What do you think?
Rate this book
Eva: A Novel of the Holocaust
A Novel of the Holocaust, first published in 1959, is a fictionalized account of Ida Loew, a young Jewish girl from Poland who survived the Jewish pogroms of the Nazis and the Auschwitz camp. The book opens with the girl at age 16 leaving her home in southeastern Poland and posing as a gentile from the Ukraine named Katya. The story follows Eva as she works as a maid in the home of a prominent Austrian family in Linz (the husband is an SS officer), and then as an office worker in a German munitions factory. When she is eventually discovered to be a Jew, she is sent to Auschwitz. After the evacuation of the camp she manages to escape, finding refuge with a Polish family. At the end of the novel she is trying to find her family and home, difficult because so many Jewish communities in Eastern Europe had been destroyed. In real life, Ida Loew made her way to Israel after the war where she settled in Tel Aviv.
380 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1959
46 people are currently reading
236 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 21, 2020
A gripping and heart wrenching story, in the form of a testimonial, of Eva Korngold, a young Jewish girl, from a loving home in the Polish town of Hrebenko, inhabited mainly by Ukrainians who resent living under Polish rule.
In 1941 with Nazi power over Europe at it's height, and massive roundups and killings of Jews sweeping through Poland, Eva's sister Tauba is arrested.
Eva's family decides that Eva, with her Ukrainian rosy cheeks, must disguise herself as a Ukrainian peasant girl by the name of Katarina Leszczyszyn.
Eva's disguise of her identity for the sake of her survival, and her constant fear of discover, and the resultant deportation to the death camps, is the essence of the novel.
Working first as a maid for an SS officer and his wife, and later as a factory worker in the Herman Goering plant, Eva is actually passed by German doctors as a perfect specimen of the 'Aryan race' but deep down she holds on to her identity.
The last part of the book concerns the discovery of her being Jewish by the SS and her tenuous survival in the Auschwitz death camp.
finally she settles in Tel Aviv in Israel, and finds a haven where Jewish people can live free of persecution and murder, marries and has two sons.
Merged review:
A gripping and heart wrenching story, in the form of a testimonial, of Eva Korngold, a young Jewish girl, from a loving home in the Polish town of Hrebenko, inhabited mainly by Ukrainians who resent living under Polish rule.
In 1941 with Nazi power over Europe at it's height, and massive roundups and killings of Jews sweeping through Poland, Eva's sister Tauba is arrested.
Eva's family decides that Eva, with her Ukrainian rosy cheeks, must disguise herself as a Ukrainian peasant girl by the name of Katarina Leszczyszyn.
Eva's disguise of her identity for the sake of her survival, and her constant fear of discover, and the resultant deportation to the death camps, is the essence of the novel.
Working first as a maid for an SS officer and his wife, and later as a factory worker in the Herman Goering plant, Eva is actually passed by German doctors as a perfect specimen of the 'Aryan race' but deep down she holds on to her identity.
The last part of the book concerns the discovery of her being Jewish by the SS and her tenuous survival in the Auschwitz death camp.
finally she settles in Tel Aviv in Israel, and finds a haven where Jewish people can live free of persecution and murder, marries and has two sons.
In 1941 with Nazi power over Europe at it's height, and massive roundups and killings of Jews sweeping through Poland, Eva's sister Tauba is arrested.
Eva's family decides that Eva, with her Ukrainian rosy cheeks, must disguise herself as a Ukrainian peasant girl by the name of Katarina Leszczyszyn.
Eva's disguise of her identity for the sake of her survival, and her constant fear of discover, and the resultant deportation to the death camps, is the essence of the novel.
Working first as a maid for an SS officer and his wife, and later as a factory worker in the Herman Goering plant, Eva is actually passed by German doctors as a perfect specimen of the 'Aryan race' but deep down she holds on to her identity.
The last part of the book concerns the discovery of her being Jewish by the SS and her tenuous survival in the Auschwitz death camp.
finally she settles in Tel Aviv in Israel, and finds a haven where Jewish people can live free of persecution and murder, marries and has two sons.
Merged review:
A gripping and heart wrenching story, in the form of a testimonial, of Eva Korngold, a young Jewish girl, from a loving home in the Polish town of Hrebenko, inhabited mainly by Ukrainians who resent living under Polish rule.
In 1941 with Nazi power over Europe at it's height, and massive roundups and killings of Jews sweeping through Poland, Eva's sister Tauba is arrested.
Eva's family decides that Eva, with her Ukrainian rosy cheeks, must disguise herself as a Ukrainian peasant girl by the name of Katarina Leszczyszyn.
