understand why this is not ranked alongside better-known Holocaust memoirs such as If This is a Man and Man's Search for Meaning.
A brief but devastating read that contains some deeply moving moments - the depiction of ordinary life gradually sliding towards unspeakable horror is highly effective. The malevolence but also insanity of the Nazi regime is brought into stark relief, as is both the shifting nature of friendship and also unexpected compassion, even bravery, where one might least expect it.
I had the honour of meeting the author decades ago during a school talk that she gave, and it's only now that I realise she had produced this essential work around the same time.
A brief but devastating read that contains some deeply moving moments - the depiction of ordinary life gradually sliding towards unspeakable horror is highly effective. The malevolence but also insanity of the Nazi regime is brought into stark relief, as is both the shifting nature of friendship and also unexpected compassion, even bravery, where one might least expect it.
I had the honour of meeting the author decades ago during a school talk that she gave, and it's only now that I realise she had produced this essential work around the same time.
January 26, 2019
Excerpt from Foreword:
“Ecclesiastes:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
.
“Helen Lewis has chosen her time to speak. Only the dead know the whole truth and some of those witnesses who survived have taken upon themselves the painful task of speaking for them. It is our task to listen and never to forget.” - Jennifer Johnston
.
Given that tomorrow is Holocaust Remembrance Day, I am so glad that I’ve finally read this memoir, having seen the play adaptation a few years ago. Helen Lewis was a Czech dancer with a seemingly bright future, who was herded to the Terezin ghetto and then deported to Auschwitz death camp in 1942. This is the memoir of her survival, but it has the cadence of a novel, and is told with integrity and immense grace. I’m particularly interested in her story because after the war, Helen settled in Belfast (my home city), and became a dance teacher, going on to inspire young people by founding the Belfast Modern Dance Group.
.
This was such a worthwhile read, full of humanity and authenticity. Unpopular opinion alert : I would recommend reading this rather than The Tattooist of Auschwitz, as I feel the writing is much stronger.
August 30, 2025
The shortest book I’m reading is called "A Time to Speak" by Helen Lewis. Her narrative is horrifying, captivating, and one reads it with increasing admiration for her bravery, honesty, and clarity. She describes, the first thirty years of her life, from childhood to her professional training as a dancer and choreographer, in Czechoslovakia. She almost perished but survived three concentration camps. She was born in 1916 in Trutnov in Czechoslovakia. she was only a child, and her life was full of blessings. At the age of six she fell in love with dance. As a result, did her family survive? The man she married? Did she found Harry from childhood? You can decide
September 9, 2017
Helen foi exemplo de resiliência, fé e esperança.
February 20, 2020
A Time To Speak by Helen Lewis is an extremely in-depth recollection of a young women's journey surviving the Holocaust. There is an underlying story of her love for dance that ultimately saved her life a number of times. Her experience was one of the more traumatic and as I was reading it, I realized my brow was furrowed in utter sadness and disbelief that she went through such a terrible time and lived to speak about it. I read the book in one day and found it impossible to put down. I recommend this book to anyone who can stand to read such a gruesome story; it is eye opening and interesting.
June 15, 2019
I feel goosebumps every time I think I’m reading one of the only voices that lived to share many of the desperate situations throughout this book...
Yet as miserable a time this was, this is not a sad book, nor is it a story seeking pity or revenge. This is an exhilarating, heart wrenching, beautiful depiction of what being a Jew during WW2 really meant.
Helen Lewis takes the reader through all the highs and lows of being a Jew in this strange time. Uncertainty, hope, anguish, confusion, random luck, desperation, all seem to crash into one. As much as she suffers, she is also blessed by the kindness of a few (even a couple of Nazis, which I found insightful; the line that separates Nazis x non-Nazis is blurry ... we are first and foremost all human beings).
PS. My only complaint is that I would have liked to learn more about her life in the aftermath of it all ... Who is Helen Lewis beneath being a ‘survivor’? How does she make sense of her life “back home”?
Yet as miserable a time this was, this is not a sad book, nor is it a story seeking pity or revenge. This is an exhilarating, heart wrenching, beautiful depiction of what being a Jew during WW2 really meant.
Helen Lewis takes the reader through all the highs and lows of being a Jew in this strange time. Uncertainty, hope, anguish, confusion, random luck, desperation, all seem to crash into one. As much as she suffers, she is also blessed by the kindness of a few (even a couple of Nazis, which I found insightful; the line that separates Nazis x non-Nazis is blurry ... we are first and foremost all human beings).
PS. My only complaint is that I would have liked to learn more about her life in the aftermath of it all ... Who is Helen Lewis beneath being a ‘survivor’? How does she make sense of her life “back home”?
April 18, 2023
Fiquei comovida… incrível ela ter sobrevivido a tantas coisas difíceis e não ter perdido a esperança, ter construído uma família. Que bom. O final foi lindo e tocante. Os relatos me fizeram ter pesadelos. Não dá pra acreditar que o mundo viu isso acontecer com as pessoas e ainda hoje existem aqueles que acreditam que nada aconteceu, ou que a história deveria se repetir.
September 6, 2023
Recensisco questo libro con il pensiero che ho avuto leggendo l'ultimo brano scritto dall'autrice: quando sei ebrea, quando i nazisti vogliono ucciderti e sterminare il tuo popolo, la tua vittoria non è sopravvivere a quello sterminio. La tua vittoria è aver imparato a vivere A DISCAPITO di quello sterminio.
May 16, 2018
Not as informative as other hollocaust novels, but instead reflects the author’s demeanor. Incredible survival story.
April 13, 2020
This well written book was a great starter for reading about events in WW2 in regards to prison camps and a realistic view into what life was like. A short but exciting read.
October 11, 2024
An AMAZING, yet harrowing story.
March 4, 2025
Absolutely amazing true story told by a remarkable woman. Found myself taking my time to really immerse myself in her telling of her story.
April 9, 2025
Very interested and important topics. A new perspective but very “slow”. Historical very important but not an easy read.
September 27, 2025
This is a book about the author who survived the Holocaust. It was sad and heartbreaking, but there are times of warmth and friendship. She was such a brave woman.
February 28, 2010
Children’s Literature
Crystal Rodriguez
Title: A Time to Speak Nonfiction Upper
Author: Helen Lewis
Place of Publication: New York, New York
Date: 1992 Pages: 132
A Time to Speak was a story told by a courageous Jewish woman who survived the Nazi concentration camps. This book interested me due to my own lack of knowledge and understanding about this war that took place, not that long ago. As I read the book, I have an ongoing question in my mind, “Why did this happen to these people…for what purpose did it serve?” Honestly, I still do not completely understand.
The story Helen Lewis tells is a compelling true story of her experiences during the Germans’ invasion and her imprisonment. There is almost a feeling of guilt as you read her story lying on a plush couch awaiting the delivery of Dominoes pizza. It truly causes a reflection in one’s own life to feel blessed and genuinely appreciate the freedom, food, and shelter that you have. It also amazes me that something so dreadful and horrific happened just 70 years ago; a time when my own grandparents were alive.
Of course, I also questioned myself, “Could I have been that strong?” Her story makes you realize your own inner strength and appreciate others, especially those who are closest to you, as she lost so many dear to her. I imagine what might go through one’s mind to be able to cause harm to another as did so many in this book. I wonder if they had to go to a different place in their mind and soles to carry out such inhumane treatment. What an honor it would be to meet someone who had survived such an atrocity.
Crystal Rodriguez
Title: A Time to Speak Nonfiction Upper
Author: Helen Lewis
Place of Publication: New York, New York
Date: 1992 Pages: 132
A Time to Speak was a story told by a courageous Jewish woman who survived the Nazi concentration camps. This book interested me due to my own lack of knowledge and understanding about this war that took place, not that long ago. As I read the book, I have an ongoing question in my mind, “Why did this happen to these people…for what purpose did it serve?” Honestly, I still do not completely understand.
The story Helen Lewis tells is a compelling true story of her experiences during the Germans’ invasion and her imprisonment. There is almost a feeling of guilt as you read her story lying on a plush couch awaiting the delivery of Dominoes pizza. It truly causes a reflection in one’s own life to feel blessed and genuinely appreciate the freedom, food, and shelter that you have. It also amazes me that something so dreadful and horrific happened just 70 years ago; a time when my own grandparents were alive.
Of course, I also questioned myself, “Could I have been that strong?” Her story makes you realize your own inner strength and appreciate others, especially those who are closest to you, as she lost so many dear to her. I imagine what might go through one’s mind to be able to cause harm to another as did so many in this book. I wonder if they had to go to a different place in their mind and soles to carry out such inhumane treatment. What an honor it would be to meet someone who had survived such an atrocity.
March 5, 2016
A Time to Speak is an extraordinary book, by an extraordinary woman during unimaginably difficult and surreal times, from which many never returned. It is beautifully written and with such humility. As a result it is all the more powerful.
