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Dievča v zelenom svetri
Skutočný príbeh poľského dievčaťa, ktoré na vlastné oči videlo peklo.
V roku 1943 bolo z poľského Ľvova vyhnaných, zavraždených alebo uväznených v getách viac ako 150 000 židov. Jedna skupinka poľských židov odvážne zariskovala a hľadala útočisko v kanalizáciách pod mestom. Posledným členom, ktorý prežil, bola Krystyna Chigerová.
Toto je jej jedinečný, zdrvujúci, no napokon víťazný príbeh o úteku pred hrozivým holokaustom.
V knihe Dievča v zelenom svetri je z prvej ruky zachytený príbeh mladej Krystyny, ktorá sa musela spolu so svojou rodinou štrnásť mesiacov plaziť a skrývať v podzemných kanalizáciách Ľvova. Ľudom, ktorí sa ukrývali v podzemí, veľmi odvážne pomáhal poľský
katolík a bývalý zlodej Leopold Socha. V tomto príbehu sa nakoniec stal nenahraditeľnou súčasťou boja proti holokaustu. Socha riskoval svoj život, aby zachránil rodinu Chigerových, keď im pravidelne nosil jedlo a lieky.
Kniha Dievča v zelenom svetri je dojemný memoár, ktorý vás chytí za srdce a strhne do víru priam nepredstaviteľných životných okolností.
V roku 1943 bolo z poľského Ľvova vyhnaných, zavraždených alebo uväznených v getách viac ako 150 000 židov. Jedna skupinka poľských židov odvážne zariskovala a hľadala útočisko v kanalizáciách pod mestom. Posledným členom, ktorý prežil, bola Krystyna Chigerová.
Toto je jej jedinečný, zdrvujúci, no napokon víťazný príbeh o úteku pred hrozivým holokaustom.
V knihe Dievča v zelenom svetri je z prvej ruky zachytený príbeh mladej Krystyny, ktorá sa musela spolu so svojou rodinou štrnásť mesiacov plaziť a skrývať v podzemných kanalizáciách Ľvova. Ľudom, ktorí sa ukrývali v podzemí, veľmi odvážne pomáhal poľský
katolík a bývalý zlodej Leopold Socha. V tomto príbehu sa nakoniec stal nenahraditeľnou súčasťou boja proti holokaustu. Socha riskoval svoj život, aby zachránil rodinu Chigerových, keď im pravidelne nosil jedlo a lieky.
Kniha Dievča v zelenom svetri je dojemný memoár, ktorý vás chytí za srdce a strhne do víru priam nepredstaviteľných životných okolností.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 551 reviews
January 3, 2016
Posted at Shelf Inflicted
After watching Agnieszka Holland’s powerful film, In Darkness, I was delighted to find this story in the library. After finishing it, I learned that the film was not actually based on Krystyna Chiger’s story, but on an earlier story by Robert Marshall, In the Sewers of Lvov, which covers the same events.
The Girl in the Green Sweater is told from the perspective of Krystyna, who was only 8 years old when the Lvov ghetto in Poland was liquidated and the remaining Jews sent to their deaths. The Chiger family had to resort to desperate measures in order to save their lives and spent the next 14 months underground, living in a sewer amid rats, worms, filth, and bacteria. Many panicked people who descended into the sewers died from drowning or from the grenades thrown through the manhole openings by the occupying forces.
The family’s savior was Leopold Socha, a Polish sewer worker and a former thief. He brought them food, clothing, and other supplies they would need to survive their time in the sewer. Though he was paid very well for his efforts, the work was not without any risk. In Nazi-occupied Poland, anyone who gets caught helping Jews was punished by death, along with their family. After the family’s money ran out, it then became obvious that Socha’s intentions were not solely mercenary.
While this story was very grim and showed the darkest side of humanity, there were also moments of humor, bravery, devotion, and sacrifice.
This story works well as a memoir and survival adventure, but as a Holocaust story, I felt it was lacking historical background. Though the story was told from a child’s viewpoint, Krystyna was much too young to recall all the events that took place and had to rely on her parents’ memories. Her father kept a journal and I really would have liked to see some excerpts from it to show a different perspective.
I can’t help but think that the Chiger family was fortunate to be so wealthy, or they surely would have not survived the war.
After watching Agnieszka Holland’s powerful film, In Darkness, I was delighted to find this story in the library. After finishing it, I learned that the film was not actually based on Krystyna Chiger’s story, but on an earlier story by Robert Marshall, In the Sewers of Lvov, which covers the same events.
The Girl in the Green Sweater is told from the perspective of Krystyna, who was only 8 years old when the Lvov ghetto in Poland was liquidated and the remaining Jews sent to their deaths. The Chiger family had to resort to desperate measures in order to save their lives and spent the next 14 months underground, living in a sewer amid rats, worms, filth, and bacteria. Many panicked people who descended into the sewers died from drowning or from the grenades thrown through the manhole openings by the occupying forces.
The family’s savior was Leopold Socha, a Polish sewer worker and a former thief. He brought them food, clothing, and other supplies they would need to survive their time in the sewer. Though he was paid very well for his efforts, the work was not without any risk. In Nazi-occupied Poland, anyone who gets caught helping Jews was punished by death, along with their family. After the family’s money ran out, it then became obvious that Socha’s intentions were not solely mercenary.
While this story was very grim and showed the darkest side of humanity, there were also moments of humor, bravery, devotion, and sacrifice.
