Fiorello's Sister: Gemma La Guardia Gluck’s Story

Religion, Theology and the Holocaust

by Gemma La Guardia Gluck, Rochelle G. Saidel

Born in 1883 in New York City, Gemma La Guardia Gluck was the daughter of an American army bandleader and European mother of aristocratic Italian Jewish lineage. She was the sister of beloved New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. Gemma and her Hungarian Jewish husband were living in Budapest in 1944 when Nazi troops stormed the city. The Gestapo arrested her as a political prisoner because she was La Guardia's sister. Gluck recounts the plight of Budapest's Jews, deportation to Mutthausen with her husband, and enslavement at Ravensbrück, a notorious concentration camp for women. With painful sensitivity she chronicles unspeakable evil, kindness at great risk, and courage among women in a prefeminist world. She also recalls her girlhood years spent in the Old West, Native Americans befriended by her mother, international travel with her father, and her brother's ambitions and rise to success. Her story, first published in 1961, has been out of print for decades. This revised edition contains a new prologue, epilogue, photos, and annotated material inspired by recently discovered notes and letters.

Genres: Memoir

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

La Guardia's sister and her Hungarian Jewish husband were living in Budapest when the Nazi troops stromed the city in 1944. The highest levels of Nazi officials ordered her arrest as a political hostage because she was the sister of the Mayor of New York and might be useful in a prisoner exchange. Charles DeGaule's neice got the same treatment. Gemma was 61 when she was taken prisoner. She was at the Ravensbruck concentration camp for about 9 months until the Russians liberated the area. She is an excellent writer, relating the horror and degregations that were part of her daily life, as well stories of the other prisoners and the small ways they kept themselves sane -- She taught English to the other prisoners. Her time after the war ended is an equally compelling story. She learned of her husband's death when she was released. It was hard for her adjust to the post war life at that point. She was with her daughter (whose husband also died in the camps) and a young grandson to take care of. They were displaced persons living in Berlin - where the Germans dumped them as the Russians were advancing. They did not speak German. It took 2 years to get proper documentation to emigrate to America. Her memoir was published in 1961, and has been augmented with historical information by her editors.

[Chrissy Cadorin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very important book to read:

“I hope this memoir will remind those people who too easily forget what happens when fear is the ruler of the land, and when men become less than men.”
Gemma La Guardia Gluck

I think this quote applies to today’s world events….