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The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope
WITH A FOREWORD BY SIR BEN KINGSLEY
A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.
"I am a survivor. That comes with a survivor's obligation to represent one and a half million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis. They cannot speak. So I must speak on their behalf."
Tova Friedman was one of the youngest people to emerge from Auschwitz. After surviving the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Central Poland where she lived as a toddler, Tova was four when she and her parents were sent to a Nazi labour camp, and almost six when she and her mother were forced into a packed cattle truck and sent to Auschwitz II, also known as the Birkenau extermination camp, while her father was transported to Dachau.
During six months of incarceration in Birkenau, Tova witnessed atrocities that she could never forget, and experienced numerous escapes from death. She is one of a handful of Jews to have entered a gas chamber and lived to tell the tale.
As Nazi killing squads roamed Birkenau before abandoning the camp in January 1945, Tova and her mother hid among corpses. After being liberated by the Russians they made their way back to their hometown in Poland. Eventually Tova's father tracked them down and the family was reunited.
In The Daughter of Auschwitz, Tova immortalizes what she saw, to keep the story of the Holocaust alive, at a time when it's in danger of fading from memory. She has used those memories that have shaped her life to honour the victims. Written with award-winning former war reporter Malcolm Brabant, this is an extremely important book. Brabant's meticulous research has helped Tova recall her experiences in searing detail. Together they have painstakingly recreated Tova's extraordinary story about the world's worst ever crime.
A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.
"I am a survivor. That comes with a survivor's obligation to represent one and a half million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis. They cannot speak. So I must speak on their behalf."
Tova Friedman was one of the youngest people to emerge from Auschwitz. After surviving the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Central Poland where she lived as a toddler, Tova was four when she and her parents were sent to a Nazi labour camp, and almost six when she and her mother were forced into a packed cattle truck and sent to Auschwitz II, also known as the Birkenau extermination camp, while her father was transported to Dachau.
During six months of incarceration in Birkenau, Tova witnessed atrocities that she could never forget, and experienced numerous escapes from death. She is one of a handful of Jews to have entered a gas chamber and lived to tell the tale.
As Nazi killing squads roamed Birkenau before abandoning the camp in January 1945, Tova and her mother hid among corpses. After being liberated by the Russians they made their way back to their hometown in Poland. Eventually Tova's father tracked them down and the family was reunited.
In The Daughter of Auschwitz, Tova immortalizes what she saw, to keep the story of the Holocaust alive, at a time when it's in danger of fading from memory. She has used those memories that have shaped her life to honour the victims. Written with award-winning former war reporter Malcolm Brabant, this is an extremely important book. Brabant's meticulous research has helped Tova recall her experiences in searing detail. Together they have painstakingly recreated Tova's extraordinary story about the world's worst ever crime.
Editorial Reviews
"I read this book with gratitude and urgency. Gratitude for the courage Tova Friedman has shown in deciding to share her story. We are all the beneficiaries of such powerful witness. The urgency comes from the knowledge that as time marches on such vivid voices are becoming increasingly rare. Read this book, cherish the lessons. It is a book rooted in the terrible events of another time, but the truths it reveals are eternal."–Fergal Keane, author of Wounds: A Memoir of War & Love
"One of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau tells her remarkable story… A heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive account from the 20th century's darkest days."–Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
"An unforgettable and deeply moving story. Malcolm Brabant brilliantly evokes the world of the ghetto and of Auschwitz through the eyes of Tova Friedman, a small child who survived the brutality of the Holocaust."–Jeremy Bowen, author of Six Days: How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East
"[A] heartrending, lyrical account of a young girl's survival during the Holocaust."-Reader's Entertainment Magazine
"One of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau tells her remarkable story… A heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive account from the 20th century's darkest days."–Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
"An unforgettable and deeply moving story. Malcolm Brabant brilliantly evokes the world of the ghetto and of Auschwitz through the eyes of Tova Friedman, a small child who survived the brutality of the Holocaust."–Jeremy Bowen, author of Six Days: How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East
"[A] heartrending, lyrical account of a young girl's survival during the Holocaust."-Reader's Entertainment Magazine
Readers Top Reviews
c32AJ
I’ve never read a book like this about the Holocaust told by an adult who was a child at the time. The book recounted the fierce loyalty of her parents towards her and also the devastation of lost family members and the impact that had on all their lives. The book was very well written and made me feel great empathy towards her entire family and all the other nameless families destroyed or greatly harmed by the senseless brutality of the Holocaust.
J.K
Incredible. Terrifying. Bone chilling. Horrific. I read Friedman’s memoir in awe. I was awe struck that as a young child she survived so much. I’m awestruck that she was able to function normally after such a warped horrible childhood. And I’m awestruck that she still sees good in the world. Another incredible person was her mother. She was calm and collected thorough six years of absolute hell. It was sad to read that her chutzpah left her after they arrived in the US. This book is an absolute must read.
Diane Saul
This is the true story of a woman who spent years in a concentration camp. She was a young child when she was sent to the camp but despite most children being sent to the gas chambers upon arrival, she survived. This is a compelling story that depicts the horror survivors endured. Never forget. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy..
K.r. Lindgren
I am reading this now, i also follow her on tictok. This book is a must read, my heart breaks for all the lives lost, and triumphs for the one’s that survived. And I pray this time period is never forgotten. To be able to learn from a survivor what all happened is a learning experience. I thank Tova for having the courage and strength to survive all those years ago but also to write about it and share it with the world so we never forget. Please, please if you have the chance to read this and learn, do so.
Schizanthus Nerd
“Before the war, Jews comprised about 30 per cent of Tomaszów Mazowiecki’s population. But out of the 13,000 Jews resident in 1939, just 200 were still breathing at the end of the war in 1945. Only five were children.” Tova Friedman was one of those children. Tova had never known freedom. Almost exactly a year older than the war, Tova survived three and a half years in the ghetto of Tomaszów Mazowiecki before being transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. To experience Auschwitz as an adult is something I can barely imagine. To experience it as a child is incomprehensible. I’ve read a number of books written by Holocaust survivors. No matter how much I read, I will ever be able to fully understand the impossible choices they had to make and the unimaginable horrors they both witnessed and experienced firsthand. Choosing to read about the capacity people have to commit atrocities is painful but necessary. We must never forget the Holocaust. That anyone survived Auschwitz is extraordinary. To read about survivors who have gone on to lead meaningful lives astounds me. Having survived humanity at its worst, survivors like Tova demonstrate a level of fortitude and resilience that will never stop inspiring me. “Talking about it not only reminds people of the evil that took place, but can also help them to see the ability in each of us to overcome.” Thank you so much to Hachette Australia for the opportunity to read this book.
