The Burden and Blessing of Memory

by Ann Jaffe

Ann Jaffe was born in 1931 in a small town in Eastern Poland, about 75 miles northeast of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Following the partition of Polish land between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, their part of Poland was ceded to Russia. Ann was 10 years old when Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Within 10 days of the beginning of the war, the Nazi army marched through her town, moving eastward. Shortly thereafter, the rounding up and killing of Jews began. During the 15 months of Nazi occupation, she witnessed the brutal segregation and killing of most Jews in her town. Ann’s family escaped execution only because of her parents’ useful skillsets, and their extraordinary luck. Transferred to a neighboring Ghetto, sometime later the family miraculously escaped into the neighboring forest, with the help of Russian partisan fighters. Surviving in the forest was brutal, but Ann did so along with her family, which included her 16-month-old baby brother. They hid in the forests of Belarus for 20 months without the benefit of warm clothing or decent shelter; the first winter they all huddled under an open sky and sustained themselves with a scarce supply of potatoes. Constant fear of recapture added to the family’s misery. They survived three separate assaults by the German military without being discovered. There were very few lucky survivors. Despite the catastrophic events endured by Ann’s family, her story of survival also details the existence of love and resilience within the human spirit. She tells her story not from a place of unresolved hatred, but from a place of tolerance, demonstrating the transformative impact of kindness.

200 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2022

Reviews

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

While not overly detailed and with no flowery wording, Ann Jorge’s story is still incredibly powerful. Reading this reminded me of the many times that my grandma would tell me about her memories of WWII, though hers were much less traumatic. These individual stories of survival at the hands of the Nazis are incredibly important and really drive home the personal story of the Holocaust.

[Irene Plotzker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know the author, so I'd heard some of her stories. But in this sparely written book she makes very clear the ongoing horrors of living in the forest, bracketed by accounts of her impoverished but warm early life and eventual happy family life in America.

[Aline Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was painful to read. How she survived or anyone survived is unbelievable! Such resilience is unbelievable. The fact that she is able to share her expiences helps to keep this terrible time alive in the minds of everyone!

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

True story from a Holocaust survivor. Amazing, tragic, yet heart-warming.