What Papa Told Me

by Felice Cohen

"What Papa Told Me" was written by the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. The book tells the story of Murray, a young Jewish boy from Poland whose courage and sheer will to live helped him survive eight different labor and concentration camps in the Holocaust, start a new life in America, and keep a family intact in the aftermath of his wife's suicide.This unforgettable book offers a unique perspective of the Holocaust and the story is filled with loss and despair, but hinges on hope and survival. "What Papa Told Me" has been endorsed by Elie Wiesel, author of "Night," as well as the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem. The book recently won two honorable mention book awards from The 2011 Eric Hoffer Award and the 2011 New York Book Festival Award.Over 300 Positive Reviews!

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Historical, War, World War II

132 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2010

About the author

Known nationally and internationally as the woman who lived in one of the world's smallest apartments, Felice Cohen is the grandchild of two Holocaust survivors and the author of the award-winning book "What Papa Told Me," a memoir about her grandfather's life before, during and after the war. Her second book, "90 Lessons for Living Large in 90 Square Feet (...or more)", is based on the video of her 90-square-foot Manhattan studio that went viral with tens of millions of views on YouTube.com, gaining media attention around the globe, including the U.S., Australia, Germany, Canada, Ireland and South Korea. What enabled Felice to "live large" in that tiny studio is that she's been a professional organizer for over 25 years.

Felice's newest book, "Half In: A Coming-of-Age Memoir of Forbidden Love" is about a secret, lesbian, age-gap love affair she had when she was 23 with her boss, a 57-year-old woman who had a long-term partner. Felice kept it a secret for three decades. In this candid memoir, Felice chronicles the happiness and heartbreak of an age-gap love affair while struggling to figure out the direction of her future.

"What Papa Told Me" was endorsed by Elie Wiesel and Yad Vashem, has sold over 40,000 copies worldwide and has been translated into Polish. It won three honorable mention book awards, is taught in US schools' Holocaust curriculum and is in several Holocaust Museums in the US, Poland and the UK. Felice has spoken to tens of thousands of students and adults across the country and is featured in two documentaries focusing on grandchildren of survivors, and has a chapter in the anthology "In the Shadows of Memory: The Holocaust and the Third Generation," written by grandchildren of survivors.

Felice also writes a series of illustrated books called The Fancy Tales, which are modern day New York City versions of the classic fairy tales we grew up with, yet they contain a wholesomely presented and slightly sophisticated gay twist. She writes these under the pen name Weecee. The first three in the series include: She'safella, Peter Pan Zee and Jack and the Bad Stock.

For information on speaking engagements, her books or having Felice organize your life, please visit her website www.felicecohen.com

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Cousin wrote this book to tell her grandfathers story. To be honest......Initially, since I had already read many many books on this time in history, I read it just because she had written it. In retrospect I am SO glad I did. the kids and I ( all on separate occassions) devoured it within a few hours or less. I had also given the ten copies I purchased to several friends in hopes of supporting her efforts.... she didnt need me, We all fet the same way... to the point , nicely written and very moving. She now tours various JCC'S and other venues retelling the stories so they should live on and hopefully never be repeated.... WELL DONE FELICE!!!!! We are all very proud of you...for this and all you do.

[Eileen Souza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate to be the first person to not give this book 5 stars, but I do want it to be an accurate reflection of my thoughts and not just my emotions.

The man survived eight labor and concentration camps during the holocaust, and refused to succumb. He worked hard and has lived a rich and full life, living to see grandchildren and great- grandchildren. That is a great testament to perseverance. I guess I just wish there was more meat to the story. I wish it went deeper than the short stories we did get. Those short stories were very moving, and sometimes painful - maybe that was all he could give of the hell that he lived through. He IS a survivor - and I mean that more than just breathing air. He has truly lived and that is inspirational.

There are no details on the book at this point, so I can't tell if it was directed toward youth. But it feels that way. The copy I have is 120 pgs and written in a prose that would be easy for an older elementary student to understand and absorb. The stories are told in a way that are powerful, but not nightmare worthy. Since my eight year old stepdaughter is Jewish, we're going to read it and have her write a book report for me as a summer project.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have nothing but praise for this book. It is an important and deeply moving account of history that must never be forgotten. Some reviewers have wanted more depth to the stories that Papa Murray recalled, but I personally think that having kept this inside him for so many years, he gave us everything he was able to give.
The book chronicles the changes from his loving childhood through the early years of persecution to the concentration camps and afterwards living in Germany and then in America. It highlights the fact that surviving the camps wasn't the end of the struggle for these survivors and that the mental health issues that many inevitably suffered from impacted horrifically on both themselves and their families. I think that the way this book is written would make it suitable for older children too.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a unique story - it touched on a very special man's life before, during and after the war. It was very well written, with many moving and interesting passages. I cried many times and at times could see and feel what the character had felt. I read the book all in one sitting, as I couldn't put it down! Can't wait to read more from this author.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Papa Told me is a story of "the bravest man I know"...Felice Cohen. I couldn't agree more with the author's view of her grandfather. The story of Murray's strength and will to live will touch everyone young and old. The author's detailed realistic description will haunt you but it takes that fear to prevent something this atrocious from happening again. Amazing Job Felice!

[francelia dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book.

Good story. It it important for all to read these memoirs from holocaust survivors. Maybe we can prevent it happening again.

[Carolyn Scarcella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another shortest book is called "What Papa Told Me" written by the granddaughter, Felice Cohen. I must say this book is well written and heart wrenching because it’s very authentic, simple, interesting, and deeply moving book. Murray Schwartzbaum born in Szczekociny, Poland. He is one of six children, and he has survived eight different labour and concentration camps. As a result, what had happened after the war? What had happened to his family? You can decide.

[Kathryn Spurgeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

This memoir was clearly written, succinct, and so important. Told in a to-the-point manner made the suffering and emotional side even more impactful.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and honest accounting of a life lived in harrowing and upsetting circumstances. Papa tells Felice his story, and she writes it down the way he tells it without embellishing the account for literary purposes, giving you the feeling you're sitting across from Papa as he tells it in his own words.

[Sara Downard · Rating 5 out of 5]

History first hand

A story of a survivor, his trauma and life from normal to prisoner, to struggle to be comfortable once again. Bless this family for the strength to share this history and prayers of peace

[Amy Murphy-DeMeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worthy book for a worthy reason

Well written and interesting story of one incredibly brave mans journey from a good childhood through holocaust hell and the scars it left. His granddaughter has done him justice!

[Annie Booker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a heartbreaking read but there are moments when a silver lining shines through the clouds and through it all there's a sense of hope that there will be a future.

[MetLineReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite short but encapsulates the horrors of the holocaust and the struggles of the survivors. A must-read.

[Ruth Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

a short, quick and easy read, not as deep as some other holocaust recount stories I have read, but unique in its own right.

[Sallyanne Monti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. It’s a heartbreaking account of a close and loving Jewish family in Poland and their decimation at the hands of the Holocaust and human defect, and the ripple effect on the generations that followed. A remarkable story of hope and determination penned by the survivor’s granddaughter, an accomplished writer, whose inherent strength is woven in the words of this must-read. A short and powerful story of courage and the reality that even in the worst of circumstances, survival can be manifested. This story will stay with you for a long while.

[Chad Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read! I have great respect for the Holocaust survivors and this book brings to life the real stories and journey that people like Papa went through. I'm very happy Felice took the opportunity to share Papa's story!
If I may suggest another great story:
It Was Worth It - Kazimir Ladny
A Polish POW Officer's Incredible Story!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by the niece of friend's of mine. It is a short book and would be a good YA read. What a wonderful gift the author gave to her Papa by writing his memoir for him. Important story to be documented.

[Gin Battista · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's uncomprehensible how people could do such heinous acts to innocent people. What stamina & willpower Murray Schwartzbaum and so many other survivors of the Holocaust had. Thank you for sharing his most horrendous memories. Thank you also, Goodreads, for this book.

[Sydney Schoenhals · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grateful for the author for reliving his stories so that we could read them. It’s a quick story but worth reading.

[Lorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book such as "What Papa Told Me," which I hold as a very important read among the millions of books we have available to us in these times, is the kind which I can also find to be quite difficult to review.  I just feel so bereft of adequate words for such a work.  Cliches such as, "incredibly personal", "I was deeply impacted", "an unforgettable read", or "I cried, then I laughed" may all be true, yet they would be pitiful attempts at describing a book which holds so much meaning for everyone - the protagonist, the author, and yes, I would even say, absolutely everyone who has ever lived, and ever will.  Think about it - what could be more precious than personal accounts of such an important period in history?

Cohen, in recording and compiling the stories of her Grandfather, as he told them to her, has written a gem of a memoir.  She managed to channel her Grandfather, Murray, so well that we fall in love with him within the first few pages, for his amazingly hard-working, matter-of fact, sincere and positive approach to everyday and extraordinary problems, and life in general, as well as his humor, candor, sage-like one-liners, and most of all, profound courage.  Courage not only to somehow hold onto an often very fragile thread of hope through so many unspeakable tribulations, but also courage to face the difficult later task of reliving those events in the retelling.  Cohen holds nothing back as we are walked through Murray's early life, war years, and aftermath.  

