Rutka's Notebook: A Voice from the Holocaust

by Rutka Laskier, Time-Life Books (Preparation), Yad Vashem (Preparation)

More than sixty years after her 1943 death in Auschwitz, the words of fourteen-year-old Rutka Laskier, a young Jewish girl from Bedzin, Poland, offer a poignant study of the everyday lives of Polish Jews caught up in the Holocaust.

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Memoir, War, World War II

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Fátima Linhares · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Em momentos de maior ansiedade, a fé em coisas para lá deste mundo são um porto seguro."

Tirando o contexto e a fase negra da história em que foi escrito, não passa de um pequenino diário de uma adolescente. Nada de memorável.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been trying to formulate this review in my head since finishing this thought provoking and extremely poignant book. I suppose after further contemplation I've been thinking about what I would say before finishing. I wanted to share the thoughts and feelings that I was experiencing while reading but then I would have had to write a page by page review since nearly every page reached out and grabbed me. This book was so difficult for me. It's a mere 86 pages and it took me just shy of a week to read. I could only take it in small doses. I had to set it aside and read something else before coming back. Certainly not because it was poorly written or uninteresting, quite the contrary, it reached into my soul and tore me apart. I sometimes felt physically ill reading this beautiful young girls words. I cried continually and felt bitter anger at the unfairness and inhumane end Rutka and so many like her endured. My son is 13 years old, just months younger than this young lady and that fact continually entered my mind as I sat thinking about all of the "what ifs" only a parent could interject into this memoir. I lost my breath and bawled when she talked about "something being broken inside" and proceeded to calmly describe the murder of a Jewish child in front of his mother by a Nazi. I know it hurt and scared her but fear apparently became so common her ability to process it was suppressed as a result of her own self preservation mechanisms.

I read a few reviews here that were unkind to this book. One went as far as to say "what's the point?" I can only pray that person was young and forced to read it for school and their review was a rebellion of sorts. Hopefully as they mature the memory of this book will surface and they will be ashamed by their words. I will speak to some of the people who also thought that Rutka was "boring" or mean. Let us not forget she was a 14 year old child, just coming into adult feelings. That is a difficult time in anyone's life. I cannot begin to imagine what it was like set against the backdrop of the war and the knowledge of the holocaust (yes they knew what was happening and feared it every second). I honestly found her waffling on falling in love with the boy Janek as a sign she had not lost her humanity. It made me happy to see she was experiencing the things all teens think about. Also we must remember there was no Anne Frank to compare her writing to. Rutka was simply a 14 year old girl writing her thoughts and not expecting (maybe hoping though) that we would be reading them 60 years later.


So I'll sum up this review with ........READ THIS BOOK! Learn the lessons it attempts to teach so that we as a society never allow such horrible evil deeds to happen ever again.

[Czytam Sercem · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Chciałabym to wszystko, co się we mnie dzieje, przelać na papier” 🕯

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I would like to pour out on paper all the turmoil I am feeling inside, but I'm absolutely incapable."

If Amazon Video Prime hadn't had Secret Diary of the Holocaust, I don't know how much later it would have been until I heard about Rutka's Notebook.

It seemed fitting to read as I continue on with my personal interest of reading historical fiction books set during World War II. (In fact, I think my personal interest is what's renewing my energy and motivation to keep reading. It acts as a counter measure against the dreadful required readings for classes.) And since I recently revisited Anne Frank's A Diary of a Young Girl, it seemed appropriately fitting to read Rutka's notebook.

Rutka's diary is a lot shorter than Anne's, but it is by no means inferior to hers. Like Anne's, Rutka's serves as insight to the generations after of the horror going on during WWII. I knew there was no happy ending, as I watched the documentary in the last week of 2022, but it still tugged on my heartstrings.

I also greatly appreciated the extra content within the book. There are photographs, footnotes to help, and there are pieces by Rutka's half-sister, Zahava Laskier.

Alongside Anne Frank's diary and Elie Wiesel's Night, Rutka's Notebook is a must read. I'm glad her story is out there for the world to know.

[Mercedes Moya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha gustado, hacía mucho que no leía algo del estilo. Me da pena que se haya podido recuperar tan poca parte del diario. Gracias @Kauzar 🫶🏻

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a diary from an approximate four month period from a teenage girl. The notebook she was writing in was hidden beneath her stairs when her and her family was sent from the ghetto where they were living to a Nazi camp. It's believed that Rutka and her entire family, with the exception of her father, died in that camp soon after.
Rutka's friend went back to the house where Rutka's family lived after the war and retrieved the notebook as she had promised Rutka before they were seperated. Rutka's friend then held on the notebook, in secret, for over 60 years. After her nephew presuaded her that the notebook needed to be shared she decided started the process. This is the first edition published in the U.S. and the notebook was only first discovered in Rutka's friends hand in 2006.
The photos are nothing short of amazing, I was in total awe as I flipped through the pages. The book also includes footnotes for a few things that were unclear. For example, a sentence where some words were left off because of humidity, etc. There is a decent bibliography included in the end as well. There are afterwords also, one by Zahava Laskier, who is Rutka's half-sister from a marriage after the war and one from Menachem Lior, who knew Rutka as a teenager. There is a copy of the actual Page of Testimony filed with Yad Vashem by Rutka's father after the war, this testimony states the family members of Yaacov Laskier that were murdered in the Holocaust.
Rutka's Notebook is very slim, all of 90 pages if I remember correctly, with the afterwords included, and is still something everyone interested in the Holocaust and Holocaust survivors should read.

[Zoe Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very brief but particularly personal insight into the Holocaust. Told from a youthful perspective, this book holds some poignant and often harrowing insights in to the terrible events of this era.

It was awful to read of the strife and poverty and even more abhorrent to read about how children, and babies, were treated by soldiers - one example in particular made me recoil - it's just absolutely awful that anyone, let alone babies, could be treated like that.

A short but revealing look at Poland in 1943.

[Kauzar Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ojalá Rutka hubiera tenido la oportunidad de escribir más, pero no fue posible. Empezó en enero de 1943 y acabó en abril de 1943. Se pueden notar tanto sus sentimientos de adolescente normal como el ambiente bélico.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

We can never forget.

[Corinne Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend picked this one up for me, knowing of my interest in Holocaust memoirs. This one is particularly interesting - she's been dubbed "the Polish Anne Frank," and her diary does remind me of Anne's somewhat.

Rutka Laskier's diary is much shorter than Anne's however. Only 60 handwritten pages - such a short amount of text to give a picture of a life. The editors did a fantastic job, adding in pictures and historical context for the things that Rutka talks about. I enjoyed that as much as the diary itself.

And I really did enjoy the diary, as much as you can enjoy something that breaks your heart. It doesn't matter how many times I read about it, I still cannot wrap my brain around the Holocaust. Rutka's story is, in some senses, harder to read than Anne's. While Anne had to stay hidden from the Nazi's, Rutka had to interact with them first hand, and her diary tells of some incredibly disturbing incidents as her family is forced to move to a ghetto and go through "selections" where you don't know if you will end up going home or being sent to a concentration camp.

I related to her so much as a teen - much of her diary is the daily ins and outs of friendships at that age - worries about boys and your parents. And then mixed in are some incredibly deep thoughts about happiness and freedom and life itself. She felt so real to me, as if I was secretly listening in on her telling someone about her life.

While history books and conference papers have their place, of course, I feel like the memoirs of teens from this time period are an invaluable resource. They give such a depth of feeling and emotion - a true testament to what was lost. Rutka's Notebook belongs in this canon.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rutka's Notebook is one of the many diaries & journals written during a dark period in history, the Holocaust, and rediscovered many years later thanks to a former friend coming forth with the notebook. Her book covers the 4 month period she spent in the ghettos of Bedzin before her deportation to Auschwitz, which she did not survive. But her writing lends another voice that has awoken from the genocide, cementing her legacy in both literature and Jewish culture. Rutka has been dubbed as the "Polish Anne Frank", which I can see the similarities when reading her journal. She was one of the millions of children who had to learn to grow up fast as her freedoms were stripped and forced into captivity by the Nazis. She details both her budding womanhood: her physical and emotional changes, confusion on love; while noting her fears and hatred going on outside. She mentions the violence and sadism the Nazis acted on the civilians, her poor working conditions in the shops, her questioning of God's existence during the crisis and her yearn to be freed from the terror.

Her journal is not as long as Anne Frank's diary, but from the short period that she written in there, we see a real teenage girl who tries to make sense of her impending entrance to adolescence while attempting to survive the torture of the Third Reich she witnessed firsthand. She expresses her words in a way that is both relatable and able to touch any reader who knows experienced prejudice based on who they were. Once the notebook entries ended, it goes onto the family background of Rutka, both during her lifetime and her father's new life upon surviving the camps. There is also a section devoted to explaining how the Nazis control of Bedzin transformed the populated city to a ghetto for deportation, providing a bigger picture into understanding Rutka's situation in greater detail. One thing I truly appreciate is the bibliography at the end that recommends other diaries written by other teens during the same period also, as I believe for matters such as this, the voices need to be heard in order for society to know they should never repeats such atrocities ever again. Rutka's writing is just as well-written as Anne's and I'll hopefully be able to look into some of the other published diaries in the near future.

[Laura Coll · Rating 1 out of 5]

No veo que tenga el más mínimo interés para una persona de a pie, pero sí lo tiene para alguien que, como yo, busca testimonios reales de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La edición está cuidada, pero los textos complementarios sobran y no son especialmente interesantes. La parte más interesante es el texto original de Rutka, pero es de corta extensión. Sus palabras permiten asomarnos a la vida de una adolescente de los años cuarenta que vivió en el gueto de Bedzin, y nos daremos cuenta de que en la guerra no todo es drama y horror, sino que también hay paréntesis de incertidumbre donde te embarga el aburrimiento. Rutka no nos habla de la guerra, que es su pan de cada día, sino de sus preocupaciones inmediatas, sus amigos y amores, como lo haría cualquier adolescente. Puede que el libro no me haya gustado mucho porque tiene poca chicha y refleja el diario de una adolescente como cualquier otro, pero creo que estos testimonios son necesarios para mostrarnos la parte más mundana de la guerra, la capacidad del ser humano para insensibilizarse para seguir viviendo y cómo los jóvenes se comportan como jóvenes sin importar la época.

Reseña completa:
https://paseandoentrepaginas.blogspot...

[Susan Serra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am inspired by young people who write to change the world. Rutka was a fourteen-year old girl who witnessed Jewish friends and relatives senselessly tortured when the Germans came into her town of Bedzin in Poland during World War II. She shares with humanity what life is like during that time, and although a brief look into her world, we can understand that she wants the world to know how the inhumane actions of the German Third Reich destroyed everything she once knew. They taught her to hate and to just give up on life.
This journal was kept by a non-Jewish friend of Rutka's for over sixty years until someone convinced her that she needed to share it with the world. Time/Life added to the book by presenting many photographs of life, the family, and the village at that time.

[Amy Polk · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* So many Jewish teens journaled during the Holocaust, but many are lost forever due to the chaos during incomprehensible trauma. Rutka's was made public early in the 21st century, more than 60 years later, when her friend, who kept it safe for Rutka, turned it over for posterity. After multiple translations, it is now being made into an Indie Rock musical play, and my son took my daughter-in-law to the Cincinnati world premier, for her birthday, in October, 2024. What a wonderful way to give Rutka's journal a voice to be heard and honored.

[Marcia Sofía Esperanza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rutka escribe desde la necesidad de ser testimonio de vida, una vida que injustamente fue manejada por otros privandola de sus derechos para estar limitada en el gueto y terminar sus días en Auschwitz

[Mary Stergioti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Σίγουρα όχι Άννα Φράνκ, σίγουρα δεν το λες συγλονιστικό. Ίσως να φταίει και οτι σελιδες και χωρία είχαν σβηστεί ή σκιστεί. Πολλά ονόματα, πολλά όμως για τόσο μικρό βιβλίο.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is amazing to me that there are still memoirs, diaries and stories coming out of the holocaust.
Rutka is known as the Polish Anne Frank and I can see the similarities. Introspective and perceptive and always with the knowledge of what exactly was happening.

It is heartbreaking to read the words of a young teen in this and many other diaries and know that their life was cut short due to hate.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully curated. Heartbreaking poignant. Had this diary been discovered first they would have called Anne Frank the German Rutka Laskier.

[Leanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rutka Laskier is 14 years old when she starts a diary in January 1943, “four years since . . . hell began.” The Nazis occupy Poland, and Rutka is well aware of the atrocities surrounding and awaiting her. According to Stanislawa Sapinska, a friend of Rutka who keeps the diary until 2006, Rutka suspects her own death is imminent. She hides the diary and arranges with Stanislawa to find and keep it.

The diary is brief—only 20 entries over a four-month period. For each page of the diary, the book includes a companion page providing context—photographs, historical background, definitions. It also features essays by Rutka’s half-sister, born in Israel after the Holocaust, and several Holocaust scholars.

Most of the diary is similar to any teenage girls. Rutka writes about her friends, difficulties with her parents, and her crush on a boy named Janek. One moment she loves him; the next she hates him. These entries could have been taken straight from my own journal. Although from a historical perspective I longed for more information about the occupation, the personal details Rutka includes make the diary heartbreaking. She could be any other young girl—except that her life is stolen from her.

The few passages about the Nazi occupation are all the more disturbing in contrast with Rutka’s “normal” life. She writes, “Something has broken inside me. When I pass by a German, everything shrinks in me.” In another entry she derides herself for calling on God. “If God existed,” she writes, “He would have certainly not permitted that human beings be thrown alive into furnaces, and the heads of little toddlers be smashed with butts of guns.”

Rutka’s diary ends abruptly, and she gives no hint that she suspects her life will soon end. In fact, Rutka’s last entry complains of boredom. A few days later, she is moved with her family to a ghetto and later to Auschwitz.

Rutka has been called the Polish Anne Frank. Her diary does not have the length and depth of Frank’s, but it does provide insight into and personalize events that are so difficult to comprehend.

[Jeannie]

Rutka’s Notebook is about a girl named Rutka who faces many problems with the discrimination. She lives in Poland while Hitler is putting people into the concentration camps. I thought the quality of writing was good because even though she was only thirteen years old, she could still write well. She had an extended vocabulary which made me have to think. I also liked how on the other side of the page, there were interesting facts about the war. This book is very similar to The Diary of Anne Frank. They are both diaries about girls who lived through the war watching their friends and families dying under Hitler’s rule. The only difference is that Anne Frank is Jewish while Rutka is Polish. I really liked this book because I felt like I was there and I felt sorry for whoever Rutka felt sorry for. I also liked learning a lot about that war and what had happened through Rutka’s perspective.
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[Dollisapi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este es un libro que no puede vivir sin las explicaciones. ¿Quién era ella y por qué es tan importante conocer su historia? Rutka es una adolescente polaca que intentó vivir su vida lo mejor posible en un ambiente en el que era claro que en cualquier instante iba a ser llevada a un campo de concentración. Entre sus pocas líneas podemos leer cómo ella empezaba narrando sus amores y amistades sin prestar mucha atención a la guerra que la rodeaba. El diario es corto y un poco inconexo pero gracias a las notas de pie de página y a los comentarios que conforman el resto del texto podemos ver que en los pequeños detalles podemos notar la verdad: los judíos de Polonia sabían de la existencia del horror de los hornos de Hitler. Vale la pena leerlo como un preludio a textos más especializados en el tema de la segunda guerra mundial, especialmente por los comentarios de Juan Cruz que están incluidos en esta edición.

[AnnaMay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes just an hour to read and does a nice job of putting her 50 pages of diary in historical context. Each page is juxtaposed with pictures from the time and region. I can't say I've eaver been so struck with the reality of the holocaust. Something about looking into her little brother's eyes in their first diplayed portrait in the book. The round toddler cheeks are just too similar to my own three year old's.
What a horrifying time in history. The 6 million were individuals. This book helped me realize that even more.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Oh, I forgot the most important thing. I saw how a soldier tore a baby, who was only a few months old, out of its mother's hands and bashed his head against an electric pylon. The baby's brain splashed on the wood. The mother went crazy. I am writing this as if nothing has happened. As if I were in an army experienced in cruelty. But I'm young, I'm 14, and I haven't seen much in my life, and I'm already so indifferent. Now I am terrified when I see uniforms. I'm turning into an animal waiting to die. One can lose one's mind thinking about this."

[Fernanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last three months of Rutka Laskier in the Bedzin guetto in her own words. Yet, I have the feeling I didn't get to know Rutka. True her description of her world is not only scary accurate, but also a bit dettached. The Spanish editors could have done more for the book. The comments written by Juan Cruz and Esther Bendahan aren't worth reading, honestly. I have the feeling this editions was made in a hurry. Rutka doesn't say much and she needs a bit of background to be understood.

[Carolina Caires · Rating 4 out of 5]

Com apenas 70 páginas, este é o diário de uma jovem judia de 14 anos, em plena Segunda Guerra Mundial.
É incrível como Rutka estava bem informada sobre os acontecimentos e terrores que se previam. Como lida alguém tão jovem com algo assim?
Estes são pequenos excertos que nos fazem reflectir sobre aquela realidade.

[John Daily · Rating 5 out of 5]

By turns: Haunting. Hopeful. Sweet. Informative. Incredible. Horrific. Tragic.
Current application: Recognizable.
Which makes it: Terrifying.

[Álvaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

«Si Dios existiera no permitiría que seres humanos fuesen arrojados vivos a hornos crematorios ni que aplastaran las cabezas de niños pequeños a golpes de culata o que los metieran en sacos para que murieran gaseados. Al final, esto se parece a un cuento de abuela: quienes no lo hayan visto no lo van a creer, pero no es ningún cuento, es la verdad.»
—
Estas palabras son algunas de las muchas que componen este breve diario de unas sesenta páginas aproximadamente. El cuaderno de Rutka es el diario de una chica judía de catorce años en el que describe sus últimos meses de vida en el gueto de Będzin.
—
Esta lectura recuerda, por lo general, a la del Diario de Ana Frank. Hay en ambas obras un destino bien marcado para sus protagonistas, pero es cierto que no lo afrontan del mismo modo.
En las notas de Ana Frank, se puede observar un aislamiento de su persona considerable; sus palabras generan un sentimiento esperanzador que te lleva a continuar con la lectura para ver si la situación que viven tanto ella como su familia se revierte. Tiempo y espacio son uno solo y, en su transcurso, el único "leitmotiv" de la obra es seguir creyendo en la vida.
—
Rutka, en cambio, sabe bien cuál es su destino, sabe bien dónde acabará. Por ello, no merece la pena malgastar el tiempo escribiendo sobre lo que desea hacer cuando el conflicto cese. Es este contexto en el que las palabras de Rutka se amontonan. Al contrario que Frank, entra y sale constantemente de su domicilio; discute con sus padres por su insistencia y control constantes; también viaja para ver a los amigos; cree en el amor, aunque no sabe con certeza qué se siente al estar enamorada. En definitiva: se entrega de lleno al poco tiempo que le queda de vida. —
El cuaderno de Rutka nos ha llegado de una forma inquietante y sutil. Rutka, antes de abandonar su domicilio, ocultó su diario en un hueco secreto de la escalera e informó a su amiga Stanislawa Sapińska de dónde estaba. Ella fue quien conservó el testimonio durante sesenta años para compartirlo ahora con el mundo.

[Cristina Delgado]

Já não sei como é que este livro veio cá parar a casa, mas o selo vermelho que possui na capa referindo que Rutka foi morta em Auschwitz com 14 anos e que este livro se trata do seu diário, revelado muitos anos depois, fez-me pegar nele.

São poucas páginas de um diário, escritas por uma menina de Janeiro a Abril de 1943 que, como tantas outras, confiava nessas folhas os seus medos e angústias mas também as suas esperanças e desejos.

O início do livro é escrito pela sua meia irmã, Zahava, onde nos conta como é que só com 14 anos teve conhecimento da família do pai, falecida no campo de concentração. Tendo encontrado um álbum escondido com umas fotos de uma menina e um rapazinho mais novo, questionou o pai. Tinha precisamente 14 anos quando este lhe contou o que se passara com a sua primeira família. Vinte e oito anos mais tarde tomou conhecimento da existência de um diário que esteve escondido sessenta e dois anos!

As primeiras páginas relatam-nos, um pouco, como é que este diário apareceu ao fim de mais de sessenta anos e como foi escondido por uma amiga, de como o pai foi o único sobrevivente de uma família de quatro pessoas. Algumas páginas não são já legíveis mas o relato não deixa de ser impressionante se imaginarmos o que depois se terá passado.

Rutka combinou com a amiga que, se algo acontecesse, ela deixaria o diário de baixo das tábuas soltas do soalho da casa onde vivia com a família no gueto. Foi assim que estas páginas foram salvas. Algumas fotos, aquelas enviadas para familiares no estrangeiro, ficaram para confirmar que Rutka era real, uma menina cheia de sonhos que não os pode concretizar. Como tantos!

Recomendo!

[Tee-Hee Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was another powerful testimony to the Holocaust, though I feel all testimonies of this time period are significant and powerful.

I do wish there would have been more detail, more writings. It’s hard to get to fully know Rutka and her surroundings, because a majority of her writing seems to be based on her social life rather than the events of the time. I found the notes and pictures on opposite pages helpful, though sometimes I felt they were out of place or didn’t quite connect with the writing they were paired with. And it made it difficult to continue reading when the diary entry was split because of it, mid sentence. This led to some confusion for me.

Apart from these things, I was thankful for the reminder of what a horrible atrocity happened. We must educate ourselves and never forget, so history doesn’t repeat itself. As humans, we must understand our frailty, the potential pros and cons to our emotions, motifs, and the power we can hold over one another. It is also important to recognize the roles that diversity and religion play in society, discrimination, hate, and genuine kindness. We cannot lump some all of one party together as at fault, we can’t group all people together because they belong to the same race, religion, social status, etc. And we cannot blame those alive now for what they’re ancestors did.

Above all, spread kindness and love, be humane, have faith in God, and pray for a peace to the struggles of this world.

[White House Public Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a diary of a 14 year old Polish girl who lived in a polish ghetto before eventually being sent off to a concentration camp where she was killed. Rutka kept the notebook and recorded many of her thoughts and some of the details of what was happening before the ghetto was cleared out. Rutka hide the notebook and told her non Jewish friend of its location, which is how the notebook survived after her death.

Rutka's writings are short and only consist of 60 pages. Since some of the entries are short, the book contains pictures of her family and the general area to help add to the content. Although the notebook gives some interesting insight into what was happening to the people in the ghetto, it can be difficult to relate to some of the people since Rutka already knows them and does not go into much details about them. Still, for a quick read, it does give the reader small taste of what was happening to the Jewish people.

I especially liked the fact that this book contains about three pages of additionally resources in case the reader wants to read similar journals from people who lived during this time. I found the resources very helpful since this book was so short and would recommend looking at the resources at the back should you want additional books.