This story works well as a memoir and survival adventure, but as a Holocaust story, I felt it was lacking historical background. Though the story was told from a child’s viewpoint, Krystyna was much too young to recall all the events that took place and had to rely on her parents’ memories. Her father kept a journal and I really would have liked to see some excerpts from it to show a different perspective.
I can’t help but think that the Chiger family was fortunate to be so wealthy, or they surely would have not survived the war.
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May 16, 2009It doesn't matter how many different accounts I've read of the holocaust, I am still fascinated and touched by each one. I am in awe of the people in this book, and reminded that I don't know what true suffering is. It was interesting to read this story and think about my Macey who is basically the same age as the children in this story. Their childhoods were truly taken away from them. It's so hard to imagine what you would do in that mother's place.
It was also interesting to read an account of a family's survival outside of a camp, and now I'm really curious about all of the children who were given to Ayran families and would like to read more about them.
My only 'complaint' is that I wish she would've gone into detail about what happened to everyone after the war. I would've liked to know what ultimately became of her family (especially her brother and father), and more about her current life.
It was also interesting to read an account of a family's survival outside of a camp, and now I'm really curious about all of the children who were given to Ayran families and would like to read more about them.
My only 'complaint' is that I wish she would've gone into detail about what happened to everyone after the war. I would've liked to know what ultimately became of her family (especially her brother and father), and more about her current life.
August 17, 2009
If this book was a work of fiction, I would critique it by saying I enjoyed the author's journalistic style but the story was too far-fetched to ever really happen. I guess this is what many say or think when reflecting on the Holocaust, and with good reason. This is, indeed, a remarkable tale about the strength and depth of the human spirit, and about the human need for a family, a friend, or at the very least--an angel.
December 31, 2015
The girl in the green sweater is Chiger's moving account of how her family survived the holocaust by living in a sewer for 15 months. I have read many holocaust books over the years, but I found this particularly moving because with her collaborator Paisner, Chiger managed to tell her story through the eyes of her seven year old self. B"H she moved past this baggage and raised a family and has now donated this gem to all of us.
February 4, 2013
The story of young Krystyna Chiger and her family in Nazi-occupied Lvov, Poland is harrowing and beautiful. Upon the final liquidation of the Janowska concentration camp, Krystyna and her younger brother flee with their parents and quite a few others into the cold, uninhabitable sewers beneath the streets of Lvov, through which the rushing Peltew river courses.
They descend into the secret entrance with the belief that they will see the sun again in a few weeks. This, however, was not their lot. They would be forced to live surrounded by human excretement, thousands of rats, and other horrid circumstances for 14 long months. This, of course would've been impossible were it not for Socha. Socha, the kindly Polish sewer worker along with two of his co-workers. Throughout that nearly unbearable time, Socha brought food and other necessary supplies for the small Jewish family he grew quite fond of. He found them hiding places; led German soldiers on false trails; and found fresh water they could drink. He was, in so many ways, their saving grace.
I will remember this book not only for the environment by which this family and a small group of others escaped extermination by the Nazi regime, but for the kindnesses - ranging from small to great - which saved their lives. A beautiful piece of historical literature.
They descend into the secret entrance with the belief that they will see the sun again in a few weeks. This, however, was not their lot. They would be forced to live surrounded by human excretement, thousands of rats, and other horrid circumstances for 14 long months. This, of course would've been impossible were it not for Socha. Socha, the kindly Polish sewer worker along with two of his co-workers. Throughout that nearly unbearable time, Socha brought food and other necessary supplies for the small Jewish family he grew quite fond of. He found them hiding places; led German soldiers on false trails; and found fresh water they could drink. He was, in so many ways, their saving grace.
I will remember this book not only for the environment by which this family and a small group of others escaped extermination by the Nazi regime, but for the kindnesses - ranging from small to great - which saved their lives. A beautiful piece of historical literature.
April 26, 2011
The green sweater mentioned in the title of this book is found in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. This sweater was worn by the author when she was six to seven years old, when she lived in the sewers of Lvov. Lvov is now called Lviv and is located in western Ukraine. Then, during the war, it was part of Poland and was called Lvov. This sweater was knitted by the author's grandmother. When she wore it she felt the warmth of her grandmother's hugs.
What is spoken of in this book is how she, the author, experienced the war. It is based on her own memories. The author has spoken with her parents and filled in sections that she did not know at the time, but it is important to see this book as a child's perspective on war. This, the book accomplishes very well. Similarly, any adult can list what elements will most probably be included in any description of an extended stay below ground in the sewer system – rats, excrement, slime, filth, worms and pipelines. The memories experienced by the author add a very horrible dimension to these concepts. Getting stuck in a 40cm pipeline, worms of all sizes and descriptions take on another dimension. The impact of childhood experiences on shaping an adult is also an interesting theme. The importance of humour is stressed. Yes, humour and good memories are possible even in such terrible conditions.
The author is remembering her experiences as a child, and yet this proves to be one of the problems with the book. We are told rather than shown. This is at least how I reacted to the book.
When you buy a book, you get a finished product. How a book is put together is important, Everything from the cover, maps, pictures, a glossary, an introduction and an afterword play a role in how the reader will perceive a given book.. This book has pictures which are wonderful. Unfortunately, it also has an introduction that is in fact a complete summary, in eight pages, of the entire book. Do not read the introduction before reading the book! I did, and as a result, I always knew what would happen next.
Yes, I liked the book, but it could clearly have been improved. I highly admire the author and agree completely with her belief that such experiences of the holocaust must be documented.