Years ago I met another Helen who lived in Tel Aviv, purely by chance, while travelling in America on holiday. We kept writing and meeting each other whenever she came to the UK. This continued for years. The moment came when she told me about her life in Birkenau or Auschwitz 2. All the films, all the books, all the documentaries, all the articles in magazines, hadn't prepared me for the personal detail. Helen drew me a plan of the camp and the position of the hovel in which she "lived". When we went some time after she died, I found the building, still standing in this evil place. A Time to Speak brought everything back.
The two Helens have much in common. Both survived. But another aspect which continues to amaze me, is how they were able to talk and write about what happened to them with absolutely no rancour.
A Time to Speak is testament to tenacity. It should be on every reading list.
Years ago I met another Helen who lived in Tel Aviv, purely by chance, while travelling in America on holiday. We kept writing and meeting each other whenever she came to the UK. This continued for years. The moment came when she told me about her life in Birkenau or Auschwitz 2. All the films, all the books, all the documentaries, all the articles in magazines, hadn't prepared me for the personal detail. Helen drew me a plan of the camp and the position of the hovel in which she "lived". When we went some time after she died, I found the building, still standing in this evil place. A Time to Speak brought everything back.
The two Helens have much in common. Both survived. But another aspect which continues to amaze me, is how they were able to talk and write about what happened to them with absolutely no rancour.
A Time to Speak is testament to tenacity. It should be on every reading list.
October 24, 2012
I'm only giving this book 3 stars because I want to rate it as a piece of writing in comparison with other books rather than for the content or the horrifying experiences it relates. Rating such a book is a difficult thing to do, and this must have been a difficult book to write. Given the nightmare that Helen Lewis managed to live through, this is an amazingly calm, matter-of-fact and understated account of her time in the Terezin, Auschwitz and Stutthof camps and the march after. Her strength of character is clearly remarkable, and the story as she tells it, of her time before the war (briefly) and then during her internment and (again briefly) after is lucid and sufficiently detailed to give a vivid picture of her experiences, despite the fact that this is a very short book.
October 7, 2010
It makes a change to read a Holocaust book in which not all the Germans are one-dimensional hate figures. That for me is the greatest surprise about this book; much of what is written is similar to other personal accounts of the evil unleashed in Europe in the 30's and 40's but it is the writer's ability to be able to stand back and remember positive experiences with Germans both in and out of the camps that provides this book with its true strength and validity as an eyewitness account. This is a slim volume that can be easily read by anybody from 11 or 12 upwards and I recommend it highly.
June 28, 2014
Não tem como encarar a vida da mesma forma como antes, após a leitura dessa autobiografia de Helen Lewis! Uma história marcada por sofrimento e torturas físicas e psicológicas!
Vê-la superar toda uma época de privações e humilhações nos faz refletir o quão nossos problemas são pequenos, e como muitas vezes somos fracos a ponto de querer desistir, sem mesmo saber o que é sacrifício de verdade!
Ótimo livro, linda história, verdadeira lição de VIDA e SUPERAÇÃO.
Vê-la superar toda uma época de privações e humilhações nos faz refletir o quão nossos problemas são pequenos, e como muitas vezes somos fracos a ponto de querer desistir, sem mesmo saber o que é sacrifício de verdade!
Ótimo livro, linda história, verdadeira lição de VIDA e SUPERAÇÃO.
May 8, 2013
Helen poderia ter sido uma grande bailarina, não não fosse judia... Mas o facto de ter tido aulas de dança e de ter dedicado o pouco da sua vida a aprender a arte fez com que a própria dança lhe tivesse salvado a vida num dos dois campos de concentração onde esteve.
Opinião completa: http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
Opinião completa: http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
May 12, 2012
A great wee book - a remarkable story indeed. I'd have loved more detail, perhaps an extended book, but a great glimpse again of an ordeal and description of inhumanity that should never be forgotten.
October 8, 2014
I read a lot of Holocaust memoirs. This one is exceptional for its beautiful writing, its frank and spare look at her own experience. Lewis is a brave and strong woman. Her spirit shines through in this book. She is also a gifted storyteller; it was hard to put the book down.
June 23, 2016
An inspiring story. I admire Helen's strength, as well as the strength of the others who had to live through this horrible tragedy. This made my everyday challenges seem like a grain of salt. I loved this book.
September 1, 2007
A personal book about the holocaust, very touching and heart-breaking.
June 27, 2011
An honest, eye opening account of the terrors of WWII. It was fascinating reading about the Terezin (Theriesenstadt) ghetto and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in history.
June 9, 2013
One strong strong lady to survive all that she did!
February 12, 2014
An amazing, thought provoking book. Wish I could rate it higher. Certainly made me look twice at my life and count my blessings. An amazing woman.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews