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Franci's War: The incredible true story of one woman's survival of the Holocaust
What are you willing to do to survive? What are you willing to endure if it means you might live?
In the summer of 1942, twenty-two-year-old Franci Rabinek - designated a Jew by the Nazi racial laws - arrived at Terezin, a concentration camp and ghetto forty miles north of her home in Prague. It would be the beginning of her three-year journey from Terezin to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to the slave labour camps in Hamburg, and finally Bergen Belsen.
Franci, a spirited and glamorous young woman, was known among her fellow inmates as the Prague dress designer. Having endured the transportation of her parents, she never forgot her mother's parting words: 'Your only duty to us is to stay alive'. During an Auschwitz selection, Franci would spontaneously lie to Nazi officer Dr Josef Mengele, and claim to be an electrician. It was a split-second decision that would go on to endanger - and save - her life.
Franci's story is an astonishing account of one woman's attempt to survive those dark years. Heartbreaking, candid, and sometimes unbearably funny, she gives voice to the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends. Her testimony sheds new light on the alliances, love affairs, and sexual barter that took place during the Holocaust, offering a compelling insight into the resilience and courage of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation.
In the summer of 1942, twenty-two-year-old Franci Rabinek - designated a Jew by the Nazi racial laws - arrived at Terezin, a concentration camp and ghetto forty miles north of her home in Prague. It would be the beginning of her three-year journey from Terezin to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to the slave labour camps in Hamburg, and finally Bergen Belsen.
Franci, a spirited and glamorous young woman, was known among her fellow inmates as the Prague dress designer. Having endured the transportation of her parents, she never forgot her mother's parting words: 'Your only duty to us is to stay alive'. During an Auschwitz selection, Franci would spontaneously lie to Nazi officer Dr Josef Mengele, and claim to be an electrician. It was a split-second decision that would go on to endanger - and save - her life.
Franci's story is an astonishing account of one woman's attempt to survive those dark years. Heartbreaking, candid, and sometimes unbearably funny, she gives voice to the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends. Her testimony sheds new light on the alliances, love affairs, and sexual barter that took place during the Holocaust, offering a compelling insight into the resilience and courage of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation.
258 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
March 26, 2020
This review is a little biased, since I'm her son.
Did not read this until 30 years after her death. Most of the accounts were told to me at least once during my childhood by her; there were some accounts that were new to me. Was not aware that she wrote so well in English as Czech was her native tongue. As people have already commented, these first hand accounts offer a young woman's experience during WWII, whereas most holocaust accounts have been from a male point of view. It can also bring perspective to the current health problems we are experiencing.
PS - thank you Penguin Random House books for taking a chance now where other publishers in the past did not.
Did not read this until 30 years after her death. Most of the accounts were told to me at least once during my childhood by her; there were some accounts that were new to me. Was not aware that she wrote so well in English as Czech was her native tongue. As people have already commented, these first hand accounts offer a young woman's experience during WWII, whereas most holocaust accounts have been from a male point of view. It can also bring perspective to the current health problems we are experiencing.
PS - thank you Penguin Random House books for taking a chance now where other publishers in the past did not.
September 5, 2020
Franci's War is a story about a young woman caught up in the horror of WW II, her family was once wealthy, owned their own fashion house and they lived and worked in Prague. After the Nazi's arrive, things slowly started to change, the family had to give away or sell what they could and made to move.
In 1942, Franci arrived alone at Terezin concentration camp, nothing could have prepared her for the horror, terror and the awful living conditions she endured at the camp. She carried the mark of being Jewish for the rest of her life, she had her identification number tattooed on her arm and it was roughly engraved into her skin.
She survived three years of terrible living conditions, starvation and suffering. The first camp she stays at was Terezin, then she's was sent to Auschwitz, then Hamburg, and the last camp is Bergen Belsen.
In 1945, the British finally liberated the camp, Franci eventually returned to Prague and nothing was the same. The family business is gone, their lavish apartment, her parents and her husband have all died.
Franci’s War is a powerful story about how one brave young woman, endured three years living in four concentration camps, she never gave up and somehow she manged to survive.
I enjoyed Franci's War and I gave it three stars. I shared my review on Goodreads, Edelweiss, Australian Amazon, Kobo, Twitter and my blog.
In 1942, Franci arrived alone at Terezin concentration camp, nothing could have prepared her for the horror, terror and the awful living conditions she endured at the camp. She carried the mark of being Jewish for the rest of her life, she had her identification number tattooed on her arm and it was roughly engraved into her skin.
She survived three years of terrible living conditions, starvation and suffering. The first camp she stays at was Terezin, then she's was sent to Auschwitz, then Hamburg, and the last camp is Bergen Belsen.
In 1945, the British finally liberated the camp, Franci eventually returned to Prague and nothing was the same. The family business is gone, their lavish apartment, her parents and her husband have all died.
Franci’s War is a powerful story about how one brave young woman, endured three years living in four concentration camps, she never gave up and somehow she manged to survive.
I enjoyed Franci's War and I gave it three stars. I shared my review on Goodreads, Edelweiss, Australian Amazon, Kobo, Twitter and my blog.
May 22, 2021
I'm not sure why I keep doing this to myself. A search for knowledge maybe? To make me appreciate my own existence and the luck I have? But realistically I think its more to do with respect. Paying respects to the unthinkable number of those who lost their lives during the Holocaust.
*
Franci's War follows young Czech Franci Rabinek as she fights to survive through Jewish persecution, ghettos and concentration camps. Along the way, she loses the people who are her world and yet she fights on with a determination that is inspirational. From being part of a well off family with a successful business to left with nothing but the kindness offered to her after the war, we see how Franci separates herself from who she really is and her Auschwitz tattoo number.
*
I have read so many accounts from survivors and I will read so many more. However, the accounts that always hit me the hardest are the ones from survivors of the Family Camp. Used as a ruse for the Red Cross, transports were mercilessly killed in their thousands. Men, women and children alike. In the end, the only way out was being healthy and between a certain age group and able to be used as slave labourers.
*
What I loved about Franci was her pure determination and independence. She was her own person with her own beliefs and for a woman back then, that was a brave thing to be. Its that independence and pure strive for life that got her through the most horrendous time in her life.
Thank you to @abaker who bought me this beauty for my birthday 🎂
*
Franci's War follows young Czech Franci Rabinek as she fights to survive through Jewish persecution, ghettos and concentration camps. Along the way, she loses the people who are her world and yet she fights on with a determination that is inspirational. From being part of a well off family with a successful business to left with nothing but the kindness offered to her after the war, we see how Franci separates herself from who she really is and her Auschwitz tattoo number.
*
I have read so many accounts from survivors and I will read so many more. However, the accounts that always hit me the hardest are the ones from survivors of the Family Camp. Used as a ruse for the Red Cross, transports were mercilessly killed in their thousands. Men, women and children alike. In the end, the only way out was being healthy and between a certain age group and able to be used as slave labourers.
*
What I loved about Franci was her pure determination and independence. She was her own person with her own beliefs and for a woman back then, that was a brave thing to be. Its that independence and pure strive for life that got her through the most horrendous time in her life.
Thank you to @abaker who bought me this beauty for my birthday 🎂
January 8, 2022
Heartbreaking story of one woman’s strength and resilience during the Holocaust. Horrific, nightmarish accounts of her time in various camps, and the friendships and relationships made and broken along the way.
April 27, 2020
There are many memoirs surrounding the events of WWII, but I'm not sure there are many which tackle it the way Franci's War does. It remains to be a memoir, but the approach is quite different, with a sudden change in narrative style around 30% of the way through. I haven't really considered before how the undeniably out-of-body experience a concentration camp evokes could be represented in literature, other than a standard approach; Franci's War perfectly captures that experience, demonstrating the slip in persona remarkably well.
As with many stories of this nature, the novel takes us through the life of a prisoner. Franci Rabinek is a non-practising Czechoslovakian Jew who finds herself throughout the early part of her life travelling between concentration camps, tenuously maintaining any friendship she can to keep grounded. This is also a complete journey, including pictures of Franci and some closure about her life after her time in the concentration camps.
I struggled with the narrative voice sometimes as Franci's story unravels. Rather than feeling an emotional connection to Franci, I felt as though I was presented with a series of facts or fleeting events, leaving me quite detached from Franci herself; unfortunately it also makes the novel feel more like a descriptive list in parts which doesn't at all do Franci justice. Naturally the gravity and magnitude of the environment remains to be hard-hitting, but I feel a memoir should feel more personal in terms of understanding the personality of those affected and I can't say that I finished this book feeling like I really knew Franci.
Nevertheless, if I could every personal account of this tragic time I would. God knows it's the least we can do.
ARC provided from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
As with many stories of this nature, the novel takes us through the life of a prisoner. Franci Rabinek is a non-practising Czechoslovakian Jew who finds herself throughout the early part of her life travelling between concentration camps, tenuously maintaining any friendship she can to keep grounded. This is also a complete journey, including pictures of Franci and some closure about her life after her time in the concentration camps.
I struggled with the narrative voice sometimes as Franci's story unravels. Rather than feeling an emotional connection to Franci, I felt as though I was presented with a series of facts or fleeting events, leaving me quite detached from Franci herself; unfortunately it also makes the novel feel more like a descriptive list in parts which doesn't at all do Franci justice. Naturally the gravity and magnitude of the environment remains to be hard-hitting, but I feel a memoir should feel more personal in terms of understanding the personality of those affected and I can't say that I finished this book feeling like I really knew Franci.
Nevertheless, if I could every personal account of this tragic time I would. God knows it's the least we can do.
ARC provided from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 30, 2020
I won this book through Goodreads giveaways.
A very interesting memoir from a group that does not have a lot of personal stories from, Czech Jews who were not practicing.
The one thing about this book that bugged me was there was no explanation of why the author switched from using I statements to using her number given to her in Auschwitz. Was that her decision or her daughter (who edited the manuscript). That would have been nice to have an explanation for that.
A very interesting memoir from a group that does not have a lot of personal stories from, Czech Jews who were not practicing.
The one thing about this book that bugged me was there was no explanation of why the author switched from using I statements to using her number given to her in Auschwitz. Was that her decision or her daughter (who edited the manuscript). That would have been nice to have an explanation for that.
March 27, 2020
Franci’s War is the memoir of Franci Rabinek a non-practising Czech Jew and the horrors that she experiences in WW2. Franci, came from a quite well-off family that owned their own Fashion house.
This story shows the story shows Franci’s journey from Prague, to the horrors of the concentration camps to the Liberation and to her then making a life for herself in America after the war. The sheer determination of her survival. This is a straightforward tale of an account of what happened.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Micheal Joseph for a copy of this book. I have read several books of this nature but never a memoir. To be honest I found this book quite hard to get into. There was no personalization. It was just hard cold facts. The copy had so many typos in it, but l learned later that this was deliberate as it was written this way originally. I understood that but for me I could not engage in this book properly because of this. 3 stars from me.
This story shows the story shows Franci’s journey from Prague, to the horrors of the concentration camps to the Liberation and to her then making a life for herself in America after the war. The sheer determination of her survival. This is a straightforward tale of an account of what happened.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Micheal Joseph for a copy of this book. I have read several books of this nature but never a memoir. To be honest I found this book quite hard to get into. There was no personalization. It was just hard cold facts. The copy had so many typos in it, but l learned later that this was deliberate as it was written this way originally. I understood that but for me I could not engage in this book properly because of this. 3 stars from me.
September 3, 2021
An incredibly moving and impressive document, unlike any Holocaust memoir I have read, and all the more important for being so. If anyone believes we don’t need to study this aspect of WWII any longer, consider these words of Franci’s:
“My greatest concern is the possibility that due to human nature, it could happen again in a different form, under different circumstances, anywhere in the world.”
Please God, Never Again.
“My greatest concern is the possibility that due to human nature, it could happen again in a different form, under different circumstances, anywhere in the world.”
Please God, Never Again.
April 23, 2020
Franci's War is the memoir of Franci Rabinek a non practicing Czech Jew who grew up in a family quite well off, with her family owning a fashion house in Prague.
Franci's journey tells of how her and her family were caught in the middle of World war ll and ultimately as Jews were separated and incarcerated in several Concentration camps including Terezin and Auschwitz. Some of the most reknown concentration camps for their cruelty and abuse, To ultimately the British releasing her for her to return to Prague and realise nothing will ever be the same.
I feel like I learnt a lot reading this memoir. I found the fact that Franci classed herself as agnostic and not a practicing Jew but yet was still classed and treated as such by the nazis astonishing.
This book really is fascinating, the level of detail and the intricacies in not just Franci's journey but those of the other prisoners is mind blowing.
Theres no denying Franci's strength and resilience is remarkable.
The only thing I found with this book is that for me the personalization wasn't really there. I wanted to know more about how Franci felt but this was a more factual account and I felt like in places it came across as cold hard facts rather than how this affected her.
I definitely would recommend this book though, I'm completely in awe of Franci and I feel super grateful that I had the opportunity to read her story.
Franci's journey tells of how her and her family were caught in the middle of World war ll and ultimately as Jews were separated and incarcerated in several Concentration camps including Terezin and Auschwitz. Some of the most reknown concentration camps for their cruelty and abuse, To ultimately the British releasing her for her to return to Prague and realise nothing will ever be the same.
I feel like I learnt a lot reading this memoir. I found the fact that Franci classed herself as agnostic and not a practicing Jew but yet was still classed and treated as such by the nazis astonishing.
This book really is fascinating, the level of detail and the intricacies in not just Franci's journey but those of the other prisoners is mind blowing.
Theres no denying Franci's strength and resilience is remarkable.
The only thing I found with this book is that for me the personalization wasn't really there. I wanted to know more about how Franci felt but this was a more factual account and I felt like in places it came across as cold hard facts rather than how this affected her.
I definitely would recommend this book though, I'm completely in awe of Franci and I feel super grateful that I had the opportunity to read her story.
December 16, 2020
#franciswar - Franci Rabinek Epstein
#MichaelJoseph (#penguinrandomhouse)
I am not very keen on memoirs regarding the Holocaust and wars, in general. Although they are often promoted as being ‘life-changing’, ‘inspirational’ and ‘uplifting’, my experience is that they tend to be dark and depressing; an unavoidable consequence of the subject matter. This book has therefore been on my to-be-read pile for quite a while before I actually started reading.
The author was born in Czechoslovakia in 1920 and was 22 years old when she was taken to Terezin, a ghetto 40 miles from her home in Prague, in the summer of 1942. Although her father registered his family to be of German origin the then classification laws stated that a person with 2 Jewish grandparents would be regarded as a Jew; Franci had 4.
From Terezin she was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she was tattooed and started referring to herself as A-4116 and where she also met the infamous Nazi, Josef Mengele, and lied about being an electrician (with some amusing consequences) to avoid execution. The next destination was Neurengamme and, after bombings by the Allied forces, the horrors of Bergen-Belsen, the dumping ground of Jews driven from other camps on death marches, where approximately 50 000 people (including Anne Frank) died.
Franci survived the war, but discovered on her eventual return to Prague, that her German classification turned her into a perceived enemy, irrespective of her Jewish heritage and her suffering at the hands of the Germans during the war. When Communism changed the politics in Czechoslovakia and anti-semitism once again raised its head, she emigrated to America - with only the clothes on her back and 10 dollars. She died in 1989 after suffering a brain aneurism after the manuscript that was to become this book (at the time titled ‘Roundabout’) was rejected for publication in the 1970’s. Her daughter, Helen, persevered and had the book, in its current form, published in 2020 - the year that her mother would have been 100 years old and celebrating the 75th anniversary of her liberation by the British forces.
In spite of my initial apprehension, the book was a pleasant surprise; the focus is on women during the Holocaust and it is written in a factual, almost clinical, manner. Readers who enjoy books about the Holocaust will definitely appreciate this one.
4 stars from me.
#Uitdieperdsebek
#MichaelJoseph (#penguinrandomhouse)
I am not very keen on memoirs regarding the Holocaust and wars, in general. Although they are often promoted as being ‘life-changing’, ‘inspirational’ and ‘uplifting’, my experience is that they tend to be dark and depressing; an unavoidable consequence of the subject matter. This book has therefore been on my to-be-read pile for quite a while before I actually started reading.
The author was born in Czechoslovakia in 1920 and was 22 years old when she was taken to Terezin, a ghetto 40 miles from her home in Prague, in the summer of 1942. Although her father registered his family to be of German origin the then classification laws stated that a person with 2 Jewish grandparents would be regarded as a Jew; Franci had 4.
From Terezin she was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she was tattooed and started referring to herself as A-4116 and where she also met the infamous Nazi, Josef Mengele, and lied about being an electrician (with some amusing consequences) to avoid execution. The next destination was Neurengamme and, after bombings by the Allied forces, the horrors of Bergen-Belsen, the dumping ground of Jews driven from other camps on death marches, where approximately 50 000 people (including Anne Frank) died.
Franci survived the war, but discovered on her eventual return to Prague, that her German classification turned her into a perceived enemy, irrespective of her Jewish heritage and her suffering at the hands of the Germans during the war. When Communism changed the politics in Czechoslovakia and anti-semitism once again raised its head, she emigrated to America - with only the clothes on her back and 10 dollars. She died in 1989 after suffering a brain aneurism after the manuscript that was to become this book (at the time titled ‘Roundabout’) was rejected for publication in the 1970’s. Her daughter, Helen, persevered and had the book, in its current form, published in 2020 - the year that her mother would have been 100 years old and celebrating the 75th anniversary of her liberation by the British forces.
In spite of my initial apprehension, the book was a pleasant surprise; the focus is on women during the Holocaust and it is written in a factual, almost clinical, manner. Readers who enjoy books about the Holocaust will definitely appreciate this one.
4 stars from me.
#Uitdieperdsebek
January 29, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐���
In 1942, Franci Rabinek was sent to Terezin after being deemed a Jew by the Nazi's. This gives a true account of her struggles in her determination to survive the camp. The friends she made and lost during the war but also after she was liberated and attempts to return to "normal" everyday life.
The story is told from her own diary which remained unpublished for 50 years, and only after her death did her children decide her story should be told to the world.
The reading experience can be harrowing at times, but it's crucial to delve into the history of how both women and men were treated in the camps. This book, unlike others, doesn't stop at the liberation of the camps; instead, it unfolds the post-liberation struggles, revealing how survivors had to persist in the fight for survival against prevailing prejudices.
This narrative evokes a range of emotions and feelings as it explores the aftermath of leaving the camps.
It sheds light on the stark reality that life didn't simply return to normal; rather, survivors faced new and often more challenging difficulties. The exploration of these post-liberation challenges adds depth to the understanding of the lasting impact of such traumatic experiences, showcasing the resilience required to navigate life beyond the confines of the camps.
I believe it is always important to remember this point in history. Hence, we know what extreme hate looks like, what humanity is capable of, what humans are capable of and how we can avoid this ever happening again.
If you're seeking a perspective on the Holocaust that goes beyond the camp imprisonment narrative, this book offers a valuable exploration of further traumatic and lived experiences. It provides insights into the struggles and challenges faced by survivors post-liberation, offering a nuanced understanding of the broader impact of the Holocaust on individuals beyond the confines of the camps.
In 1942, Franci Rabinek was sent to Terezin after being deemed a Jew by the Nazi's. This gives a true account of her struggles in her determination to survive the camp. The friends she made and lost during the war but also after she was liberated and attempts to return to "normal" everyday life.
The story is told from her own diary which remained unpublished for 50 years, and only after her death did her children decide her story should be told to the world.
The reading experience can be harrowing at times, but it's crucial to delve into the history of how both women and men were treated in the camps. This book, unlike others, doesn't stop at the liberation of the camps; instead, it unfolds the post-liberation struggles, revealing how survivors had to persist in the fight for survival against prevailing prejudices.
This narrative evokes a range of emotions and feelings as it explores the aftermath of leaving the camps.
It sheds light on the stark reality that life didn't simply return to normal; rather, survivors faced new and often more challenging difficulties. The exploration of these post-liberation challenges adds depth to the understanding of the lasting impact of such traumatic experiences, showcasing the resilience required to navigate life beyond the confines of the camps.
I believe it is always important to remember this point in history. Hence, we know what extreme hate looks like, what humanity is capable of, what humans are capable of and how we can avoid this ever happening again.
If you're seeking a perspective on the Holocaust that goes beyond the camp imprisonment narrative, this book offers a valuable exploration of further traumatic and lived experiences. It provides insights into the struggles and challenges faced by survivors post-liberation, offering a nuanced understanding of the broader impact of the Holocaust on individuals beyond the confines of the camps.
October 21, 2024
The author was a successful young business owner in Prague at the outbreak of World War Two. She charts the persecution of Jews in her city, which resulted in her and her family being transported to her first concentration camp / ghetto. From there she was transported to Auschwitz where she witnessed the horrors being committed by the Nazis. Her story did not end there and what follows is a detailed account of her journey. Told with quite brutal honesty, this is an interesting read for anyone interested in that dark period.
July 31, 2023
I bought this book while in Germany visiting a former Holocaust concentration camp. It was an interesting read due to the fact not many popular memoirs detail women who survived the holocaust. She also detailed post war and how to move on.
April 2, 2022
A história real de uma mulher resiliente durante o Holocausto.
Uma jornada de vida e de morte, de luta e superação
Uma jornada de vida e de morte, de luta e superação
March 23, 2020
Franci's War is a story of a Holocaust survivor and the struggles one woman and her family suffered through during WWII. This is a story of a woman with immense strength, poise, and determination. This book follows Franci on her journey from her home in the Czechoslovakian home to the Auschwitz concentration camps through to her liberation and back to Prague where she started the journey. The book is heart wrenching and powerful as it takes you along such an emotional journey. A must read for those interested in stories of WWII, the Holocaust, and the liberation of the Jews that did manage to survive such a horrific time. Five stars is the highest rating allowed or I would give more. I could not put this book down.
March 23, 2020
A must read for understanding the terrors of the Holocaust from a woman's perspective.
January 3, 2021
Interesting memoir on the life of Franci Rabinek, a Jew in name only, arrested and sent to Terezin concentration camp less than an hour from her home town of Prague. She left the flourishing family couture business in the hands of non Jews, they had already endured many hardships up to this point. Her parents were arrested by the Gestapo, her boyfriend was a member of the Resistance and by association they were rounded up. For a short time they were held together in the same camp but her parents were transferred to another camp. Quick thinking in extreme circumstances on her transfer to Auschwitz-Birkenhau, Franci realised an electrician was of more importance than a seamstress and she survived even with the close proximity of Dr Josef Mengele.
The hardships, abuse, hunger and brutality of the camps are all too apparent but despite this a personal sense of survival is what held my attention, a strong inner strength I just can’t imagine. I found the liberation of the camps emotional and heart breaking, the move back to ‘normal life’ to towns where names of local stores had changed, people were wearing ‘normal’ civilian clothing, where Franci again felt out of place. She eventually marries again and moves to the USA and sets up another fashion house.
Yet another informative ARC read from the author, Netgalley and publishers Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.
The hardships, abuse, hunger and brutality of the camps are all too apparent but despite this a personal sense of survival is what held my attention, a strong inner strength I just can’t imagine. I found the liberation of the camps emotional and heart breaking, the move back to ‘normal life’ to towns where names of local stores had changed, people were wearing ‘normal’ civilian clothing, where Franci again felt out of place. She eventually marries again and moves to the USA and sets up another fashion house.
Yet another informative ARC read from the author, Netgalley and publishers Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.
September 16, 2020
This book surprised me in how much I enjoyed it, if you can use that term for a book describing so many stages of imprisonment during WWII. I've read many memoirs and novels on the same subject and in the same time frame but Franci's War has a really unique flavor. Franci certainly had grit and I now plan to find her daughter's book, Children of the Holocaust by Helen Epstein.
March 5, 2020
I enjoyed this book! The beginning was slow but she was soo determined and its motivational everything she went through and she still had the perseverance to survive. This is a very powerful story!
January 25, 2020
An incredible read about an extraordinary woman who survived endless nightmares. Epstein's mother wrote her memoir in the 1970s and passed away in 1989. It documents her time in several concentration camps ama eventual emigration to the US. It's straight forward and poignant. Thanks to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing for the advance copy.