What is spoken of in this book is how she, the author, experienced the war. It is based on her own memories. The author has spoken with her parents and filled in sections that she did not know at the time, but it is important to see this book as a child's perspective on war. This, the book accomplishes very well. Similarly, any adult can list what elements will most probably be included in any description of an extended stay below ground in the sewer system – rats, excrement, slime, filth, worms and pipelines. The memories experienced by the author add a very horrible dimension to these concepts. Getting stuck in a 40cm pipeline, worms of all sizes and descriptions take on another dimension. The impact of childhood experiences on shaping an adult is also an interesting theme. The importance of humour is stressed. Yes, humour and good memories are possible even in such terrible conditions.
The author is remembering her experiences as a child, and yet this proves to be one of the problems with the book. We are told rather than shown. This is at least how I reacted to the book.
When you buy a book, you get a finished product. How a book is put together is important, Everything from the cover, maps, pictures, a glossary, an introduction and an afterword play a role in how the reader will perceive a given book.. This book has pictures which are wonderful. Unfortunately, it also has an introduction that is in fact a complete summary, in eight pages, of the entire book. Do not read the introduction before reading the book! I did, and as a result, I always knew what would happen next.
Yes, I liked the book, but it could clearly have been improved. I highly admire the author and agree completely with her belief that such experiences of the holocaust must be documented.
March 31, 2016
A gripping yet extremely harrowing true life story both heartbreaking and uplifting about Krystyna Chiger's life in hiding from the Nazis and Ukrainian anti-Semites, during the Holocaust. Chiger talks of her experiences before the war, of the Soviet occupation and oppression of her family in Lvov, and how the family lost their possessions at this time, followed by the even more diabolical rule of the Nazis. Chiger was 4 years old when Poland was divided between the Nazis and Soviets and 6 when the Nazis seized her home town of Lvov. From then on the Jews of Lvov were hounded and massacred. The author relates witnessing the mass murders of Jews by Ukrainian mobs and the sadistic reign of terror of the evil Jew-killer SS Obersturmfuhrer Joseph Gryzmek, the Nazi cruelty and Krystina witnessing her grandmother and little four year cousin Inka being brutally forced onto the Nazi trucks to take them to their deaths. She relates how her father Ignacy Chiger demonstrated a genius for survival and outwitted Gryzmek. The family narrowly escaped the Nazi roundup of the Jews of Lvov, and after the 150 000 Jews of Lvov were killed or transported Krystina and her family together with a handful of other Jews escaped into the fetid sewers where they lived in the hellish conditions of darkness and very little space, together with the stink, disease, worms and rats.
The family and other Jewish were helped to survive by a Polish Catholic sewer inspector and former thief Leopold Socha, without whom they would certainly have perished.
Chiger relates how she and her four year old brother Pawel managed to survive 14 months in this unimaginable existence in a harrowing and fascinating real life story of death, suffering and ultimately survival. One of the best Holocaust childhood memoirs you will read.
The author explains how it is a testament to all the children who lost their lives in the Holocaust and to her own lost childhood.
she also relates the family's resettlement in Israel after the war where there were so many holocaust survivors whose experiences remained unspoken.
amazingly descriptive, poignant and penetrating.
The family and other Jewish were helped to survive by a Polish Catholic sewer inspector and former thief Leopold Socha, without whom they would certainly have perished.
Chiger relates how she and her four year old brother Pawel managed to survive 14 months in this unimaginable existence in a harrowing and fascinating real life story of death, suffering and ultimately survival. One of the best Holocaust childhood memoirs you will read.
The author explains how it is a testament to all the children who lost their lives in the Holocaust and to her own lost childhood.
she also relates the family's resettlement in Israel after the war where there were so many holocaust survivors whose experiences remained unspoken.
amazingly descriptive, poignant and penetrating.
January 15, 2009
This is Krystyna Chiger’s memoir of her childhood during the Holocaust. A Polish Jew, her family was forced to hide from the Nazis lest they be exterminated during the “cleansing” of the town of Lvov. Though they were able to survive longer than many Jews, through her father’s ingenuity and sometimes sheer luck, they were eventually forced into the sewers underneath the city. There, along with a dozen or so other Jewish people, they hid for fourteen months, until the Russian army liberated the city.
I found this story more interesting than a lot of Holocaust memoirs out there. Of course, what each person who survived the Holocaust went through was tragic and horrifying, but Chiger has a way of writing that instantly draws you in. Apparently she pieced together the narrative of their time in the ghetto and the sewer based on her own memories and her father’s diary. She therefore has the perspective not just of a seven-year-old child, but of a grown man, as well as her family’s other memories, and her own, changing perspective as she grew up. She is able to see the more horrifying events in the sewer not through her immature memories, but through several different viewpoints, all molded together into one coherent recollection.
It could be repetitive at times, and Chiger tended to spoil the end of her stories before she began them (you’ll know exactly who survives and why, and what miraculous events are coming up, early in the story), but there was always something interesting on the next page. Chiger was very courageous, and her father was a real hero; he was a remarkable man.
I found this story more interesting than a lot of Holocaust memoirs out there. Of course, what each person who survived the Holocaust went through was tragic and horrifying, but Chiger has a way of writing that instantly draws you in. Apparently she pieced together the narrative of their time in the ghetto and the sewer based on her own memories and her father’s diary. She therefore has the perspective not just of a seven-year-old child, but of a grown man, as well as her family’s other memories, and her own, changing perspective as she grew up. She is able to see the more horrifying events in the sewer not through her immature memories, but through several different viewpoints, all molded together into one coherent recollection.
