Isabella: From Auschwitz to Freedom

by Isabella Leitner, Irving A. Leitner

Gathering two classic memoirs of the Holocaust, Fragments of Isabella and Saving the Fragments, a testament to love and survival traces the epic struggle of Isabella Katz Leitner after she and her family are deported to Auschwitz. Reissue.

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, Memoir

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Hannah Puckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed this story although it was very depressing. It was a well thought out book because it taught you about the real-life situations in the concentration camp and what the conditions were back then. It was really tough hearing about all these poor families being separated and killed in ovens. The conditions were horrible and I couldn't imagine what it was like. I would highly recommend this book if you want to educate yourself about how much impact the holocaust had on people and how it was so tragic. This book was very suspenseful and a good read that was very upsetting.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This physical book contained "Fragents of Isabella" as well. Went to the second half to complete her journey. Such a revolting time in history.

[Jamie Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like all of her books, hard though they may be to read.

[Jack Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book I am very interested in her story and want to read any additional books she made.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, it is about: A girl named Isabella and her family. They are Jews and are sent to concentration camps. Her father was in America because he was supposed to help them get there as well. He was their only chance but sadly, he was too late. She loses her mother and her younger sister before she gets to the camp because they were not "fit" to go to those camps. She and her three sisters: Chicha, Cici and Regina. She talks about the torture from the camp, and how she was liberated. She ran away, along with two of her sisters (Regina and Chicha). Her sister Cici did not make it. She was captured back by the Nazi's. Isabella was freed along with her two sisters. They run into Russians, and finally feel safer. But that safety does not last that long because the soldiers try to sleep with them. When she is finally liberated, she finds out many things about other people. She found out that her sister, Cici, had made it and marched, but died from exhaustion after. She then talks about her life after being liberated, how she gets married and how she had her sons.

One theme I noticed in this story is hope. Hope was all they had, and was what kept them alive. Isabella and her family went through so much, and yet, they still believed that they would make it. They were tortured by the camp, being starved to death and over worked, yet they still had hope that one day they would be free. Even after losing their father, mother and two sisters, those three siblings still had the courage to keep each other alive. Their mother taught them to never quit and to keep trying. I could tell in the beginning of the story and to the middle of the story, they were losing much of their hope. But as they made through each of those obstacles, they gained some of their hope back. After being liberated, they were so much closer to finally being able to live their lives again. So this theme is big because it was what kept them alive for all that time, and what helped them try to move on with their lives.

[Kristin Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more, but the last fourth of the memoir, coupled with the epilogue and afterword, made me lose some Interest. Maybe there wasn't enough going on?
This book is actually two of Isabella Leitner's memoirs combined into one book, I think if I had read just Fragments of Isabella: A Memoir of Auschwitz, I would have given it four stars.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read a memoir by Isabella Leitner when I was 9 years-old called The Big Lie. This more mature approach to her experiences as a Holocaust survivor has better enriched my understanding of her life, and the post-WW2 struggles she endured trying to rid herself of her death camp conditioning.

In a way, it helped me to better understand my grandmother, a concentration camp survivor. Leitner poetically articulates her feelings and fears following her liberation, many of which lasted decades later.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir is a series of easily read vignettes written by a survivor of the Holocaust. It is a story of a group of sisters surviving the inhumanity of European anti-Semitism whose apex was the NAZI attempt at genocide.

[Rebecca Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and it is also a quick read. I am fascinated with the holocaust (more of how could someone do this people) and I love reading about people who have survived.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hungarian teen 9 months captive in camps and howir felt, her family. Easy read and helpful.

[Ann-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isabella was a touching true tale of survival. It sucked me right in and I couldn't quit reading