One of my favorite things to read is Holocaust literature. I prefer non-fiction, but have read some really well done fiction books. Especially in the ‘for kids’ or young adult genre. My Mother’s Secret could be read by anyone 12 and up and is based on the true story of Franciszka Halamajowa and her daughter Helena. There is a documentary of their life that I now really want to see. One of the survivors, Moche Maltz, also wrote a book and since it is 75-100 dollars used most places, I have requested it from my library quest who found the book at a university for me to borrow in the translated form as the original is in Yiddish! So very excited. I also ordered a copy of this book, My Mother’s Secret for my personal library. Although I wish this was just a non-fiction book, I appreciate that it is written, done well, short and engaging. I believe this book to be a wonderful tool to introduce the Holocaust to kids. I would recommend that they then do the research on these wonderful amazing woman! You can’t help but admire the amazing strength, savviness and tenacity of this woman and her daughter. Compassion personified. Some of my favorite quotes from the book are listed below.
“Love is the only thing that you get more of when you give it away”
“Do you know when a woman is the most beautiful?…………..When she is loved.”
Finally at the end the book this quote..
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.
~Sydney J. Harris
Inspired by a true story, My Mother’s Secret is a captivating and ultimately uplifting tale intertwining the lives of two Jewish families in hiding from the Nazis, a fleeing German soldier, and the mother and daughter who save them all.
Franciszka and her daughter, Helena, are simple, ordinary people…until 1939, when the Nazis invade their homeland. Providing shelter to Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland is a death sentence, but Franciszka and Helena do exactly that. In their tiny home in Sokal, they hide a Jewish family in a loft above their pigsty, a Jewish doctor with his wife and son in a makeshift cellar under the kitchen, and a defecting German soldier in the attic—each party completely unknown to the others. For everyone to survive, Franciszka will have to outsmart her neighbors and the German commander.
Told simply and succinctly from four different perspectives—all under one roof—My Mother’s Secret is a testament to the kindness, courage, and generosity of ordinary people who chose to be extraordinary.
Peace.