It could be repetitive at times, and Chiger tended to spoil the end of her stories before she began them (you’ll know exactly who survives and why, and what miraculous events are coming up, early in the story), but there was always something interesting on the next page. Chiger was very courageous, and her father was a real hero; he was a remarkable man.
March 23, 2013
Using the metaphor of carrying heavy baggage of memories of the Holocaust, author Krystyna Chiger ends her memoir with these words: "It would not be fair to suggest that our bag was heavier than most. It was just ours, that is all..." I picked my copy of The Girl in the Green Sweater up on a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. awhile back, but I put it aside after reading The Girl in the Red Coat which tells the story of the red-clad girl made famous in the movie Schindler's List, thinking I needed a change of subject matter--reading about the Holocaust is difficult.
At first reading this memoir was difficult too--until one begins to see the characters as more than victims but rather people who this story reveals to be brave, smart, and loyal who endure unbelievable danger and hardship. What makes this story so unique is that it tells a story of a group of Jews who escaped underground to the sewer tunnels that covered the Peltew River in Lvov, Poland. Krystyna, her small brother, and her mother and father hide for 14 months in the dark, wet, smelly, and dangerous conditions of the sewer. Their survival, along with their own bravery and tenacity, depends greatly on the support and eventual friendship of a Polish Catholic man who risks his own safety to bring them supplies, comfort, and news, even when the money to pay him with runs out.
This is not just another holocaust story, and I've read many accounts of this sad chapter in human history; it is indeed unique, haunting and in the end, triumphant.
At first reading this memoir was difficult too--until one begins to see the characters as more than victims but rather people who this story reveals to be brave, smart, and loyal who endure unbelievable danger and hardship. What makes this story so unique is that it tells a story of a group of Jews who escaped underground to the sewer tunnels that covered the Peltew River in Lvov, Poland. Krystyna, her small brother, and her mother and father hide for 14 months in the dark, wet, smelly, and dangerous conditions of the sewer. Their survival, along with their own bravery and tenacity, depends greatly on the support and eventual friendship of a Polish Catholic man who risks his own safety to bring them supplies, comfort, and news, even when the money to pay him with runs out.
This is not just another holocaust story, and I've read many accounts of this sad chapter in human history; it is indeed unique, haunting and in the end, triumphant.
March 11, 2015
This memoir chilled me. Krystyna Chiger's simply told story of survival during the Nazi invasion of Poland is perhaps one of the best I've read. It isn't because it is Pulitzer-award winning writing -- it's not. It isn't because it was on the bestseller list -- it wasn't. It's because her family's survival is so unimaginable that even as I read it, I wondered how anyone could EVER live through it. Imagine living in the sewer system being hunted like prey. Co-existing with thousands upon thousands of rats. With human waste flowing by constantly. With sudden bursts of flood waters rushing through without warning, sweeping away people and things. And maybe worst of all, being in total darkness all the time. FOR ONE-AND-A-HALF YEARS. Never seeing sunshine, smelling a flower, never feeling fresh air, never being able to stand to your full height. You can only crawl, you can never speak above a whisper. Seeing those around you die of hunger, dysentary, and drowning. And your only source of food and news of the outside world is a Polish sewer worker who has taken pity on you and risks his own life to help. Even after reading this memoir, I'm still stunned by the magnitude of it. Read it and be grateful for what you have. Every minute of every day.
March 11, 2020
Seven year old Krystyna Chiger survived the Holocaust with her family and six others by spending 14 months in the sewers of Lvov, Poland. This story is told through the eyes of a child with her additional perspective as an adult. Well worth reading. If you wish to view Dr. Keren's testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, you may find the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd7WK...
February 15, 2013
What took the author so long to write this story? This story is unbelievable and should have been told decades ago. It is an unforgettable story that will resonate with the reader for a long time if not forever. Whenever we need to traverse a difficult period in our own lives, this should be the story that should have us drawing upon our perserverance and willpower. How a group of human beings can live for 14 months amongst the rats, sewage, darkness, cold and surrounded by mud strewn walls is beyond belief. The other unbelievable aspect of this story is the stark contrast between sheer evil and selfless goodness. How one man can make such a difference for a dozen complete stranger's lives is remarkable and that is why he is honored at the Washington Holocaust Memorial Museum. In order to honour his memory and the memory of all who suffered, perished and fought for their lives read this story! You will not regret the time spent learning a piece of history (however small)!
April 16, 2012
This is one of those books you should read. Chiger's experiences during the Holocaust as she and her family lived in a sewer for months are awe inspiring. It's true the narrative isn't linear per se (it mostly is, but sometimes she tells you ahead of time what happens), but it feels as if Chiger is right next to you, telling you the story. And that's worth a lot.
Her parents were wonderful people.
Her parents were wonderful people.
March 2, 2022
This is probably one of the best World War II books I have read!! So amazingly told! The amounts of time they survived. Just a really moving story
March 17, 2021
This is just unimaginable.
November 24, 2019
Kniha Dievča v zelenom svetri je spomienkou na rok 1943, keď bola skupina Židov v poľskom Ľvove nútená v záujme záchrany života stráviť dlhé mesiace v podzemí mesta. Spracovaním a atmosférou mi pripomenula titul Klárina vojna, ktorú som čítal ešte počas vysokej školy, ale dojem z nej mi ostal až dodnes. Bol som prekvapený, keď som sa z tiráže dozvedel, že pôvodné vydanie Dievčaťa siaha do roku 2008, a rovnako aj z časového odstupu slovenského prekladu. Našťastie však vydavateľstvo Motýľ prinieslo knihu aj na náš trh a tak máme možnosť spoznať ďalších hrdinov, ktorí si zachovali charakter aj v neľudských podmienkach. Edícia vojnových príbehov tak medzi sebou privítala ďalšieho silného člena.