Seeing the atrocities of the death camps through a first person narrator's eyes is certainly not unique, but this book is no mere "me too" effort.  Here are the eloquent and sincere words of a man who has lived nearly his entire life, into old age, carrying these experiences with him 24/7/365 in his head and heart, and thus chronically dealing with a level of post-traumatic stress which only someone who had been there and lived through that could possibly understand.  When it is revealed that Murray has never before told anyone these stories, not even his own wife and children, we understand with a shock that this telling is for him important on more than one level.  Firstly, we understand his desire, for the sake of his family, to set straight the historical record of the events he experienced, including the level of torture and suffering deliberately contrived upon selected people groups, the various responses people had to those tortures, and the sheer mass of the losses everyone experienced, with his losses in particular painfully detailed.  More importantly, I think, the act of detailing his story to his Granddaughter is for Murray a sort of personal rite of passage, as a Holocaust Survivor who has carried an unspoken burden for decades, and now finally is ready and able to face his immense need to have that burden lifted, to some unknown degree, by the very act of telling the story.  We the reader find ourselves rooting for Murray, that by his speaking truthfully and thoroughly about those horrors, and even making the story publically known, he may finally somehow gain a new level of peace about having lived through the Holocaust, and been forever changed by it.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  I place very few books on my "Important" list, and this book is there with honor.  Thank you, Ms. Cohen, for bringing your Grandfather's heartbreaking and inspiring story to the world.  What a gift for us all.  My thirteen year old daugther returned from a visit to Washington D.C. just a few days before I received and read this book.  The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was one of the most impactful sites she and her classmates visited.  She texted me from the Museum about how sad she felt there.  I texted back, "I am glad you are sad, Honey, because if this horrid thing does not make us sad, then we are lost."  Which sums up why I think this book is so important. My daughter will be reading it soon, although she says "I think I need to wait awhile, after being at the Museum." Yeah, I know what she means. These deep and hard things can only be taken in at a certain pace...

Disclosure:  I received a copy of "What Papa Told Me" as a Goodreads Drawing winner (wow, Thank You, Felice, I never win anything!) and am voluntarily supplying my honest review, without obligation.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Holocaust survivor's story

I feel this book accomplished what it set out to do, tell the stories of a Jewish man who survived the atrocities of the Holocaust. How he survived some of the camps was amazing, and terrifying, and should be told. We need to remember the lack of human respect that they endured, the losses they suffered, and the monsters who doled out this horrific treatment, so it won't happen again. We have seen recent genocides, and other human injustices that need to be stopped now! Why must people treat others with such hatred, we are more alike than we are different!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short book that was not as deep as I was hoping. After reading Rena's Story I was looking for another book about the life in concentration camps that would touch me as much as her book did and this book did not do it for me. The part that I did find interesting was how the Survivors felt they had to hide the mental illness that they had when they came back from the camps. It was kind of sad that even after they were free they were still suffering and gave up after they were free.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an important document this is, and what a great job by the writer/editor in capturing the voice of the storyteller and the urgency of the importance of the storytelling. I love it when books inspire me. This one did so in multiple ways. First, it inspired the necessity of voice-capture in a book I'm working on that captures dozens of distinct voices, and second, it inspired me to pursue the publishing of my grandfather's memoirs. Everything's been recorded, I just need to begin the work...

[Lora G Coonce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sincere and simple memoir

This book is fairly short and covers 90 years of a survivor's life. With as much as he endured, before, during and after the Holocaust, his story could have (and should have, in my opinion) been expanded to a series of books. This man had a hard life, and unfortunately had many setbacks despite his hard work. Not an uplifting story, but authentic and believable.

[Laura Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I read it the same day I received it in the mail. I think the book could have been longer - more detail could have made this a full size novel. Other than that, I think this book was great. So dark and disturbing, but a story that needs to be told. This story needs to remain through the generations so that it may never happen again. Overall, this was an amazing read and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it.

[fpk]

I just saw a video of Felice Cohen, in a series about people who live in very small spaces. I was so intrigued by her, living in a teeny tiny apartment in Manhattan, where her bed is just 23 inches from the ceiling, and sky high shelves are full of all her belongings.. and to think she wrote this book from this tiny home.... I'm curious to find out about her grandfather.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. It inspired me because it was a very goal-oriented memoir. Many times I have thought "I can write a book." This author proved that by being motivated and encouraged by her grandfather to record his memories of the Holocaust, her family now has a primary source for all questions that future generations may have concerning their heritage.

[Donna Fluharty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did not have as much depth as I expected. It seemed as if it were hurriedly written and details were left out. The stories were moving and painful, but I feel that they were just the surface.

[PlrBrLvr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Another excellent survival story. It makes me so sad to read what the survivors went through. It is truly so hard to imagine until you read something like this, and then it really makes you think about how real evil is. God bless all!

[Tina Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this story was well told. As painful as it was to hear the truth of Murray's reality, it was beautiful to hear the story being told by his granddaughter through his eyes.