The Choice: Poland, 1939-1945

by Irene Eber

A Holocaust survivor’s powerful story of escape and renewal.

In 1980, at the age of fifty, Irene Eber returned to her father’s hometown of Mielec, Poland, where she and her middle-class Jewish family had first gone in 1938 when they were expelled one evening from their home in Germany. Her journey back would unleash a life’s worth of memories, and the result is this extraordinary book.

Eber re-creates life in wartime Mielec: the rivalries and opportunism, the acts of courage and generosity, the constant fear borne by the Jewish community, and the moment in 1942 when the Germans marched all of Mielec’s Jews out of town and toward the death camps. And she reveals what was perhaps the defining decision of her life: when an opportunity arose for her to escape, Irene left, despite her father’s desperate wish that the family stay together. Thus began her life-long journey toward reconciling her lifesaving grasp at freedom with her heartbreaking separation from her family, setting her on a path to self-acceptance.

In describing her survivor’s guilt, despair, and loss—and how she has managed to overcome them while still honoring her past—Irene Eber has made a significant and profoundly moving contribution to the literature of the Holocaust.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the first time I read this book. I seem to be drawn to it. I hope it is the last time I read it. After reading this book I always end up wondering how so called human beings can treat other human beings as described in this book. And then I realize this kind of treatment continues today. When will we learn? I then ask myself if I really learned anything. Even the author admits she cannot describe what really happened. The events just cannot be remembered, let alone described.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with one of the reviewers that it was a bit hard to read - yes awkward. However, the story does give a different view on how some families were tragically affected by the Holocaust.
Just wish it was presented with an even flow instead of the uneven flow thru out the book. Still a decent read.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book twice now. The first time I was amazed by her story and her ability to survive. This second time around I am once again amazed at her story and retelling of it. I am also amazed at not only her ability to survive but her ability to live.

It is one thing I think to survive, it is another to survive and live.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was hard to read. The author jumps from one subject to another without any logic. It was like she was writing whatever came to her mind at the moment. I thnik if had been written more sequentially it would have been better.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the usual Holocaust survival story. In this book, Eber looks back on the choices she made and the fact that she survived while so many in her family did not. There is some sense of survivor's guilt but I do't get the impression that it is an over powering presence in her life. She also mentions the historical footnotes about the purges she lived through. She then puts faces to those events. While she freely admits she can only tell her little slice of the story, she gives us a glimpse of the people and life ins some of the places she lived in. She also includes treatment of the survivors by people in the area as well as the Americans that she observed. This book shed some light on events form a more personal point of view.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be great to read AFTER you have read Schindler's List.

Very jumpy, but more honest as a result.

[Judy appell · Rating 3 out of 5]

hidden child of WW2. not that well written with many repeated scenes

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from a friend. It was a very fast read. The author wrote in a style that had me believing I was living her life. This is a wonderful story of the author's life, living in Germany & Poland. Some of her relatives went to Bolivia & Argentina. I wonder if she ever made contact with them?

[Kristi Willard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first-person account of living through the Holocaust in a backyard chicken coup for two years. Amazingly honest, but not melodramatic.

[Tracey]

This is written by the woman who wrote/edited Voices from Shanghai, which I really liked.