October 20, 2022
A memoir that I came across while taking a break when working from the library.
Just like all memoirs and historical fiction based on the true and horrific events of WW2, it really pulled at my heart strings.
Franci’s relationship with her Mother & Father and how they had to say goodbye at one of the camps made me very emotional. I wanted to write out this part to be able to read back on it again as it was so powerful
After her parents didn’t receive the white slips that signified remaining in the Terezin labour camp but were to be transported this is how she described it:
“I tried to assure my parents that there had been some kind of mistake and that we would find a way to fix it, but their optimism was gone. I believe my father died at this moment, although in reality he loved on for a few more days.
This great gentleman, officer of the Imperial
And Royal Austrian Army, this aesthete, was now sitting cross legged on the floor in a mess of straw. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried to tell me everything that his pride and inhibitions had prevented him from saying for the previous twenty two years. He told me how his daughter was the center of his universe., how much he loved her, and that he could not possibly go on living without her. Mutti and I were stunned by this totally uncontrollable flood of words. We had each in our own way believed that we knew him, but had never witnessed even a faintly similar outburst of feeling. The father I knew only kissed me when he went away on a long trip and even then only on the forehead.
In a burst of defiance, he told us that he would not wait for the Nazis to murder him and my mother. Patting at his breast pocket with a strange expression in his face, he confided that he had the means to take care of both of them before things got too difficult: a vial of poison
I should not have spoken but I did. I confessed that after we had been arrested in Prague by the Gestapo, I had found the vial in his desk. Suspicious about its contents, I had taken it to the pharmacy to be analyzed and, after discovering what the pills were I had them replaced with saccharine. Then for the last time I watched my father fly into one of his familiar rages, shouting that a brat like he had no right to interfere with his affairs. I felt like a worm. Mutti was a white as a sheet and it dawned on me that she had known about fathers secret escape hatch and now felt as helpless as he. The enormity of what I had done was suddenly clear. Instead of protecting him, I had deprived my father if the last possibility decide his fate as a free man. I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell them that I had exchanged the pills only because I could not face the idea of being left alone without them. I wanted to tell them how much I loved them but I could not utter a word.
……on the day of transport, Mutti dressed warmly and decided to take only a small bag with some food for the trip. I was to keep everything else with me at Terezin. With these practicalities Athena care of, she calmly told me
“ try to forget what your father said last night. I understand why you did what you did. I probably would also have done it three years ago. You are a grown woman now, and your place us with your husband. Your father and I have had our lives. We have had some wonderful years and you have given us much pride and joy. Whatever comes now we have to face alone and together. You are very young and your only duty is to stay alive. Your life is before you. I know you will be courageous and strong and live to see these evil men punished. God bless tot my little girl”
The all came to line up for the March hack to Bohusovice. Silently we kissed goodbye and I walked with them as far as the door of the building when I simply refused to let go of them. I cried and I begged to let me go along too but heard a firm and quiet no from Mutti. The ghetto boys grabbed me from the two sides trying to keep the scene from attracting the attention of the Germans on the yard, and my parents walked away from me, each holding one handle of their little food bag. They never looked back. An excruciating pain shot through my whole body, and I squatted on the floor. I could not stop weeping.
Just like all memoirs and historical fiction based on the true and horrific events of WW2, it really pulled at my heart strings.
Franci’s relationship with her Mother & Father and how they had to say goodbye at one of the camps made me very emotional. I wanted to write out this part to be able to read back on it again as it was so powerful
After her parents didn’t receive the white slips that signified remaining in the Terezin labour camp but were to be transported this is how she described it:
“I tried to assure my parents that there had been some kind of mistake and that we would find a way to fix it, but their optimism was gone. I believe my father died at this moment, although in reality he loved on for a few more days.
This great gentleman, officer of the Imperial
And Royal Austrian Army, this aesthete, was now sitting cross legged on the floor in a mess of straw. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried to tell me everything that his pride and inhibitions had prevented him from saying for the previous twenty two years. He told me how his daughter was the center of his universe., how much he loved her, and that he could not possibly go on living without her. Mutti and I were stunned by this totally uncontrollable flood of words. We had each in our own way believed that we knew him, but had never witnessed even a faintly similar outburst of feeling. The father I knew only kissed me when he went away on a long trip and even then only on the forehead.
In a burst of defiance, he told us that he would not wait for the Nazis to murder him and my mother. Patting at his breast pocket with a strange expression in his face, he confided that he had the means to take care of both of them before things got too difficult: a vial of poison
I should not have spoken but I did. I confessed that after we had been arrested in Prague by the Gestapo, I had found the vial in his desk. Suspicious about its contents, I had taken it to the pharmacy to be analyzed and, after discovering what the pills were I had them replaced with saccharine. Then for the last time I watched my father fly into one of his familiar rages, shouting that a brat like he had no right to interfere with his affairs. I felt like a worm. Mutti was a white as a sheet and it dawned on me that she had known about fathers secret escape hatch and now felt as helpless as he. The enormity of what I had done was suddenly clear. Instead of protecting him, I had deprived my father if the last possibility decide his fate as a free man. I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell them that I had exchanged the pills only because I could not face the idea of being left alone without them. I wanted to tell them how much I loved them but I could not utter a word.