Eva's disguise of her identity for the sake of her survival, and her constant fear of discover, and the resultant deportation to the death camps, is the essence of the novel.
Working first as a maid for an SS officer and his wife, and later as a factory worker in the Herman Goering plant, Eva is actually passed by German doctors as a perfect specimen of the 'Aryan race' but deep down she holds on to her identity.
The last part of the book concerns the discovery of her being Jewish by the SS and her tenuous survival in the Auschwitz death camp.
finally she settles in Tel Aviv in Israel, and finds a haven where Jewish people can live free of persecution and murder, marries and has two sons.
November 10, 2013
This book is one of the surprising treasures that one finds at used book stores or other unlikely locations. It is a novel of the holocaust, the story of a girl named Eva who ran away from her Jewish town in Southeastern Poland and posted as a gentile, a Ukrainian peasant girl named Katya. The story follows Eva as she works as a maid in the home of a prominent Austrian family in Linz, and then as an office worker in a German munitions factory in the same town. When she is finally discovered as a Jew, she is sent to Auschwitz where she spends the rest of the war. At the end of the novel she is trying to find a home, which was difficult because the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe were destroyed by the Nazis.
The novel is a strange combination. On the one hand it is a story of a teenage girl, the kind of girl who loves to hang out with her friends, who dreams of romance, who wants to find her place in the world. But this teenager is a Jewess who is literally hunted down by the Nazi Final Solution. Even simple things like sharing her name with others is an act of potential danger. Who would betray her? Who could she trust? It makes us all look back at our own upbringing and consider the difficult times that we have all faced. Surely the little trials of adolescence are nothing compared to this girl, who survived years in hiding, and who even survived Auschwitz.
There are some novels which bring a profound sadness to the reader because these novels bring home the reality of evil in the world. Novels about the holocaust are like this, just like the movie "Schindler's List", which deals with similar subject matter. Solzhenitzyn's novels about the gulags are also like this, as are the novels of Khaleed Hossein that were set in Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It reminds us that we should not take for granted what we have, especially the intangibles, like freedom and acceptance. In "Eva", Levin does not lay the guilt trip of the holocaust at the feet of all gentiles as other authors tend to do. In "Eva" we meet righteous gentiles who help Eva, sometimes at the risk of their own lives. In the end Eva survives, and the means of her survival are both compelling and realistic.
I would recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in historical fiction, especially fiction having to do with the holocaust.
The novel is a strange combination. On the one hand it is a story of a teenage girl, the kind of girl who loves to hang out with her friends, who dreams of romance, who wants to find her place in the world. But this teenager is a Jewess who is literally hunted down by the Nazi Final Solution. Even simple things like sharing her name with others is an act of potential danger. Who would betray her? Who could she trust? It makes us all look back at our own upbringing and consider the difficult times that we have all faced. Surely the little trials of adolescence are nothing compared to this girl, who survived years in hiding, and who even survived Auschwitz.
There are some novels which bring a profound sadness to the reader because these novels bring home the reality of evil in the world. Novels about the holocaust are like this, just like the movie "Schindler's List", which deals with similar subject matter. Solzhenitzyn's novels about the gulags are also like this, as are the novels of Khaleed Hossein that were set in Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It reminds us that we should not take for granted what we have, especially the intangibles, like freedom and acceptance. In "Eva", Levin does not lay the guilt trip of the holocaust at the feet of all gentiles as other authors tend to do. In "Eva" we meet righteous gentiles who help Eva, sometimes at the risk of their own lives. In the end Eva survives, and the means of her survival are both compelling and realistic.
I would recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in historical fiction, especially fiction having to do with the holocaust.
July 18, 2020
Brilliant Read
I chose this rating because this book reminded me how during the war, my mother and my aunt helped looking after Jewish people and their children in a dance hall at the bottom of our street. When I startedschoo
I remember my mother and my aunt helping to look after Jewish people and their children coming into the dance hall at the bottom of our street, which was used as a test centre. When I started school one of my friends was a Jewess. I thought about her when reading this book.
Brilliant re
I chose this rating because this book reminded me how during the war, my mother and my aunt helped looking after Jewish people and their children in a dance hall at the bottom of our street. When I startedschoo
I remember my mother and my aunt helping to look after Jewish people and their children coming into the dance hall at the bottom of our street, which was used as a test centre. When I started school one of my friends was a Jewess. I thought about her when reading this book.
Brilliant re
March 5, 2021
This is the second book I have read about a Jewish woman in the Second World War. Both excellent reads and Eva being a page turner for me.
