Close Calls: Memoirs of a Survivor [Paperback]

Felicia Berland Hyatt (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Unites States Holocaust Memorial Museum; First edition (July 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896041387
• ISBN-13: 978-0896041387
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Inspiring Memoir, January 20, 2007

By 

Gianantoni (Mililani, Hawaii USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Close Calls: Memoirs of a Survivor (Paperback)

I have read many Holocaust survivor stories and "Close Calls" is one of the better ones I have read. It is readable, engaging and inspiring. The author did, in fact, have many close calls. It's very interesting how many times she wiggled out of danger by cleverly talking herself out of a bad situation. Three other fine memoirs are: "The Survivor" (by Jack Eisner)-a book so enthralling, it's a wonder they never made a movie of it; "Defy the Darkness" and "The Dentist of Aushwitz".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A hopeful, thoughtfully written and recommendable memoir, February 10, 2003

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Close Calls: Memoirs of a Survivor (Paperback)

There are countless books, fiction and non-fiction, that recount the horrors of the Holocaust and the struggle to survive the Nazi destruction. Yet, each recounting is unique and important as a piece of history and a plea to never forget. Holocaust stories or studies are most often frustrating, heart wrenching and the actions contained in them incomprehensible. Memoirs of survivors are all of these things, yet they are tinged with the bittersweet as well. While the details of each survival story are different, much is similar --- the fear, the violence and the hope.

Felicia Berland Hyatt was raised in Chelm, Poland, the town immortalized in Jewish folklore. World War II brought Nazi occupation, bombs, ghettoes and concentration camps to Poland, tore Hyatt's family apart and, to understate things, changed her life forever. She survived the war, like others, through patience, intelligence, cunning, sheer luck and good timing. Her memoir, CLOSE CALLS, recounts her survival, lovingly remembers her friends and family and vividly portrays the confusion and terror of the war and its victims. Hyatt survived via several tactics, which included fleeing the Nazis, posing as an Aryan and escaping a concentration camp. However, it was mostly her strong determination to stay alive that ensured her survival. CLOSE CALLS, as the reader will discover, is aptly named.

CLOSE CALLS is written simply, but in its simplicity, is a beauty and honesty not found in all memoirs. Hyatt's memoir was a catharsis for her and is an inspiration for her readers. It is intense but very readable. Felicia Berland Hyatt is a very likeable narrator and is admirable as an understated heroine. She does not write to shock or scare her readers but simply to tell her amazing story. While the tale is honest and emotionally brutal, it is appropriate for readers of all ages. Hyatt does assume the reader knows the necessary background information on the Holocaust, which is essential for understanding, but she steers clear of analysis or theories.

As a survivor, Felicia Berland Hyatt believes she has an obligation to share her life story with the world, so that such devastation will never be repeated and that those who lost their lives will always be remembered. As time passes and the survivors age, it is becoming more imperative that as much of their experience as possible is recorded in a variety of forms. What will soon remain are the stories, poems, paintings, songs and films, as well as the collective memory and inspiration they foster. The world will be, and indeed already is, a richer place for Felicia Berland Hyatt having shared her painful but important story.

CLOSE CALLS, as with all Holocaust literature, is immensely important. But it is also a hopeful, thoughtfully written and recommendable memoir.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Story of Courage & Resourcefulness, February 13, 2002

By 

Manny Bekier (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Close Calls: Memoirs of a Survivor (Paperback)

The book is appropriately named Close Calls because her life under Nazi occupation was a series of extremely close calls. Felicia describes her wonderful childhood in Chelm. Contrary to Yiddish folklore, Felicia grew up in a climate of scholarship and culture, and graduated from the Gymnasium.

Felicia, 19 years old and an only child when Germany invaded Poland, found herself separated from family and alone, after escaping from the ghetto. It was necessary to keep her wits about her to survive, for each day had new dangers. Although fluent in Polish and German, and being familiar with Catholic liturgy, she lacked the "kennkarte"(papers) identifying her as a non-Jew.

A most unusual way in which she hid her identity, was working as a maid in the home of an SS officer. Eventually, she was discovered and taken to the ghetto prison in the Cracow ghetto where she remained until being deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Through luck and her resourcefulness, she narrowly escaped the gas chambers. Felicia remained in Auschwitz for two years. In her book she describes the fear, depression, humiliation and the dehumanization she felt. She also describes how she was able to help others survive and how, with the help of friends, escape Auschwitz by hiding herself in a labor contingent that was leaving to work at a munitions factory in Czechoslovakia.

Felicia Berland Hyatt's memoir provides a rare insight into the difficulties of growing up as a Jewish girl during the Holocaust. Providing an historical perspective, Ms. Berland Hyatt relates the pivotal events of her youth, being a young woman in Nazi occupied Poland, where the populace was hostile, or at best, indifferent to their Jewish neighbors.

These memoirs should be read by anyone interested in gaining insight into how one person was able to act to survive and maintain her integrity in a stressful environment. This book is an important addition to Jewish, Holocaust and women's studies.