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Brett McPoland
All But My Life, Gerda Klein
Gerda Klein’s book on her experiences during the holocaust touched me in a way that no book ever has. In comparison to all those self-help books out there like the Chicken Soup books, they are left in the dust. She recounts the hardships that happened to her as a teen and into her early twenties in such a way that I almost felt I were there next to her seeing them with my own eyes. Mrs. Klein showed us that with a little hope and the right encouragement a person could get through any hardship and come out on top of the situation. As quoted in her book, she can walk knee deep in mud and come out clean.
In regards to how she survived the anti-Semitism and the separation from her family, she did it through the use of her willingness to stay strong. Gerda always tried to keep one of her dear friends close by, like Ilsa. In believing that the war would soon be over or the inevitable liberation from the Nazi tyranny, she kept surviving. The hope to see her parents and brother Arthur was a residing emotion in her mind for a long period of her ordeal. Although sometimes she did not think of them for purposes of reminiscing, their memories would not stray too far. Truly, her tight little clique was also a powerful force in their struggle. For example, to help raise the spirits of the rest of the girls in the transit-camps she wrote a little skit and some of the girls participated in the play. She enjoyed the feeling of how she could make everyone laugh and just for a short time, forget where they really were.
In as much as this whole experience was horrifying, it must have been unexplainable, too. It only seemed that Gerda knew how to assume her role and her family’s in German society. Gerda carried herself as if the dilemmas she encountered were in a bad dream. I do not even recall reading an explanation given by her or to her about why the Jews were being persecuted. The people she associated with also seemed to simply accept the situation dealt to them. Gerda could only hope for liberation not for answers. As far as good Nazis being involved in her life, there were hardly any at all. One, though, that could fit this description was the supervisor who chose to take them from one camp to go back to work in the factory on the looms.
Undoubtedly the war took its toll on everyone. Although Gerda endured indescribable hardships, she remained pretty much the same imaginative, warm person that she always was. Of course she matured way faster than a person of her age should under normal circumstances. Gerda went through ordeals as a teenage girl that, as a man, I really do not think I could have put up with. It seems that everything that happened to her was fought and overcome by the person that she already was. Obviously at times she nearly gave up hope but that was to be expected from anyone in those circumstances. Gerda had will, drive, and determination powered by the love of her family. When she finally realized that she would never see any of them again, Gerda moved on and lived to see the next day as anyone should after a catastrophe. At the end of the war when she met her future husband, Kurt, she still retained all of the many emotions that girls are equipped with. All this after marching for months in the snow and hardly being able to walk, she still was stricken with the love bug when liberation from oppression was achieved.
Bibliography
Gerda Klein, All But My Life
Word Count: 630
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