Eva at times had me holding my breath, in anticipation of what more could someone possibly endure. The situations she found herself in and sheer luck of meeting people along the way willing to help her.
It demonstrated a will to survive against the odds with such strength of character and intelligence being the key, especially with the knowledge you may be the only survivor in your family.
Eva at times had me holding my breath, in anticipation of what more could someone possibly endure. The situations she found herself in and sheer luck of meeting people along the way willing to help her.
It demonstrated a will to survive against the odds with such strength of character and intelligence being the key, especially with the knowledge you may be the only survivor in your family.
July 17, 2020
Emotive
I felt the fear, the anguish and the heartache of the humanbeings who were persecuted and massacred by others who professed to being human. I felt the privation of those who were incarcerated for years and fought with every strength they had for survival. I felt the despair and hope of survivors and the overwhelming joy at being reunited with loved ones they thought were lost to them. I felt anger, despair and joy and shed many many tears. We must never forget!
I felt the fear, the anguish and the heartache of the humanbeings who were persecuted and massacred by others who professed to being human. I felt the privation of those who were incarcerated for years and fought with every strength they had for survival. I felt the despair and hope of survivors and the overwhelming joy at being reunited with loved ones they thought were lost to them. I felt anger, despair and joy and shed many many tears. We must never forget!
November 9, 2020
I have read several books on the Holocaust and l find the strength and determination of the Jewish people a real inspiration.
We own an apartment in Austria my husband and l feel a real affinity with the Jewish people for their spirit ,steadfastness and they inspire me everyday when l think of their suffering it is unimaginable how they tolerated such hatred and lived to tell the world of their plight.
We own an apartment in Austria my husband and l feel a real affinity with the Jewish people for their spirit ,steadfastness and they inspire me everyday when l think of their suffering it is unimaginable how they tolerated such hatred and lived to tell the world of their plight.
September 7, 2020
Enthralling .
I could not put this book down,from the beginning to the end it held my interest .I can totally recommend this book .Lest we forget what the Jewish people of the world went through in those dark days of the Second World War .Wonderful prose ,I’m going to see what else this author has written.
I could not put this book down,from the beginning to the end it held my interest .I can totally recommend this book .Lest we forget what the Jewish people of the world went through in those dark days of the Second World War .Wonderful prose ,I’m going to see what else this author has written.
September 20, 2020
Amazing ,she was so brave to cope with all the dangers she met. The
I enjoyed reading about the history taking place when I was a small child living in an area in Yorkshire where many Jews had made their homes in the 30s .Many of my friends in school in the 40s. and 50s were Jewish and as a Christian I was interested in their faith as well as my own.
I enjoyed reading about the history taking place when I was a small child living in an area in Yorkshire where many Jews had made their homes in the 30s .Many of my friends in school in the 40s. and 50s were Jewish and as a Christian I was interested in their faith as well as my own.
September 25, 2020
An important insight into the Holocaust
For those who are still unaware of the holocaust, this story tells so much about it, in a very readable way. I could hardly put it down. I myself am well aware of the essentials, but this book brings the reader alongside a young Polish girl and every thought is shared along the way. It should be widely read and appreciated.
For those who are still unaware of the holocaust, this story tells so much about it, in a very readable way. I could hardly put it down. I myself am well aware of the essentials, but this book brings the reader alongside a young Polish girl and every thought is shared along the way. It should be widely read and appreciated.
January 27, 2021
A fast moving story.
Loved this book, I could not put it down until the end. Gripping, sad, happy and heart stopping. What an adventure. I would put this book forward as testimony to the strength and endurance of all the people incarcerated in the hell hole that was Auschwitz. Today is Holocaust day and I finished this book and realised how lucky I am to be here.
Loved this book, I could not put it down until the end. Gripping, sad, happy and heart stopping. What an adventure. I would put this book forward as testimony to the strength and endurance of all the people incarcerated in the hell hole that was Auschwitz. Today is Holocaust day and I finished this book and realised how lucky I am to be here.
February 22, 2021
A fascinating account of hope and determination
An excellent read providing real insight into the lives of the prisoners and conditions in the camps. So much of the literature is dedicated to the terrible conditions where death is inevitable. Eva shows us the despite everything there is always hope for those able to put up a fight for their survival
An excellent read providing real insight into the lives of the prisoners and conditions in the camps. So much of the literature is dedicated to the terrible conditions where death is inevitable. Eva shows us the despite everything there is always hope for those able to put up a fight for their survival
June 5, 2020
Good story
This book is for people who want to feel part of the happenings it keeps you wanting to read just one more page each time
This book is for people who want to feel part of the happenings it keeps you wanting to read just one more page each time
June 17, 2020
Outstanding couldn't put this book down till finished.
What a journey, gripped me from the beginning to the end. What a survivor. An amazing journey of survival against terror.
What a journey, gripped me from the beginning to the end. What a survivor. An amazing journey of survival against terror.
August 31, 2020
Amazing account
Such an intense and video account of a terrible journey. Shows real strength and determination. Against all odds the fight for life is strongest.
Such an intense and video account of a terrible journey. Shows real strength and determination. Against all odds the fight for life is strongest.
October 13, 2020
Brilliant
Heartbreaking in parts but a great read a book everyone should read the fact that this actually happened is frightening
Heartbreaking in parts but a great read a book everyone should read the fact that this actually happened is frightening
January 6, 2021
Powerful reading!!!
Brilliant story of one girls course through no fault of her own , to just live a normal
Iife. Without being treated like an animal by horrendous people.
Brilliant story of one girls course through no fault of her own , to just live a normal
Iife. Without being treated like an animal by horrendous people.
June 10, 2021
Eminently readable Holocaust story
The reader is certainly drawn to the unimaginable horrors of Birkenau but this novel in places reads as a poor translation and lacks authenticity.
The reader is certainly drawn to the unimaginable horrors of Birkenau but this novel in places reads as a poor translation and lacks authenticity.
November 10, 2021
Excellent storytelling! Eva will stay with me for a long, long time!
October 10, 2022
Excellent book!
Really enjoyed this book. Loved the character Eva. Totally engrossed from start to finish. So
I will be looking for more from Meyer Levin. Thank you.
Really enjoyed this book. Loved the character Eva. Totally engrossed from start to finish. So
I will be looking for more from Meyer Levin. Thank you.
March 2, 2023
3,5⭐️
September 16, 2023
Couldn't put it down!
Truly this was one of the finest books about the holocaust I have ever read. I could not stop reading until I finished.
Truly this was one of the finest books about the holocaust I have ever read. I could not stop reading until I finished.
June 23, 2013
This book has been sitting in my room for months now, after I bought it at a used bookstore downtown and could never seem to find the time to read it.
The idea behind the story is that Eva, a Jew from Poland, escapes the confinement of the Jewish neighborhood by pretending to be a Ukranian farm girl. She begins living and working in Austria, and tries to maintain the idea of both identities within herself.
Most of the literature that I read is fairly modern, and usually has been written within the past 15 years, so it is always different to read a book from a slightly older perspective. The writing style is a bit weird- and seems to switch between past and present tenses with ease. However, the story shows both the struggle and perseverance of the main character (Eva), as well as appropriately portraying a character that has a strong ability to continue moving forward through unsure times, while making decisions for herself based on her own moral code. Overall, I liked the book, and I'm -if not entirely pleased- happy with the ending, and I was surprised that the ending was as good as it was. Levin did a very good job with the story, and the fact that the book was from 1959, when the war was a much nearer event than it is now, really makes me think about the cultural impacts upon the writing of this book.
The idea behind the story is that Eva, a Jew from Poland, escapes the confinement of the Jewish neighborhood by pretending to be a Ukranian farm girl. She begins living and working in Austria, and tries to maintain the idea of both identities within herself.
Most of the literature that I read is fairly modern, and usually has been written within the past 15 years, so it is always different to read a book from a slightly older perspective. The writing style is a bit weird- and seems to switch between past and present tenses with ease. However, the story shows both the struggle and perseverance of the main character (Eva), as well as appropriately portraying a character that has a strong ability to continue moving forward through unsure times, while making decisions for herself based on her own moral code. Overall, I liked the book, and I'm -if not entirely pleased- happy with the ending, and I was surprised that the ending was as good as it was. Levin did a very good job with the story, and the fact that the book was from 1959, when the war was a much nearer event than it is now, really makes me think about the cultural impacts upon the writing of this book.
November 10, 2018
Where do I begin! This fictional book is so believable! It reads like the biography of a real person! There is so much suspense as jewess, Eva, winds her way through many hair-raising encounters! She is truly a heroine with brass balls!
May 13, 2012
Levin's novel, first published in 1959, is an important contribution to Holocaust literature, but also a riveting, suspenseful entertainment. Highly recommended.
May 30, 2018
This book is based on the story of Ida Löw.
http://www.diestadtspionin.at/buecher...
http://www.zeit.de/1991/11/mit-der-an...
http://www.diestadtspionin.at/buecher...
http://www.zeit.de/1991/11/mit-der-an...
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews