What do you think?
Rate this book
Youth in Flames: A Teenager's Resistance and Her Fight for Survival in the Warsaw Ghetto
Aliza Vitis-Shomron was born in Warsaw into a wealthy merchant family, where Jewish tradition mixed with Polish culture. In September 1939, when the Nazis began their reign of terror in Europe and invaded Poland, Aliza was eleven years old. In her diaries—furtively written on scraps of precious paper that she kept throughout the war—she described the history of her family, struggling to survive in the occupied Warsaw Ghetto. Those diaries and later writings formed the basis for this memoir. Becoming a member of Hashomer Hatzair, the noted youth movement in the Warsaw Ghetto, gave Aliza hope and encouraged her to fight for survival. As a result of an extraordinary series of “miracles,” Aliza managed to survive after being sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was among those liberated by American troops, and she has continued to tell the story throughout her life.Aliza is among the last of the Warsaw Ghetto survivors. She has been passionately lecturing around the world about the revolt, and she has escorted numerous youth groups on their visits to Poland. This book has been previously translated and published in Hungarian, Polish, and Hebrew.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
21 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Aliza Vitis-Shomron
1 book2 followersAliza Melamed Vitis-Shomron remains just one of a handful of youth from the brave Hashomer Hatzair (the youth movement) who escaped just as the Nazis stormed the Warsaw Ghetto and executed everyone left. She was charged with telling the world about the horrors. This book fulfills her promise. She lives today in Israel, a Holocaust survivor with horrifying memories and a zest for life.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 15, 2018
In Youth in Flames, Aliza Vitis-Shomron 'combines passages from her diary with a pool of memories and reflections' about her time in the notorious Warsaw Ghetto during the Second World War. She joined a youth movement there when she was a young girl, which became her 'second home, a different reality'. Vitis-Shomron survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and now lives on a kibbutz in Israel.
Of course, every Holocaust memoir has so much worth attached to it, telling, as it does, the stories of so many people who were affected by the brutality of the Nazi regime in all corners of Europe. Youth in Flames was a memoir which I found very difficult to engage with, however. The prose was a little inconsistent; some of the sentences were very matter-of-fact, and others felt markedly overwritten. I thus decided to give up on this at around 10% of the way through.
I read part of this for my Around the World in 80 Books challenge as the Poland stop.
Of course, every Holocaust memoir has so much worth attached to it, telling, as it does, the stories of so many people who were affected by the brutality of the Nazi regime in all corners of Europe. Youth in Flames was a memoir which I found very difficult to engage with, however. The prose was a little inconsistent; some of the sentences were very matter-of-fact, and others felt markedly overwritten. I thus decided to give up on this at around 10% of the way through.
I read part of this for my Around the World in 80 Books challenge as the Poland stop.
March 28, 2016
This book, by Aliza Melamed Vitis-Shomron, is remarkable in many ways. Among the most salient is that it makes clear that surviving was NOT simply a consequence of luck mingled with passivity. You had to be sharp, on your toes, attentive to every detail of the environment, aware of the significance of even the slightest of changes to get through each hour, each day, each week, each year. In Melamed’s words: “…we had sharpened our senses and developed agility, creative thinking, and an amazing ability to find our way and to extricate ourselves from seemingly hopeless situations.”
My good friend and neighbor loaned me this book. The dedication shows that the book owes much to Dr. Ruti Margalit, my friend’s cousin, who has stayed in our home twice. (Our neighbors put people up for neighbors’ family celebrations.) Ruti is the daughter of Aliza’s best friend. (Aliza is the author of the book.) Ruti’s efforts to bring this book to the public speak volumes about her humanity, her dedication to family and history, and her loyalty to family lore.
Aliza Melamed (later, Vitas-Shomron) always kept a diary. In the Warsaw ghetto, she prepared with her youth movement for the uprising. She was a dedicated and courageous volunteer, willing and eager to do her all for the group. When the group informed her that her mission was to stay alive, to smuggle herself out of the ghetto onto the Aryan side, in order to survive and tell their tale, she was disappointed. But she did it. In fact, she never stopped. Now, at age 90, she continues speaking to school groups in Israel, where she has lived since the war ended in 1945. She was 17 when she joined the illegal Aliyah Bet movement that boarded ships sailing for Palestine, at risk of being turned back (or worse) by the British.
