Determined: A Memoir

by Martin Baranek, Lisa B. Cicero

"If Martin Baranek's memoir of his hellish journey were fiction, I would dismiss it as beyond comprehension. The fact that in this book Martin's own words testify in some detail to his experiences from ghetto to work camp to extermination camps to death march to liberation and eventual arrival to the Land of Israel, powerfully teaches us that the unbelievable actually happened. This is an eye opening window into humanity at its lowest and cruelest. It is also one human being's intense will to survive and rebuild his life anew. I found it riveting and gut wrenching. Martin Baranek's journey is a triumph of hope over despair."

Rabbi Gary Glickstein
"I first encountered Martin Baranek as an articulate and reflective survivor in the course of my research on the Wierzbnik ghetto and the Starachowice slave labor camps. As his powerful memoir records, these were but the first two circles of Hitler's inferno through which he descended in the years of the Holocaust. They were followed by Birkenau, Mauthausen, and Gunskirchen, with each stage of his incredible odyssey more challenging and horrifying that the previous one. Martin's overall story remains very powerful."
Christopher R. Browning
Frank Porter Graham Professor of History Emeritus. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"It has been said that a thousand doors had to open and close in the exact right time and succession in order for one to survive the Holocaust. If even one door opened or closed at the wrong time, your fate was sealed. Unlike 6 million other Jews, the doors Martin Baranek went through appeared for him at just the right time.
But his survival was not just a matter of luck. Shining through on every page of this exceptionally moving tale are Martin’s courage, perseverance and sheer will to live under the most brutal of conditions This painfully honest account is a true testament to the power of the human spirit to triumph over unimaginable adversity. Martin’ story is a remarkable memoir that is nothing short of inspiring.You may have questions about God after reading this book - but you will most certainly believe in miracles.”

Eli Rubenstein, National Director, March of the Living Canada

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, History

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 20, 2018

Reviews

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The true story of how Marty Baranek survived not only a ghetto, but a labor camp, a death camp and a death march is painful but necessary to our understanding of how the systematic murder of millions of human beings came to happen and how autocrats work. Marty witnessed first hand the small incremental changes that allowed a generation of European Jews, Roma, and LGBTQ persons to become enslaved and then the victims of genocide. It is the true historical version of how dehumanization and cruelty became the precursors to murder - with shocking parallels to the fictional story in A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Lisa Cicero presents the facts of Mr. Baranek's story with sensitivity to what he is able to bear to tell and what he cannot. This is a must read for anyone determined to prevent the rise of autocrats and the brutality that inevitably accompanies their rise to power.

[Debbie Trammell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

So glad you lived to be the excellent witness that you are. I would say that was the reason for your survival. I am glad that you were able to reunite with your mother. And then go on to have a beautiful family of your own. I will recommend this book.

[Andrew Mossberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling memoir by a holocaust survivor who endured ghetto, work camp, concentration camp, death camp, and death march yet survived while many among his friends, family, and neighbors did not. As hard to put down as it is sad to read.

[Kaisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true story of a brave young man who survived the Holocaust despite close encounters with death and torture.. His extraordinary will to live is inspiring, this book is a must read for all ages.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read to know more on the Holocaust

[Emma Samuels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for a college class, so I was a little skeptical. But it is really well written. At times you totally forget that you are reading a true story, and it feels like a fiction book. I hate to say that I “enjoyed it” since it is on such a horrible topic, but it was so interesting and well written that I did find myself enjoying to read it.

[Thaili · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Very powerful. I read it for my FIU SLS class. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have picked it up. But I’m glad I did. Definitely one of the best mandatory reads I’ve had for a while.