"Nenápadne pokrútila zápästím na pozdrav, ak by som sa náhodou pozerala. Asi si pomyslela, že vojaci, ktorí strážia nákladiak, nič nepostrehnú. Jeden si ju však všimol. Rozzúrilo ho, že starká niekomu kýva. Že sa usmieva. Že je statočná. Preto ju surovo udrel pažbou pušky. Sesternica ju okamžite objala, aby ju utešila. To bolo naposledy, čo som ich videla." (str. 59)
Keby išlo o fikciu, musel by som s uznaním napísať o autorovom publicistickom štýle. Lenže príbeh Krystyny Chigerovej sú odrazom drsnej reality, ktorá vám vyvolá zimomriavky častejšie, ako by ste si mysleli. Možno by ste povedali, že sedemročné dievča nemôže pochopiť vojnu so všetkými jej príčinami a dôsledkami, no Krystyna sa prejavuje ako vnímavá, otvorená a citlivá dievčina, ktorej sa všetko bytostne dotýka. Odtrhnutá od domova, na cudzom, tmavom mieste, v nevedomosti, čo sa stalo s jej odvlečenými príbuznými. S rodičmi a mladším bratom spoznávajú odvrátenú stránku Ľvova a spolu s nimi aj my, čitatelia. Takmer pätnásť mesiacov strávených v kanalizácii sa musí na človeku podpísať, najmä v mladom veku, no Krystyna Chigerová spracovala danú skúsenosť a vyrozprávala ju ako poučenie z minulosti a výstrahu, aby sa niečo podobné už nikdy nezopakovalo. Nie je to však len jej príbeh, významnou súčasťou je aj ďalšia osoba - anjel v podobe katolíka a bývalého zlodeja Leopolda Sochu. Bez jeho pomoci a zásobovania nevyhnutným jedlom či liekmi by Chigerovci ani zďaleka nevydržali vo svojom úkryte tak dlho.
"Onedlho vyšlo najavo, že muž, ktorý zorganizoval útek do podzemia a ktorý sa vyhlasoval za nášho veliteľa, je veľký podliak. Otec neskôr skonštatoval, že ho to vlastne ani neprekvapilo. Ak mám byť úprimná, neprekvapilo to ani mňa. Ako všímavé a bystré dieťa som hneď od začiatku vycítila, že Weiss nie je dobrý človek. Bol nečestný a zákerný. V pivnici baraka opustil manželku a dcéru, keď sa báli zísť do kanalizácie. Teraz zase vyhlásil, že Sochovi nebude vyplácať dohodnutý podiel odmeny." (str. 144)
Dievča v zelenom svetri sú memoáre so silným posolstvom. Niekto by mohol namietať, že príbehov z druhej svetovej vojny je na našich pultoch už priveľa, ale ja si to nemyslím. Kvantita v tomto prípade kráča totiž ruka v ruke s kvalitou, navyše je v dnešnej dobe nutnosťou pripomínať rôznym spôsobom mladej generácii, čoho sú schopní narušenci s prázdnymi heslami, ak sa im poskytne moc. Krystyna Chigerová bola v čase okupácie len malým dievčaťom, no cez ňu sa dej rozvetvuje do príbehu o celej rodine, ba dokonca spoločnosti. Gradácia je badať na každej strane, rovnako ako stiesnenosť a stále prítomný strach. Zároveň sa však spolu s tým tiahne aj nádej v lepšie zajtrajšky a ľudí, ktorí majú úctu jeden k druhému. Pretože to je základ...
"Nenápadne pokrútila zápästím na pozdrav, ak by som sa náhodou pozerala. Asi si pomyslela, že vojaci, ktorí strážia nákladiak, nič nepostrehnú. Jeden si ju však všimol. Rozzúrilo ho, že starká niekomu kýva. Že sa usmieva. Že je statočná. Preto ju surovo udrel pažbou pušky. Sesternica ju okamžite objala, aby ju utešila. To bolo naposledy, čo som ich videla." (str. 59)
Keby išlo o fikciu, musel by som s uznaním napísať o autorovom publicistickom štýle. Lenže príbeh Krystyny Chigerovej sú odrazom drsnej reality, ktorá vám vyvolá zimomriavky častejšie, ako by ste si mysleli. Možno by ste povedali, že sedemročné dievča nemôže pochopiť vojnu so všetkými jej príčinami a dôsledkami, no Krystyna sa prejavuje ako vnímavá, otvorená a citlivá dievčina, ktorej sa všetko bytostne dotýka. Odtrhnutá od domova, na cudzom, tmavom mieste, v nevedomosti, čo sa stalo s jej odvlečenými príbuznými. S rodičmi a mladším bratom spoznávajú odvrátenú stránku Ľvova a spolu s nimi aj my, čitatelia. Takmer pätnásť mesiacov strávených v kanalizácii sa musí na človeku podpísať, najmä v mladom veku, no Krystyna Chigerová spracovala danú skúsenosť a vyrozprávala ju ako poučenie z minulosti a výstrahu, aby sa niečo podobné už nikdy nezopakovalo. Nie je to však len jej príbeh, významnou súčasťou je aj ďalšia osoba - anjel v podobe katolíka a bývalého zlodeja Leopolda Sochu. Bez jeho pomoci a zásobovania nevyhnutným jedlom či liekmi by Chigerovci ani zďaleka nevydržali vo svojom úkryte tak dlho.
"Onedlho vyšlo najavo, že muž, ktorý zorganizoval útek do podzemia a ktorý sa vyhlasoval za nášho veliteľa, je veľký podliak. Otec neskôr skonštatoval, že ho to vlastne ani neprekvapilo. Ak mám byť úprimná, neprekvapilo to ani mňa. Ako všímavé a bystré dieťa som hneď od začiatku vycítila, že Weiss nie je dobrý človek. Bol nečestný a zákerný. V pivnici baraka opustil manželku a dcéru, keď sa báli zísť do kanalizácie. Teraz zase vyhlásil, že Sochovi nebude vyplácať dohodnutý podiel odmeny." (str. 144)
Dievča v zelenom svetri sú memoáre so silným posolstvom. Niekto by mohol namietať, že príbehov z druhej svetovej vojny je na našich pultoch už priveľa, ale ja si to nemyslím. Kvantita v tomto prípade kráča totiž ruka v ruke s kvalitou, navyše je v dnešnej dobe nutnosťou pripomínať rôznym spôsobom mladej generácii, čoho sú schopní narušenci s prázdnymi heslami, ak sa im poskytne moc. Krystyna Chigerová bola v čase okupácie len malým dievčaťom, no cez ňu sa dej rozvetvuje do príbehu o celej rodine, ba dokonca spoločnosti. Gradácia je badať na každej strane, rovnako ako stiesnenosť a stále prítomný strach. Zároveň sa však spolu s tým tiahne aj nádej v lepšie zajtrajšky a ľudí, ktorí majú úctu jeden k druhému. Pretože to je základ...
September 12, 2016
Krystyna is seven years old, and lives with her family in Lvov in south East Poland. It is 1939. She is Jewish, as are a quarter of Lvov's population.
War breaks out. First the Russians annex Lvov as part of the Molotov Ribbentrop agreement. Krystyna's father has his business confiscated, and the family are forced to accept strangers as lodgers in their large apartment. Others from the community are taken away, never to be seen again.
Then disaster as operation Barbarossa rolls over the city. The Germans are now in charge and Lvov's 200,000 Jews are in mortal danger. The family are forced to move out of their apartment and into an overcrowded ghetto. Jews in the city are starved, humiliated, brutalised, subjected to random killings and roundups from which no one returns. Krystyna father uses ingenuity and courage to keep his family alive. Luck plays a part too.
The final roundup of the last 5,000 Jews is a chaotic affair and the family slips into the sewers below Lvov. Here they live for fourteen months amongst shit, filth and rats - constantly in fear of being caught. Of perhaps seventy people in the sewers after the outset, only ten survive, and then only because of the help of some Polish sewage workers
This is a powerful book which puts a human face on an unspeakable crime. It shows the power of tenacity, perseverance and a sheer refusal to die in the face of overwhelming odds. It is sobering to think that out of the 200,000 Jews of Lvov in 1941 very few survived the war.
War breaks out. First the Russians annex Lvov as part of the Molotov Ribbentrop agreement. Krystyna's father has his business confiscated, and the family are forced to accept strangers as lodgers in their large apartment. Others from the community are taken away, never to be seen again.
Then disaster as operation Barbarossa rolls over the city. The Germans are now in charge and Lvov's 200,000 Jews are in mortal danger. The family are forced to move out of their apartment and into an overcrowded ghetto. Jews in the city are starved, humiliated, brutalised, subjected to random killings and roundups from which no one returns. Krystyna father uses ingenuity and courage to keep his family alive. Luck plays a part too.
The final roundup of the last 5,000 Jews is a chaotic affair and the family slips into the sewers below Lvov. Here they live for fourteen months amongst shit, filth and rats - constantly in fear of being caught. Of perhaps seventy people in the sewers after the outset, only ten survive, and then only because of the help of some Polish sewage workers
This is a powerful book which puts a human face on an unspeakable crime. It shows the power of tenacity, perseverance and a sheer refusal to die in the face of overwhelming odds. It is sobering to think that out of the 200,000 Jews of Lvov in 1941 very few survived the war.
June 15, 2023
I read this book while we were in Eastern Europe, traveling through Poland and the surrounding countries. We visited a lot of Holocaust museums and memorials during that trip and just having all that history around me while I was reading this memoir made it come to life even more. It’s been months since I read this, but I still find myself thinking about it and wondering how little children could survive all the horrors that they were forced to endure.
This story was different than other Holocaust memoirs that I’ve read because it is told from the perspective of a little child who wasn’t in the concentration camps, but ended up hiding in the sewers with her family.
Krystyna Chiger was only eight years old when she, her parents and little brother along with several other adults went underground to avoid being killed. They remained there for fourteen months, surviving on the kindness of Leopold Socha, a Catholic (and former thief) who smuggled food and news to them.
It is a touching, heartbreaking story of fear, hatred and pain, but also of love, friendship and hope in the darkest times. Everyone should read this.
CW: child murder, murder, ummmm....I didn’t make notes on CW’s and I can’t remember anymore off the top of my head at the moment
This story was different than other Holocaust memoirs that I’ve read because it is told from the perspective of a little child who wasn’t in the concentration camps, but ended up hiding in the sewers with her family.