……on the day of transport, Mutti dressed warmly and decided to take only a small bag with some food for the trip. I was to keep everything else with me at Terezin. With these practicalities Athena care of, she calmly told me
“ try to forget what your father said last night. I understand why you did what you did. I probably would also have done it three years ago. You are a grown woman now, and your place us with your husband. Your father and I have had our lives. We have had some wonderful years and you have given us much pride and joy. Whatever comes now we have to face alone and together. You are very young and your only duty is to stay alive. Your life is before you. I know you will be courageous and strong and live to see these evil men punished. God bless tot my little girl”
The all came to line up for the March hack to Bohusovice. Silently we kissed goodbye and I walked with them as far as the door of the building when I simply refused to let go of them. I cried and I begged to let me go along too but heard a firm and quiet no from Mutti. The ghetto boys grabbed me from the two sides trying to keep the scene from attracting the attention of the Germans on the yard, and my parents walked away from me, each holding one handle of their little food bag. They never looked back. An excruciating pain shot through my whole body, and I squatted on the floor. I could not stop weeping.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2020
My friend's mother, the late Franci Rabinek Epstein, a native of Czechoslovakia, survived the Holocaust, and ended up in New York City after the war, where I met her through her daughter, Helen Epstein. In the 1970s, she wrote a memoir that is compelling, full of the horror of the Nazis and at times sardonically humorous. She talks about her family's vibrant life in Prague before the Holocaust, describes life in the concentration camps she was sent to, including Auschwitz, and the indifference she encountered back in Prague after survival. She sent it to publishers but no one was interested. She gave the manuscript, typed on onion skin paper, to Helen, a fellow journalist, writer and publisher of books. In 2018, Helen got it out again, and found renewed and real interest in this diary of her late mother - in part because it deals with the largely neglected theme of women and genocide, Helen says. Helen thought it may be of academic interest to people studying how women survive genocide, but in circulating the manuscript, found worldwide interest in the book as one with mass reader interest. FRANCI'S WAR has been translated into many languages, including Czech, Portuguese, German, Russian - and Helen reminds me there are French and Italian versions as well. Helen has does interviews about the book, and I encourage you to follow the link below, listen to it and then buy the book, which begins with the gradual strangling of the Jewish community in Prague and ends with the death of the rest of her family and many other persons she introduces in her memoir. Astonishing about her memoir is her account of returning to Prague after being freed from the KZ. Old friends and colleagues and clients of her pre-war thriving dress-making business, seemingly dismayed she had survived, claimed to have no knowledge of the material things like the dressmaking tools her family had entrusted to them before the Nazis hauled her and her family away. Having known Mrs. Epstein in my early 20s, and having known her husky voice, I hear it again in the lines I am reading.
Here is a link to the Facebook interview Helen gave about the book in March: https://mjhnyc.org/events/mjh-live-re...
Here is a link to the Facebook interview Helen gave about the book in March: https://mjhnyc.org/events/mjh-live-re...
July 24, 2021
Francina válka je reálným příběhem české židovky v době druhé světové války.
Mno...
Zajímavé je, že nejprve vyšla v angličtině.
Mno..
Kritika z Ameriky na knize kritizuje, že to není román a že autorka nevyniká literárním talentem. Mno..
Zjevně si tak trochu spletli žánry i fakta.
Knihu napsala sama aktérka jako dokument o tom, co sama na vlastní kůži zažila. Jde o vyprávění toho, co si pamatuje. Nejde o román. Není to beletrie. V Polsku by to bylo označené za reportáž.. u nás to spadá do literatury faktu? No někde na té hraně to je.
Vypráví svůj životní příběh. Od narození až do té doby, kdy už se vydání matčiných vzpomínek zabývala její dcera.
Mno... opět...
Takže ohrnováním nosu v reálu nad tím nejcennějším, skutečnou zpovědí mi přijde absurdní. Stejně jako hledání literární hodnoty u nebeletristického díla. Její cena spočívá v něčem úplně jiném.
Nutno říct, že zjevně kniha má dobrý překlad anebo to prostě na češtinu sedlo.
Také je zde kritizováno, že zničeho nic pojmenování sebe přešla na číslo A...no ty kritiky, kdy to nechápou proč a zda to fakt bylo nutné...
Co jako na to říct, že tak milá Franci celkem trefně ukázala, jak s nástupem do Osvětimi byla ničím, jen číslem? A pak po osvobození zase byla Franci...
Hmmm nelíbí se mi ani takové recenze, kde Franci označují jako princezničku... Princeznička, která již od 18 let vedla dobře prosperující firmu a byla soběstačná, věděla co chce a podobně. Možná byla něco jiného, když si vzala svého prvního muže ... rozhodně však nebyla rozmazlená, fiflena a podobně. Ani taková, co neuměla pracovat.
Kniha se čte poměrně dobře. Text je velký, dobře rozčleněný. Kniha krásně voní. Má dobře udělané schéma o postavách, historických událostech a obsahuje i fotky.
Pokud se zajímáte o skutečné vyprávění, doporučuji.
Je možné, že s aktérkou nebudete se vším souhlasit a ne všechno se vám bude líbit, některá její rozhodnutí byly zvláštní, ale jo, proč ne.
Celkově to je zajímavé.
Mno...
Zajímavé je, že nejprve vyšla v angličtině.
Mno..
Kritika z Ameriky na knize kritizuje, že to není román a že autorka nevyniká literárním talentem. Mno..
Zjevně si tak trochu spletli žánry i fakta.
Knihu napsala sama aktérka jako dokument o tom, co sama na vlastní kůži zažila. Jde o vyprávění toho, co si pamatuje. Nejde o román. Není to beletrie. V Polsku by to bylo označené za reportáž.. u nás to spadá do literatury faktu? No někde na té hraně to je.
Vypráví svůj životní příběh. Od narození až do té doby, kdy už se vydání matčiných vzpomínek zabývala její dcera.
Mno... opět...
Takže ohrnováním nosu v reálu nad tím nejcennějším, skutečnou zpovědí mi přijde absurdní. Stejně jako hledání literární hodnoty u nebeletristického díla. Její cena spočívá v něčem úplně jiném.
Nutno říct, že zjevně kniha má dobrý překlad anebo to prostě na češtinu sedlo.
Také je zde kritizováno, že zničeho nic pojmenování sebe přešla na číslo A...no ty kritiky, kdy to nechápou proč a zda to fakt bylo nutné...
Co jako na to říct, že tak milá Franci celkem trefně ukázala, jak s nástupem do Osvětimi byla ničím, jen číslem? A pak po osvobození zase byla Franci...
Hmmm nelíbí se mi ani takové recenze, kde Franci označují jako princezničku... Princeznička, která již od 18 let vedla dobře prosperující firmu a byla soběstačná, věděla co chce a podobně. Možná byla něco jiného, když si vzala svého prvního muže ... rozhodně však nebyla rozmazlená, fiflena a podobně. Ani taková, co neuměla pracovat.
Kniha se čte poměrně dobře. Text je velký, dobře rozčleněný. Kniha krásně voní. Má dobře udělané schéma o postavách, historických událostech a obsahuje i fotky.
Pokud se zajímáte o skutečné vyprávění, doporučuji.
Je možné, že s aktérkou nebudete se vším souhlasit a ne všechno se vám bude líbit, některá její rozhodnutí byly zvláštní, ale jo, proč ne.
Celkově to je zajímavé.
April 10, 2021
// Franci’s War Readalong 🦋 //
•
Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Today we remember the six million Jewish people who were murdered and those that endured it too. 🕯
•
“Then how do you explain that 3,750 people disappeared overnight?” said Kitty.
“They could have been deported somewhere else. This is 1944. There are international laws. They could never get away with murder on a scale like this.”(Franci)
•
In the summer of 1942, twenty-two year-old Franci Rabinek, a glamorous fashion designer–designated a Jew by the Nazi racial laws–arrived at Terezin, a concentration camp and ghetto forty miles north of her home in Prague. It would be the beginning of her three-year journey from Terezin to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to the slave labor camps in Hamburg, and Bergen Belsen. After liberation by the British in April 1945, she finally returned to Prague.
•
A powerful memoir, Franci delivers her painfully honest story with a determination to survive from the first page. I’ve read various memoirs of survivors from Auschwitz and this book delivers a woman’s perspective on her whole ordeal, a different perspective and encounters. The sacrifices she makes, in order to maintain a small piece of herself are laid bare.
Franci at such a young age, seemed to be wise beyond her years and has endured more hardship than we could imagine. It is an emotional and hard read but one that matters, one that solidifies the experiences of a Holocaust survivor into your mind, and preserves the memories of those that did not survive.
•
Huge thanks again to @tandemcollectiveuk and @michaeljbooks for the #gifted copy to join in with the readalong. Some incredible discussions on the group chat with the other participants. ❤️
•
Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Today we remember the six million Jewish people who were murdered and those that endured it too. 🕯
•
“Then how do you explain that 3,750 people disappeared overnight?” said Kitty.
“They could have been deported somewhere else. This is 1944. There are international laws. They could never get away with murder on a scale like this.”(Franci)
•
In the summer of 1942, twenty-two year-old Franci Rabinek, a glamorous fashion designer–designated a Jew by the Nazi racial laws–arrived at Terezin, a concentration camp and ghetto forty miles north of her home in Prague. It would be the beginning of her three-year journey from Terezin to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to the slave labor camps in Hamburg, and Bergen Belsen. After liberation by the British in April 1945, she finally returned to Prague.
•
A powerful memoir, Franci delivers her painfully honest story with a determination to survive from the first page. I’ve read various memoirs of survivors from Auschwitz and this book delivers a woman’s perspective on her whole ordeal, a different perspective and encounters. The sacrifices she makes, in order to maintain a small piece of herself are laid bare.
Franci at such a young age, seemed to be wise beyond her years and has endured more hardship than we could imagine. It is an emotional and hard read but one that matters, one that solidifies the experiences of a Holocaust survivor into your mind, and preserves the memories of those that did not survive.
•
Huge thanks again to @tandemcollectiveuk and @michaeljbooks for the #gifted copy to join in with the readalong. Some incredible discussions on the group chat with the other participants. ❤️
January 30, 2024
«Una volta un dottore americano mi chiese, dopo avermi parlato dei danni irreparabili subiti dal mio sistema nervoso, se odiavo i tedeschi. No, non li odio per il semplice motivo che l’odio è un sentimento che non posso permettermi perché, in ultima analisi, porta a odiare se stessi.»
⠀
“La guerra di Franci” è un memoir coraggioso, scritto da una deportata sopravvissuta e pubblicato dalla figlia molti anni dopo. I motivi di questo “ritardo” sono spiegati da quest’ultima nella postfazione.
⠀
Il memoir è sicuramente la forma letteraria che più scuote quando si parla di campi di concentramento: è una testimonianza diretta, autentica, sincera e coraggiosa.
⠀
Nel suo testo, Franci ripercorre l’andata e il ritorno del suo viaggio da deportata ebrea passando prima dal ghetto di Terezin (luogo che non conoscevo), poi da Auschwitz e in ultimo nel suo luogo natale: Praga.
⠀
Franci racconta la sua storia famigliare e la sua sopravvivenza durante la prigionia.
Tra bugie e terrore, la sua è una storia di audacia profondamente triste.
⠀
La penna di Franci è la voce forte e chiara di una donna che vuole essere ascoltata, perché non importa se la sua è una tra le migliaia di voci sopravvissute, queste non sono mai abbastanza, nemmeno quando pensiamo di sapere tutto di quel passato, che è ancora troppo recente, e nonostante questo non riusciamo ad evitare di ripetere sotto forme nuove più astute, violente e subdole.
⠀
“La guerra di Franci” è un memoir coraggioso, scritto da una deportata sopravvissuta e pubblicato dalla figlia molti anni dopo. I motivi di questo “ritardo” sono spiegati da quest’ultima nella postfazione.
⠀
Il memoir è sicuramente la forma letteraria che più scuote quando si parla di campi di concentramento: è una testimonianza diretta, autentica, sincera e coraggiosa.
⠀
Nel suo testo, Franci ripercorre l’andata e il ritorno del suo viaggio da deportata ebrea passando prima dal ghetto di Terezin (luogo che non conoscevo), poi da Auschwitz e in ultimo nel suo luogo natale: Praga.
⠀
Franci racconta la sua storia famigliare e la sua sopravvivenza durante la prigionia.
Tra bugie e terrore, la sua è una storia di audacia profondamente triste.
⠀
La penna di Franci è la voce forte e chiara di una donna che vuole essere ascoltata, perché non importa se la sua è una tra le migliaia di voci sopravvissute, queste non sono mai abbastanza, nemmeno quando pensiamo di sapere tutto di quel passato, che è ancora troppo recente, e nonostante questo non riusciamo ad evitare di ripetere sotto forme nuove più astute, violente e subdole.
February 7, 2022
Thank God Franci’s children decided to publish this book after Franci’s untimely death. I have always been fascinated and deeply moved by the Holocaust and have an extensive Holocaust-library of my own. I’ve been to Yad Vashem ( Holocaust Museum in Israel) twice and the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. as well as smaller Holocaust museums throughout the country and am an avid educator on this subject to anyone with inquiries and, sometimes, to those who don’t. Having an entire wall of my house filled with survivors stories affords quite a specific education and I cannot (and will not) keep silent about what these people went through. I am AMAZED at the utter ignorance of so many people concerning this topic and I say the more info available the better— particularly first hand accounts.
The thing that really sets Franci’s memoir apart for me is that I literally laughed out loud during parts of it. How this amazing woman could weave humor into her own experience of living through one of the most horrific times in human history is a tribute to her intellect and talent.
It’s a real challenge to go through life complaining about ANYTHING once you’ve read a book like Franci’s! She’s one of my heroes!!
The thing that really sets Franci’s memoir apart for me is that I literally laughed out loud during parts of it. How this amazing woman could weave humor into her own experience of living through one of the most horrific times in human history is a tribute to her intellect and talent.
It’s a real challenge to go through life complaining about ANYTHING once you’ve read a book like Franci’s! She’s one of my heroes!!
March 28, 2025
Franci’s War by Franci Rabinek Epstein is a powerful account of the author’s time spent in various concentration camps during World War II.
We also briefly hear of the author’s background and there is an afterword by her daughter. The inclusion of photos is great to be able to put faces to names.
Although Franci Rabinek Epstein’s family was Jewish, they were not practicing Jews. Indeed, her father said “I am a Czechoslovakian citizen of German nationality.”
As the 1930’s progressed and their liberties were eroded, her father “believed in German decency, justice, honor and civilization.”
Her mother was in the business of haute couture, and the author followed in her footsteps. This was to be of an advantage in the camps as she was able to work as a seamstress. Later the author worked as an electrician (her father’s trade) in the camps. She was resourceful. This plus luck, helped her to survive.
Franci Rabinek Epstein spent the majority of her time in Auschwitz. She was brave, as well as caring, forming friendships.
Franci’s war was hard fought. She endured much but still retained her humanity.
Franci’s War needs to be read in memory of the six million innocents who died, and of those who survived.
We also briefly hear of the author’s background and there is an afterword by her daughter. The inclusion of photos is great to be able to put faces to names.
Although Franci Rabinek Epstein’s family was Jewish, they were not practicing Jews. Indeed, her father said “I am a Czechoslovakian citizen of German nationality.”
As the 1930’s progressed and their liberties were eroded, her father “believed in German decency, justice, honor and civilization.”
Her mother was in the business of haute couture, and the author followed in her footsteps. This was to be of an advantage in the camps as she was able to work as a seamstress. Later the author worked as an electrician (her father’s trade) in the camps. She was resourceful. This plus luck, helped her to survive.
Franci Rabinek Epstein spent the majority of her time in Auschwitz. She was brave, as well as caring, forming friendships.
Franci’s war was hard fought. She endured much but still retained her humanity.
Franci’s War needs to be read in memory of the six million innocents who died, and of those who survived.
August 1, 2025
Having survived five concentration camps, Franci's memoir makes for fascinating reading.
Her story and journey is very sad but also thought provoking. As she describes the horrors she had to endure, you can't help but feel emotional for her and the millions of others who faced such trauma at the hands of the Germans.
I find war stories fascinating and this memoir offers a fascinating insight into what truly happened at the concentration camps. There were many times during reading this book that I couldn't help but cry.
As her journey came to an end and Franci was finally liberated from the camps, she like millions of others found it hard to return back to their own lives, especially when they had changed so much. Would they be welcome as Jews back to their homes? Would they have access to their old homes? How would they be treated? Franci's story shows how hard it was for her to adjust, especially as all her loved ones were gone. It was upsetting to read that entire families had been wiped out during the war, with family members being sent to the camps.
This memoir is an important and powerful read. Books like this should be taught in schools so that the lessons of the past do not resurface in the future.
Her story and journey is very sad but also thought provoking. As she describes the horrors she had to endure, you can't help but feel emotional for her and the millions of others who faced such trauma at the hands of the Germans.
I find war stories fascinating and this memoir offers a fascinating insight into what truly happened at the concentration camps. There were many times during reading this book that I couldn't help but cry.
As her journey came to an end and Franci was finally liberated from the camps, she like millions of others found it hard to return back to their own lives, especially when they had changed so much. Would they be welcome as Jews back to their homes? Would they have access to their old homes? How would they be treated? Franci's story shows how hard it was for her to adjust, especially as all her loved ones were gone. It was upsetting to read that entire families had been wiped out during the war, with family members being sent to the camps.
This memoir is an important and powerful read. Books like this should be taught in schools so that the lessons of the past do not resurface in the future.
May 14, 2020
I won a copy through a Goodreads giveaway.
I really enjoyed this book, as much as one can enjoy a book about the Holocaust. It has very short chapters, which made it ideal to read on my lunch break at work. I loved the details, and how I was instantly drawn into Franci's story. She survived when so few did, and her story shows how that was partially by help from her friends, partially by her own observational skills and quick thinking, and partially just by dumb luck. She does a great job of painting a vivid picture of everything that happened, through her unique lens. I especially liked the shift in tone from the beginning, to the middle, to the end. As she enters the concentration camps, she steps outside of herself, and we see that part of the story through the eyes of a dispassionate observer, because that is how she herself made it through. When she is finally safe and has evaded the threat of death, she returns to her sense of self. It was an absolutely beautiful touch that truly made the book that much more real to me.
I really enjoyed this book, as much as one can enjoy a book about the Holocaust. It has very short chapters, which made it ideal to read on my lunch break at work. I loved the details, and how I was instantly drawn into Franci's story. She survived when so few did, and her story shows how that was partially by help from her friends, partially by her own observational skills and quick thinking, and partially just by dumb luck. She does a great job of painting a vivid picture of everything that happened, through her unique lens. I especially liked the shift in tone from the beginning, to the middle, to the end. As she enters the concentration camps, she steps outside of herself, and we see that part of the story through the eyes of a dispassionate observer, because that is how she herself made it through. When she is finally safe and has evaded the threat of death, she returns to her sense of self. It was an absolutely beautiful touch that truly made the book that much more real to me.
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