This book weaves together her own early diary entries with entries later retrieved from memory, along with transcriptions of other people’s verbal records, including that of a cousin, Lazar, a survivor of the Warsaw Uprising, who reported to her what happened to her comrades after she left the ghetto. She records it “in hopes that maybe someone will find my diary.” His testimony is detailed and chilling. From his testimony, she learns how the uprising unfolded, who died and how. The battle lasted two days. The SS set everything on fire. People were burned alive, or were shot, or they died of smoke inhalation. Parents watched their children die – and vice-versa.
The book includes words like “schmaltzovnik,” meaning a person demanding bribes, an informer, a blackmailer. [The word was derived from the German word schmaltz, meaning lard. The expression describes people you can “grease” by bribing them.
She talks about Jews describing one another as “looking good,” which meant they looked Aryan and could pass as a Pole (or German, other non-Jew).
She writes: “After the Warsaw uprising, “many [Poles] changed their minds about the Jews. Some looked with envy and admiration upon Jewish self-defense. Self-righteous women wiped their eyes with a handkerchief, saying, ‘Even if these are Jews and it’s the right thing to get rid of them, but why in this way, burning them alive? That’s terrible.’ But whether they express admiration or pity, they all stand by without lifting a finger. It does not occur to anyone to provide assistance.”
All through the book, the author quotes poets, whose work inspired and sustained her. It is consistently amazing how Aliza (Liza) was able to muster the veneer of self-confidence when necessary, to cowthe bullies who thought their machismo would make her buckle. She had mastered her fears, in part, by determining that she was no longer afraid of death. She always feared torture, but death would be deliverance from this hell on earth.
She took to heart her movement’s injunction: “Survive! You must tell our story!” This became her mission and, in many respects, her life’s purpose. She, her little sister, Mirka, and their mother survived and ended up in Palestine/Israel. The mother lived to age 90. The author and her sister themselves are now aged. But Aliza continues to speak to student groups of all ages, to accompany them on trips to Europe, to the concentration camps, to the sites where Jews were massacred. She’s had epiphanies and catharses that both exalted and devastated her. At Majdanek she suddenly realized that it was there, on a certain date, that her father, along with thousands of other Jews, was murdered. It also turns out that on that same date, one of her sons was born.
Today, Aliza is the mother of three, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of five. But her family is, once again, sundered. One child lives with his family in Canada, another in Denmark, the third in Israel.
Aliza was 11 when war broke out. She was 17 when it ended. She was forced to grow up overnight. She became a daring adult, willing to sacrifice all for her family and comrades. In the Warsaw ghetto, she joined Hashomer Hatzair, which helped organize the uprising. She was deeply disappointed to be shut out of the action. But she lived up to her task. She has told the story.
While I found this book compelling, its literary merits do not always live up to the story. Her youthful writings are often thrilling, as is her love for books - plays, poetry, essays, novels. As she grows older, her writing becomes more clinical. Her efforts to convey the sweep of evil, the scope of destruction, the inhumanity of her oppressors, eclipse her need to write beautifully. Still, the book is both important and gripping. I'm glad I read it.
My good friend and neighbor loaned me this book. The dedication shows that the book owes much to Dr. Ruti Margalit, my friend’s cousin, who has stayed in our home twice. (Our neighbors put people up for neighbors’ family celebrations.) Ruti is the daughter of Aliza’s best friend. (Aliza is the author of the book.) Ruti’s efforts to bring this book to the public speak volumes about her humanity, her dedication to family and history, and her loyalty to family lore.
Aliza Melamed (later, Vitas-Shomron) always kept a diary. In the Warsaw ghetto, she prepared with her youth movement for the uprising. She was a dedicated and courageous volunteer, willing and eager to do her all for the group. When the group informed her that her mission was to stay alive, to smuggle herself out of the ghetto onto the Aryan side, in order to survive and tell their tale, she was disappointed. But she did it. In fact, she never stopped. Now, at age 90, she continues speaking to school groups in Israel, where she has lived since the war ended in 1945. She was 17 when she joined the illegal Aliyah Bet movement that boarded ships sailing for Palestine, at risk of being turned back (or worse) by the British.
This book weaves together her own early diary entries with entries later retrieved from memory, along with transcriptions of other people’s verbal records, including that of a cousin, Lazar, a survivor of the Warsaw Uprising, who reported to her what happened to her comrades after she left the ghetto. She records it “in hopes that maybe someone will find my diary.” His testimony is detailed and chilling. From his testimony, she learns how the uprising unfolded, who died and how. The battle lasted two days. The SS set everything on fire. People were burned alive, or were shot, or they died of smoke inhalation. Parents watched their children die – and vice-versa.
The book includes words like “schmaltzovnik,” meaning a person demanding bribes, an informer, a blackmailer. [The word was derived from the German word schmaltz, meaning lard. The expression describes people you can “grease” by bribing them.
She talks about Jews describing one another as “looking good,” which meant they looked Aryan and could pass as a Pole (or German, other non-Jew).
She writes: “After the Warsaw uprising, “many [Poles] changed their minds about the Jews. Some looked with envy and admiration upon Jewish self-defense. Self-righteous women wiped their eyes with a handkerchief, saying, ‘Even if these are Jews and it’s the right thing to get rid of them, but why in this way, burning them alive? That’s terrible.’ But whether they express admiration or pity, they all stand by without lifting a finger. It does not occur to anyone to provide assistance.”
All through the book, the author quotes poets, whose work inspired and sustained her. It is consistently amazing how Aliza (Liza) was able to muster the veneer of self-confidence when necessary, to cowthe bullies who thought their machismo would make her buckle. She had mastered her fears, in part, by determining that she was no longer afraid of death. She always feared torture, but death would be deliverance from this hell on earth.
She took to heart her movement’s injunction: “Survive! You must tell our story!” This became her mission and, in many respects, her life’s purpose. She, her little sister, Mirka, and their mother survived and ended up in Palestine/Israel. The mother lived to age 90. The author and her sister themselves are now aged. But Aliza continues to speak to student groups of all ages, to accompany them on trips to Europe, to the concentration camps, to the sites where Jews were massacred. She’s had epiphanies and catharses that both exalted and devastated her. At Majdanek she suddenly realized that it was there, on a certain date, that her father, along with thousands of other Jews, was murdered. It also turns out that on that same date, one of her sons was born.
Today, Aliza is the mother of three, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of five. But her family is, once again, sundered. One child lives with his family in Canada, another in Denmark, the third in Israel.
Aliza was 11 when war broke out. She was 17 when it ended. She was forced to grow up overnight. She became a daring adult, willing to sacrifice all for her family and comrades. In the Warsaw ghetto, she joined Hashomer Hatzair, which helped organize the uprising. She was deeply disappointed to be shut out of the action. But she lived up to her task. She has told the story.
While I found this book compelling, its literary merits do not always live up to the story. Her youthful writings are often thrilling, as is her love for books - plays, poetry, essays, novels. As she grows older, her writing becomes more clinical. Her efforts to convey the sweep of evil, the scope of destruction, the inhumanity of her oppressors, eclipse her need to write beautifully. Still, the book is both important and gripping. I'm glad I read it.
May 8, 2018
Everyone should read this book. Well written and heartbreaking.
January 5, 2017
It's important. Everyone should read it. The two-star rating is because it is so dark.
This is a biography that poignantly keeps alive the memory of the millions that were slaughtered in the Holocaust. It has a slightly different perspective because it was written by a teenager. You get a sense of the confusion she must have felt. She doesn’t try to fill in the gaps of her knowledge from other sources to give the full picture. It’s just her memories of events and people.
It’s not overly political. While she is a member of Hashomer Hatzair Movement, the way she discusses it is mostly from the social and educational side. The people she met there inspired her to hold to the movement for the rest of her life.
One step away from despair, that’s what I felt through the whole book, even as she speaks of the forging of lifelong friendships and inspiring heroic examples. Perhaps it was because I knew what was happening around and would follow those glimpses of hope. The way she chose the ‘Movement’ over her family is so heartbreaking. She tries to offer hope, but it’s the hope of people trying harder to be better with no foundation to build on. Never once does she appeal to anything higher than humanity. It was just heartbreaking. There is no eternal hope. God and the Messiah are entirely missing. Without Him, humanity will just keep on killing each other and the Jews. It’s only when we acknowledge our sin and ask Him to forgive and change us that we have eternal hope. When we see His plan for us, the Jews, humanity as a whole then we can see that the future isn’t based on the flimsy trust in man. There will be justice.
It’s for a mature audience. She speaks of the facts-of-life as they played out in the Ghetto and the camps as delicately as possible. It can also be quite graphic. It’s just heartbreaking.
NEVER FORGET.
This is a biography that poignantly keeps alive the memory of the millions that were slaughtered in the Holocaust. It has a slightly different perspective because it was written by a teenager. You get a sense of the confusion she must have felt. She doesn’t try to fill in the gaps of her knowledge from other sources to give the full picture. It’s just her memories of events and people.
It’s not overly political. While she is a member of Hashomer Hatzair Movement, the way she discusses it is mostly from the social and educational side. The people she met there inspired her to hold to the movement for the rest of her life.
One step away from despair, that’s what I felt through the whole book, even as she speaks of the forging of lifelong friendships and inspiring heroic examples. Perhaps it was because I knew what was happening around and would follow those glimpses of hope. The way she chose the ‘Movement’ over her family is so heartbreaking. She tries to offer hope, but it’s the hope of people trying harder to be better with no foundation to build on. Never once does she appeal to anything higher than humanity. It was just heartbreaking. There is no eternal hope. God and the Messiah are entirely missing. Without Him, humanity will just keep on killing each other and the Jews. It’s only when we acknowledge our sin and ask Him to forgive and change us that we have eternal hope. When we see His plan for us, the Jews, humanity as a whole then we can see that the future isn’t based on the flimsy trust in man. There will be justice.
It’s for a mature audience. She speaks of the facts-of-life as they played out in the Ghetto and the camps as delicately as possible. It can also be quite graphic. It’s just heartbreaking.
NEVER FORGET.
January 28, 2017
Youth in Flames
A Teenager’s Resistance and Her Fight for Survival in the Warsaw Ghetto
by Aliza Vitis-Shomron
Concierge Marketing Inc.
Tell the Story Publishing
History, Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 17 Aug 2015
I was given a copy of Youth in Flames through the publisher and Netgalley:
She was born Liza Melamed. The diary/Memoir begins just months after she was liberated from the Nazi's. Born in 1928 she spent five and a half years of her life in war. On April.13 1945 her and her Mother and younger sister were liberated from Bergen-Belsen, having been separated from her Father they looked for his name on the survivors list to no avail.
In the fall of 1940 things were different for Jews, that Summer she had turned twelve, but there would be no celebration.
Aliza was born in Warsaw Poland, they made their living from a small haberdashery store they had in a large market, and a soda factory with a store next to it. When she was only six she lost her Mother. She goes too talk about life in the Warsaw Ghetto, the overcrowding, filth and disease the horrific conditions they were forced. She talks about the kidnappings of some of the youth in The Warsaw Ghetto. Schools and clubs were closed. In 1941 a Typhus epidimeic took hold in the Ghetto.
Starvation and death were common place in The Warsaw Ghetto.
Youth in Flames is a story of great loss, but it is also a story of survival against all odds.
I give Youth in Flames five out of five stars.
Happy Reading.
September 14, 2018
Youth In Flame is not an easy book to read, but one everyone should lest we forget.
Aliza Melamed Vitis-Shomron was only a teenager when the Nazi invaded Poland. In her memoir, based partly on the diary she kept and partly on her memories, she describes the struggle to survive first in the Ghetto and then the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she was imprisoned with her mother and younger sister.
The Jews were forced to live in an overcrowded, filthy Ghetto where disease was rampant and food scarce. Youths were kidnapped and never seen again. No one knew when the next selection would happen, how many Jews would be deported this time and how long they had left to live. It's an harrowing story of terrible loss and incredible bravery.
While in the Ghetto, Aliza joined Hashomer Hatzair, a resistance movement that organised the uprising against the Nazis. She was willing to give her life like many of her friends did, but the movement turned her down, informing her that her mission was to stay alive and tell their story. It's a mission she honours to this day.
Aliza Melamed Vitis-Shomron was only a teenager when the Nazi invaded Poland. In her memoir, based partly on the diary she kept and partly on her memories, she describes the struggle to survive first in the Ghetto and then the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she was imprisoned with her mother and younger sister.
The Jews were forced to live in an overcrowded, filthy Ghetto where disease was rampant and food scarce. Youths were kidnapped and never seen again. No one knew when the next selection would happen, how many Jews would be deported this time and how long they had left to live. It's an harrowing story of terrible loss and incredible bravery.
While in the Ghetto, Aliza joined Hashomer Hatzair, a resistance movement that organised the uprising against the Nazis. She was willing to give her life like many of her friends did, but the movement turned her down, informing her that her mission was to stay alive and tell their story. It's a mission she honours to this day.
March 20, 2017
A fascinating account of the life of a young Polish girl incarcerated, initially, in the Warsaw Ghetto, being a member of Hashomer Hatzair youth group, then moving on to the Bergen - Belsen concentration camp.
After the camp was liberated, Aliza dedicated her life to telling her story through travelling, lecturing and taking groups of young people to the scene of her past life.
A sometimes harrowing diary of her life and the life of the Jewish people in Poland during the terror of the Nazis.
Recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Concierge Marketing Inc., via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
After the camp was liberated, Aliza dedicated her life to telling her story through travelling, lecturing and taking groups of young people to the scene of her past life.
A sometimes harrowing diary of her life and the life of the Jewish people in Poland during the terror of the Nazis.
Recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Concierge Marketing Inc., via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
January 15, 2017
Thanks to Concierge Marketing, Inc. and NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC ebook version of this book.
This memoir is a well written, painfully honest account of what takes place in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The author’s perspective and the inclusion of excerpts of her diary engage the reader in a way that is hard to forget. Though nonfiction is not my regular go to for a leisurely read, this book is an exception. An informative, graphic and heartbreaking story that impelled me learn more.
This memoir is a well written, painfully honest account of what takes place in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The author’s perspective and the inclusion of excerpts of her diary engage the reader in a way that is hard to forget. Though nonfiction is not my regular go to for a leisurely read, this book is an exception. An informative, graphic and heartbreaking story that impelled me learn more.
February 5, 2018
Thanks to netgalley for the Kindle version of this book. It was a rough one for me to read- an 11 yr old Jewish girl in the Warsaw ghetto for Jews at the beginning of the novel who became a member of the resistance against Nazis with diary entries that brought me to tears. I admit I skipped some pages because of my the content but plan to read the book all way through in the near future. It's not an easy book to read, but the truth about the treatment of the Jewish people needs to never be forgotten.
June 28, 2018
So inspirational! It's amazing what young adults can accomplish when forced to. Adults really don't give the enough credit. Aliza's group, the Hashomer Hatzain, is a new one for me to learn about, I've read about the Edelweiss Piraten and only recently learned about the Leipzig Menter. Though not as dire as those, the US also saw young adults change the US back in the late 60's-70's. Amazing story.
I received a Kindle ARc in exchange for a fair review from Netgalley.
I received a Kindle ARc in exchange for a fair review from Netgalley.
February 10, 2017
A true story about the Horrors faced by a young Girl who through perseverance ,luck, strength, miracles and the and the aid of others
aide of others somehow managed to cheat death. Through her story, we try to understand what is beyond uerstanding. May she finally find peace of mind.
aide of others somehow managed to cheat death. Through her story, we try to understand what is beyond uerstanding. May she finally find peace of mind.
May 25, 2017
Youth in Flames is a heart wrenching tale of tragedy and bravery despite the odds. It is a story that is brought together from letters and scraps of paper the author kept while in the Warsaw ghetto and the Bergen-belsen concentration camp. I would reccommend this to everyone as it is not just a story of the authors life during the Holocaust but of the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews