CATTLE CAR TO KAZAKHSTAN: A Woman Doctor's Triumph of Courage in World War II [Hardcover]

Ruzena Berler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Hardcover: 349 pages
• Publisher: Vantage Pr; 1st edition (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0533127815
• ISBN-13: 978-0533127818
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,735,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly fascinating biography from first page to last!, June 5, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CATTLE CAR TO KAZAKHSTAN: A Woman Doctor's Triumph of Courage in World War II (Hardcover)

Cattle Car To Kazakhstan: A Woman Doctor's Triumph Of Courage In World War II is the story of a young woman in her twenties, married to a dynamic lawyer, a leader in the Zionist movement, whose world was torn apart in September 1939 when her home town of Przemysl, Poland (bisected by the River San) is occupied by the German army on one side, and the Russian army on the other. Ruzena's husband is arrested by the Soviet Secret Police because of his political activities, leaving her alone and six months pregnant. After her baby is born three months later, the NKVD (Soviet secrete police) arrest her, put her into a cattle car packed with other women and children, and ship her off to the a primitive Kirghiz village on the wild steppes of Kazakhstan, south of Siberia. Cattle Car To Kazakhstan is a vivid account of Ruzena Berler's deportation and the years she spent in the wild steppes and, later, in the Czech Legion. She and her companions worked hard to simply survive. A lot of women and children didn't. Ruzena later served as a doctor in an immense agricultural complex, battled a devastating typhus epidemic, was pursued in winter by wolves, used a high-wheeled cart through muddy floods of sudden springtime snowmelts, fought (and became an officer) with the Czech Legion in what is now Kazakhstan against the Germans, and worked in the field hospital day and night with little sleep. During all of this, she took care of her child. After the war, Ruzena learned that her family died in Auschwitz, and that her husband had been executed by the Soviet Secret Police. The war being over, she left newly liberated Prague as Czechoslovakia was becoming Communist, moving to Southern California, remarrying, raising her daughter Olga and having sons. Cattle Car To Kazakhstan is an astonishing, candid, revealing autobiography, the story of a woman's successful struggle to survive overwhelming odds for herself and her daughter in times of war, oppression, violence and despair.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NEVER UNDERESTIMATE WHAT A SMART WOMAN CAN DO!, August 27, 2000

By 

Eric H. Roth "English teacher/conversationali... (Venice Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: CATTLE CAR TO KAZAKHSTAN: A Woman Doctor's Triumph of Courage in World War II (Hardcover)

Have you ever been trapped in a crowd, a hysterical crowd,terrified of the future? Imagine being a young Jewish woman doctor in Stalinist former Soviet Union during the Second War - and each decision might be fatal. Fear, terror, and blind hatred rule the day - and everyone wants the young doctor to perform miracles when God seemed silent and remote.

This fascinating autobiography, written with a sharp sense of life's ironies and injustices, conveys the wisdom that comes from being a true survivor. Compassion and knowledge can sometimes save a life - or mean nothing except dying with a conscience. (It's worth juxaposing the Machevillian logic of Rich on that silly island TV show where ethics were jettisonned for money with the heroism of the partisans of WWII.) Ruzena also illuminates the brutality come so easily to so many individuals in the name of so abstract ideology like fascism or communism.

Perhaps Oprah could interview Ruzena so television viewers can see how a true hero behaves in a crisis! This inspirational story of a woman's survival, sacrifice, and success (living and enjoying life in the California) combats the easy cynicism that seems so pervasive today. We should never, Ruzena shows, underestimate what a smart woman can do - especially in a crisis!