Innocence Lost: A Childhood Stolen

by Philip Sherman Mygatt, Adrian Doyle

I met Miriam Kabliski Cohen quite by accident, and for me it was a life-changing event. My ninety-four-year-old widowed mother had recently moved into an assisted living facility in Venice, Florida, after my step-father died in 2009, and Miriam was her next-door neighbor. One day when I was visiting my mother, Miriam or Mira - as her friends and family called her - stopped by to visit. My first impression of her was of a small, white-haired lady, who walked with a slight stoop and had a foreign accent that I couldn't quite place. She appeared to be in her late seventies, and what surprised me the most as we started talking, was that she was quite computer literate. She had her own active Facebook page, Twitter account and kept in touch with her large family through e-mails. After Mira had left the apartment, I asked my mother to tell me more about her. She told me that Mira was Polish and had been sent to Auschwitz during WWII, but that's all she knew. Since I was quite interested in WWII history, especially The Holocaust, I asked my mother to call me the next time Mira stopped by, and I would like to hear more about her life. A couple of weeks later, my mother arranged a meeting in her apartment. I didn't know what to expect as I wasn't sure if Mira wanted to talk about her childhood experiences. Our meeting started out pleasantly, but soon it became apparent that whatever had happened many years ago was something that she didn't want to talk about. I changed the subject because I certainly didn't want to make her uncomfortable by asking her questions about her past. She asked me where I worked, and I told her I was an author and that I had written several books, including one about WWII. The more we talked, the more she opened up, until she told me that she wanted to go back to her apartment and get something to share with me. Within minutes, she returned with a well-worn leather satchel. Opening it, she started pulling out scraps of paper until there was quite a large pile on my mother's coffee table. When I asked her what were on the scraps of paper, she replied, "My story." As I picked them up and examined them, I noticed they were obviously written in a young person's handwriting, and were in a foreign language; Polish I correctly assumed. As I was going through the scraps, she reached into the satchel, pulled out a well-worn rag doll, and handed it to me. "Meet Alinka," she said. Alinka's clothes were tattered and dirty, her bisque head was crackled and chipped, and one of her arms was badly repaired. But, when Mira reached over, took her back, and hugged her tightly to her chest, I got a brief glimpse of an eight-year-old Polish girl sitting across from me. _____ Holocaust, Jewish, WWII, Polish, Auschwitz

Genres: Historical Fiction, Holocaust

294 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2014

About the author

Philip Sherman Mygatt is also known as Adrian Doyle.

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the story of Mira a young polish girl that was Jewish. it deals with the harsh realities of the war and the nazi extermination camp. mostly dealing with auschwitz and the escape of Mira and the doctor who rescued her.

it was a moving story and one filled with fear and betrayal. was amazing to read and I feel honored to have read Mira's story

[Golbarg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have respect for Mira( main character) and her story. but I think the writer has failed and some part of the book is boring.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Innocence Lost

This book was very captivating , I didn't want to put it down. Even tho Mira didn't really exist,, her story was entirely believable. I.think Mira is a culmination of thousands of girls who struggled to survive such a horrible time in history. The author told this story very poignantly and those who read it can continue to tell the story of the Holocaust so no one ever forgets.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read stories of WWll survivors. Every survivor has a different story and perspective and this story provides the viewpoint of a little girl who survived WW2 but her family does not. The reason she survived is slowly revealed and is quite intriguing.

[Sybil Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

I enjoyed this book. I didn’t think I would at first because of the way it is written and I couldn’t get into it. Then all at once it came together and I found myself wanting to get back and read some more. The old lady is telling her story of her family being sent to Auschwitz when she was just a little girl and the things she lived thru. Very good book

[Jeanette D Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow but interesting

The idea for this book is i am sure not a new one, however the way this one evolves is interesting. I admit to skipping pages here and there because although interesting it is long winded

[Ronnie Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story anyone will enjoy.

This book kept my interest. The journey across Europe for Mira and the doctor was uniquely detailed and believable that kept coming back for more of the story.

[becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far fetched

I read far too much historical fiction and non fiction however this book just seemed far fetched and impossible at points I read to the end as I wanted answers but after finishing still find questions left unanswered

[jean sargent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book although it was fiction it could also be so true. The descriptions throughout the book were so clear I almost felt I was making the journey with her ,so good I couldn’t put it down.👍😀❤️

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freedom

I thought this book was well written and held my interest. I like relatively happy endings. It was a great and colorful journey towards the end.

[Ellie Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

I loved this book it was a fascinating story and told very eloquently
with great sensitivity to the facts! I enjoyed it very much

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought it was be a true story, but it is fiction.

[betty hamilton]

Good

Read it and be sad. Never again should this happen although I think it still is in many places today.

[Mary Berenis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a fabulous story of a young Jewish girl from childhood on a Polish farm to adulthood. It was very hard to put down.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting story

Amazing! This book takes you through the trials and tribulations of the Holocaust - the sacrifices and lengths made to survive.

[ann betts]

Innocence lost

Another tragic story of the holocaust. A different view and storyline from a possible outcome of someone sent to a concentration camp.

[Tracy Stocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal Storytelling

The characters are so real and vivid. I feel like I travelled through time with Mira. So we'll written! Couldn't out it down.

[Michelle hilburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable story

I loved this memoir because Mira retained the beauty and innocence in her soul, despite the horror around her. Inspiring.

[Penelope Gonzalez-Aguilar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a good book. On my goodness, these type of books just touch the core of my heart and the struggles that these people have went through.

[Virginia Abshere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Book is excellent. Hard to put down. Each character came to life. Highly red this book. History buffs this is yours.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got lost in the story. End of book brought tears to my eyes. Even though it may not be a full accounting by just one person it brings to life what happened at the concentration camps.

[Peggy Cowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart wrenching..

So very sad, it felt as my stomach was on my throat, the entire time I was reading.
There are really no words to say, the cruelty of the Nazis is beyond fathoming…

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Innocence Lost: A Childhood Stolen is a historical fiction by Philip Sherman Mygatt. This book is written as if by a seventy-eight-year-old woman who is remembering her past as a child during the Holocaust. The places and events would not be completely accurate if the interview were real, however, they would be what she remembered and her memories would be the ones that count. The book is written well and actually pulls you into believing this actually happened to Mira. Some of the events could have happened while others are purely made up. However, the book does get the feelings across of loneliness, confusion, love, hate, bewilderment, hopelessness and hope. What came to mind while thinking about this book was the idea of a Jewish child in hiding out in the open. In fact, that is what Mira in this book did. She passed as a German girl from the time she was about seven until she was over eighteen.
Mira was born in a small village in Poland and she had an older brother whom she idolized and a younger brother whom she cherished. Her parents worked hard on their farm to make a living for the five of them. Her Father began teaching the children to read at home after chores were done. Lev, her older brother, wasn’t too interested in learning while Chaim, the younger boy, was too young. However, Mira loved learning, especially languages. This love of languages would help her in the future. One day, the Germans came and ran all the Jews out of their small village and burned their homes and barns and took all their livestock. They just turned them out to fend for themselves. Mira and her family fled to Lodz and her paternal grandparents. As the Jews were being crowded into a ghetto, Mira’s Father managed to get false ID’s and took the family to his brother’s in Warsaw. Unfortunately, this move was just as bad as the first. They just ended up in the Warsaw ghetto. When the family was being “resettled”, her brother Lev stayed to fight the Germans while the rest of the family was sent to Auschwitz. Here, Mira’s Parents and little brother were sent to the gas chambers along with her aunt and her two cousins. Her uncle was sent to the work camp. Mira got separated from her family and as she stooped to pick up her doll, Doctor Mueller, who was doing the selection, chose her to stand beside him as he finished. He was the first one to talk nicely to her in a long time and as a little girl, she took him at his word. After the selection, he took her to his own home and told her he would take her to her parents the next day. However, a new excuse came up the next day and he didn’t take her to her family. Instead, he developed a game with her to have her pretend to be the daughter of a friend of his who was there for a visit. Later, she believed he had chosen her to replace his own daughter. Her life as Anna Mueller took on a life of its own as she and Dr. Mueller fled Auschwitz.
The story follows their path as they flee Auschwitz ahead of the Russians and try to keep out of the way of the Allies. Why doesn’t Mira tell anyone who she really is? Why does she believe Doctor Mueller? Why did he choose her and decide to keep her? How does a Jewish girl turn into a Catholic girl without losing herself? For a fiction book, this is really good. You have to keep reminding yourself that it is not a true story.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What starts out as "another one of those Holocaust death camp stories" quickly changes tack when an SS officer plucks Mira Kabliski, along with her doll, Alinka, from the Auschwitz selection line and, with no explanation, takes her home with him. "Herr Mueller" has some kind of job inside the camp -- he comes home every night and meticulously and painstakingly scrubs and scrubs his "delicate" hands with a stiff brush -- but Mira is unable to find out just what he does there. He tells her that Auschwitz is a "resettlement" camp and that Jews are being sent to land in Russia to begin new lives.
He takes on the role of saviour, lifeline, protector. father figure, and the only family she has left, a seemingly gentle man, as they soon flee Auschwitz and the advancing Russian armies, and begin a harrowing journey across Europe to Germany.

Both Herr Mueller [now Doktor Mueller] and Mira [now Anna Mueller] speak both Polish and German which help them immensely in their efforts to avoid starvation and freezing to death. The transformation takes this 12-year-old girl from Mira Kabliski through Mira Bednarczyk, Bernadette Schneider to Anna Mueller.

There are "secrets" throughout -- background secrets, job secrets, family secrets. Mira dresses up as Anna; Herr Mueller puts on the robes of a priest. By the time the war is over, Mira has lived so many lies that she doesn't know how to tell the truth.

Helping us to see both Germans and Jews as individual people, this is one of the most heartfelt stories about this time in history that I have ever read. Mira struggles to find her own identity, as does the Doktor.

It is a novel -- we're told this at the beginning -- but it reads like a memoir. Extremely well- written. It will grab your heart and won't let go.

I read this DRC courtesy of Net Galley and First Edition Design Publishing,Inc.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Innocence Lost - A Childhood Stolen is the story of Mira as told to Philip Sherman Mygatt.

Mira is a Jewish child living on a farm in rural Poland when WW2 breaks out. She narrates the amazing tale of her survival to the writer. As is often the case in survivor stories, the survivor themselves has a huge amount of personal strength and forbearance, at times they are lucky, they meet people who help them on their journey, they often need to rely on what seems like coincidence and Mira's story is no different in that respect. How Mira survives the Holocaust is different to any other survivor story I have heard or read. The language and detail transports the reader to 1940s Poland and the reader finds themselves travelling with Mira through her journey all the way to her final destination. The story is compelling, harrowing, frustrating and uplifting, a real page-turner of a book.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Edee Fiore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This remarkable book will keep you reading until you've reluctantly finished it. I stayed up most of the night with it.
The story is a first-hand account of a little girl, who was rescued from the ovens at Auschwitz by a doctor, who ordered others to their deaths. Her experiences with him and his unexpected transformation are vivid, exciting, scary, and puzzling.
I promise that you will find this book informative, inspiring, and one you will want all your friends and family members to read.
I highly recommend it.
Edith Fiore, Ph.D.(Retired psychologist and author)

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is only two months since I was in Poland and passed through the entrance into the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. My visit was a very moving one and as I read this very moving story which was based on a true story, my mind wondered back to my visit.

I rarely write a blurb as to what the story is about for fear of spoiling for others. This book was certainly a page turner and I did start to feel a lump in my throat towards to the end. I cannot rate this book high enough. So pleased to have received an e-copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Meredith Goodrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A channeled marvel

Once I got into this book I couldn't put it down. Having spoken to the author about the book I was even more intrigued as he explained how he came to write the book. As I read I researched maps of the region because it was so detailed I wanted to know where these towns are as I imagined this physical escape as well as the spiritual journey the protagonist was making.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book as it was based on a true story..another side of the holocaust. Well written with a real feeling of the situation...positive as she was spared her life but negative as she never knew what happened to her family .I would recommend it ..as a remnant of the war...a little more positive remnant.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is wonderful read about World War II and the effects on Jewish families. A young girl's story is told in a way that makes the reader feel like you are there with as she experiences the difficulties of losing her family and so much more. A real page turner!