Krystyna Chiger was only eight years old when she, her parents and little brother along with several other adults went underground to avoid being killed. They remained there for fourteen months, surviving on the kindness of Leopold Socha, a Catholic (and former thief) who smuggled food and news to them.
It is a touching, heartbreaking story of fear, hatred and pain, but also of love, friendship and hope in the darkest times. Everyone should read this.
CW: child murder, murder, ummmm....I didn’t make notes on CW’s and I can’t remember anymore off the top of my head at the moment
January 22, 2011
This is the most powerful book I have ever read.
So many awfulnesses. The Nazis who come into Chiger's family's apartment to pick and choose belongings like there's a yard sale going on...her grandmother bravely waving to her from the military truck that takes her and the other Polish Jews to their death...she and her little brother squeezed behind a false shelf her father builds for 12-14 hours at a time so they won't be found while he and her mother work at forced labor...the rats in the sewers...the sewer flooding with the thaw and the children being held up above the water line so as not to drown...when they finally leave the sewer after fourteen months Chiger's eyes are so used to darkness that she sees everything through an orange-colored haze...even after surviving all of this her father, a former business owner, is still a suspect bourgeois to the Russian communist "liberators" and the family still can't feel safe.
Chiger tells all of this from the point of the view of the small child she was, augmented in spots by the unpublished writings of her father. It is a heart-rending book and so real.
So many awfulnesses. The Nazis who come into Chiger's family's apartment to pick and choose belongings like there's a yard sale going on...her grandmother bravely waving to her from the military truck that takes her and the other Polish Jews to their death...she and her little brother squeezed behind a false shelf her father builds for 12-14 hours at a time so they won't be found while he and her mother work at forced labor...the rats in the sewers...the sewer flooding with the thaw and the children being held up above the water line so as not to drown...when they finally leave the sewer after fourteen months Chiger's eyes are so used to darkness that she sees everything through an orange-colored haze...even after surviving all of this her father, a former business owner, is still a suspect bourgeois to the Russian communist "liberators" and the family still can't feel safe.
Chiger tells all of this from the point of the view of the small child she was, augmented in spots by the unpublished writings of her father. It is a heart-rending book and so real.
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May 5, 2017Не знаю, як оцінити цю книгу, бо вперше читаю про Голокост без емоцій, точніше без звичних для мене емоцій. І думки не мають бажання впорядкуватись.
Не можу сказати, що не вірю авторці. Але пише вона про себе дитину з позиції дорослої жінки, і не впевнена, що все описане - її спогади, можливо, частина з цього розповіді інших, десь прочитані факти. Таки не вірю, що могла вона стільки пам'ятати про себе в ранньому дитячому віц��. Так, правда в кожного своя, але не можуть бути і не є усі поганими, (хоча був аж один! хороший), лише євреї найкращі, і горе їхнє найбільше, і всі їм щось винні, усі мають їм допомагати. Дивні відчуття після книги. Немає звичного співчуття. А лиш недовіра... і злість, бо якими б не були прості люди під час війни, нам не завжди дано зрозуміти чому вони чинили саме так. Зрештою, і благородство не завжди щире.
Не можу сказати, що не вірю авторці. Але пише вона про себе дитину з позиції дорослої жінки, і не впевнена, що все описане - її спогади, можливо, частина з цього розповіді інших, десь прочитані факти. Таки не вірю, що могла вона стільки пам'ятати про себе в ранньому дитячому віц��. Так, правда в кожного своя, але не можуть бути і не є усі поганими, (хоча був аж один! хороший), лише євреї найкращі, і горе їхнє найбільше, і всі їм щось винні, усі мають їм допомагати. Дивні відчуття після книги. Немає звичного співчуття. А лиш недовіра... і злість, бо якими б не були прості люди під час війни, нам не завжди дано зрозуміти чому вони чинили саме так. Зрештою, і благородство не завжди щире.
February 17, 2010
I can't stop reading about the Holocaust! I just finished this book and have moved on to another memoir about this horrific time in history.
I was amazed that this book went as quickly as it did for me. There is little to no dialogue in this book. Most of the story is the author recollecting what happened during her ordeal of hiding with her family in the sewer. Krysha, her brother and parents hide for over a year in the sewer. A trio of sewer workers aid the group in their quest to survive the Nazi's attempt to capture all of the Jews.
The book moves smoothly and keeps your interest. Uplifting and harrowing, sorrowful and sweet. Wonderful read.
I was amazed that this book went as quickly as it did for me. There is little to no dialogue in this book. Most of the story is the author recollecting what happened during her ordeal of hiding with her family in the sewer. Krysha, her brother and parents hide for over a year in the sewer. A trio of sewer workers aid the group in their quest to survive the Nazi's attempt to capture all of the Jews.
The book moves smoothly and keeps your interest. Uplifting and harrowing, sorrowful and sweet. Wonderful read.
February 19, 2015
By far one of the best books of this time period I have ever read. Well written. A real eye opener. I have read and thought about the Holocaust but this book really put a new perspective on it from a family not only able to stay together but to endure such hardships together and still have hope. I am in awe of the Chiger family. I knew Jews suffered and some more than others but never really put into perspective the children and what they went through. The Jews had hatred coming from all sides and yet they made it through and to hear about the aftermath. They still suffered post war. Such strength in this family. I am inspired and would read this again.
July 9, 2022
Krystyna’s story is so unique from the usual Holocaust books I read. Regularly these memoirs are tales of the camps, and being torn from family. This is the story of a child, who with her family, evades the Nazis by hiding in the sewers underneath the city of Lvov for 14 months. It’s powerful, tragic and it breaks your heart.
I read another review that said if this book was fiction, they would rate it so much lower because it’s so far fetched, but they rate it high because it IS a true memoir. I agree. It stuns you to believe that this family, and so many others experienced these horrors.
I read another review that said if this book was fiction, they would rate it so much lower because it’s so far fetched, but they rate it high because it IS a true memoir. I agree. It stuns you to believe that this family, and so many others experienced these horrors.
May 29, 2017
With each book I read dealing with the Holocaust, I am overwhelmed by the human capacity for cruelty. Krystyna Chiger's families' experiences as they spent 14 months hiding in the sewers of Lvov (an area in the Ukraine near the Polish border) were horrifying, amazing, and inspiring. This is a story with true villians whose disgusting deeds are overcome by true heroes.
August 25, 2015
It truly is an amazing, true tale of the human spirit and will to survive. I think all memoirs about surviving the Holocaust must be similar in this way; unbelievable, moving, terrifying. I finished this book in one night. Don't read the introduction, it has too many spoilers for the book although that didn't bother me.
February 18, 2010
This was an amazing book. I enjoyed it. At first I thought it was a little repetitive, but then i realized how it was just reinforcing the whole book. I laughed once or twice and cried a few times with this one.
September 9, 2014
To date this was the most courageous and horrifing Holocost stories I have ever read. The family of Krystyna, her mother , father and little brother along with many others spent 14 months in the sewers just to stay alive and not be captured and killed.
May 20, 2023
Captivating. Horrific. Shocking. Heart wrenching.
June 2, 2020
When we think about the Holocaust, we remember Auschwitz and Birkenau and the other death camps and concentration camps. We remember people worked to death, starved and beaten, shot for no reason. We remember the awful photos taken at liberation.
But there are other stories to be told as well. Chiger’s family lived in Lvov (now Lviv, Ukraine) before the start of WWII, and after the liquidation of the ghetto there, they escaped being shot or deported east by hiding in the sewers under the city. For 15 months, Chiger, her baby brother, her parents, and several other people survived the atrocities of Nazi rule amidst raw sewage and raging storm waters. They survived only thanks to a sewer worker called Leopoldo Socha, a former thief who felt he needed to make amends for his sinful life and made it his mission to care for these Jews in the sewer until the end of Nazi occupation.
Because Chiger was so young, about seven years old when she entered the sewer, there isn’t much historical framing to what her family endured. She brings us with her into the sewers and shows us her world through the eyes of a child. She is delighted by the ingenuity of the rats with whom they co-existed, especially when they tried to steal an egg by having one rat cradle it on its stomach while the other rat pulled the first along on its back by its tail. Her baby brother made friends with the rats and gave them nicknames. She also still had daily lessons with her father for much of their time underground, so as to pass the time.
Even though it was a horrible existence, most of the sewer dwellers with Chiger made the most of it. Chiger herself was quite fortunate; many of the children of the ghetto had already disappeared by the time her family descended underground, and she was able to spend these 15 months hiding with both her mother and her father, plus her baby brother, with her in the sewers. Had they been deported, her father would absolutely have been separated from them, and the children most likely sent to the gas chambers. As awful as living among raw sewage was, I believe Chiger was grateful to have the chance at surviving the war with her nuclear family intact, especially after they lost so many extended family members.
Because this book isn’t about the atrocities perpetrated against Jews in the death camps, it’s a bit easier to read than most Holocaust narratives. It’s just as horrifying, however, that Chiger and her family had to endure such indignities simply based on their religion/ethnicity. I only wish that Chiger had quoted some of her father’s journal entries to give more depth to her memoir.
But there are other stories to be told as well. Chiger’s family lived in Lvov (now Lviv, Ukraine) before the start of WWII, and after the liquidation of the ghetto there, they escaped being shot or deported east by hiding in the sewers under the city. For 15 months, Chiger, her baby brother, her parents, and several other people survived the atrocities of Nazi rule amidst raw sewage and raging storm waters. They survived only thanks to a sewer worker called Leopoldo Socha, a former thief who felt he needed to make amends for his sinful life and made it his mission to care for these Jews in the sewer until the end of Nazi occupation.
Because Chiger was so young, about seven years old when she entered the sewer, there isn’t much historical framing to what her family endured. She brings us with her into the sewers and shows us her world through the eyes of a child. She is delighted by the ingenuity of the rats with whom they co-existed, especially when they tried to steal an egg by having one rat cradle it on its stomach while the other rat pulled the first along on its back by its tail. Her baby brother made friends with the rats and gave them nicknames. She also still had daily lessons with her father for much of their time underground, so as to pass the time.
Even though it was a horrible existence, most of the sewer dwellers with Chiger made the most of it. Chiger herself was quite fortunate; many of the children of the ghetto had already disappeared by the time her family descended underground, and she was able to spend these 15 months hiding with both her mother and her father, plus her baby brother, with her in the sewers. Had they been deported, her father would absolutely have been separated from them, and the children most likely sent to the gas chambers. As awful as living among raw sewage was, I believe Chiger was grateful to have the chance at surviving the war with her nuclear family intact, especially after they lost so many extended family members.
Because this book isn’t about the atrocities perpetrated against Jews in the death camps, it’s a bit easier to read than most Holocaust narratives. It’s just as horrifying, however, that Chiger and her family had to endure such indignities simply based on their religion/ethnicity. I only wish that Chiger had quoted some of her father’s journal entries to give more depth to her memoir.
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