Hiding in Plain Sight: The Incredible True Story of a German-Jewish Teenager's Struggle to Survive in Nazi-Occupied Poland [Hardcover]

Betty Lauer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1575253496 | ISBN-13: 978-1575253497 | Publication Date: May 2004

It is 1938. Berta Weissberger, twelve years old, lives in Hindenburg, Germany, with her mother and older sister. Her father has already left for America, and the family is awaiting the arrival of their American visas.

These hopes and plans are destroyed at the end of October 1938, however, when Jews are rounded up, loaded onto trucks, and driven to the Polish border. They are forced to cross a river into Poland and ordered, "Keep walking and do not turn back. Anyone attempting to turn back will be shot."

So begins Bertel's six-year terrifying odyssey in Nazi-occupied Poland. While living a life of constant vigilance and fear, Bertel grows into womanhood. Again and again, Providence steps in and saves her, guiding her to the right person or place.

It is Betty Lauer's abiding faith in a higher power that enabled her to survive while hiding in plain sight, during the dark night of Nazi Germany, and to tell this remarkable story of great evil and of the nobility of the few who dared to defy the evildoers. An extraordinary story of strength, resilience, hope, and salvation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Even if you think you've read enough about the Holocaust, start this extraordinary eyewitness account, and you won't quit till you're finished. Bertel Weissberger (now Betty Lauer) was 12 in April 1938 when her father was expelled from Germany and went to America. That October, Bertel; her sister, Eva; and her mother—along with truckloads of other German Jews—were sent to Poland. Initially, they lived as registered Jews, with special curfews, work assignments and food rations. Then came armbands, herding into ghettos and the "liquidations" of ghettos by mass executions or transports to concentration camps. Bertel and her mother—the Nazis caught Eva—got forged papers and learned to pass as Polish Christians. This was a constant strain, as IDs were continually rechecked and bounty hunters were always searching for disguised Jews. Fleeing a series of near-discoveries, Bertel and her mother ended up in Warsaw, where they fought in the 1943 uprising and were deported to an internment camp, along with Bertel's Polish Christian "husband." They bribed their way out of the camp to take various work assignments, navigated the Russian occupation of Poland, walked to Auschwitz to look for Eva and stowed away on a ship from Poland to Sweden, finally sailed to America. Beyond the incredible journey, this day-by-day account of a teenager learning "survival dexterity"—how to extract assistance from the ambivalent, how to sense danger in the slightest gesture—is unforgettable. Map, photos.
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Review

..a testament to the enduring human spirit, highly recommended addition to the growing library of Holocaust Studies and eye-witness biographies. -- Midwest Book Review, August 2004

..reminds us there is good as well as evil and the human spirit is capable of unimagined strength. -- Steven Martinovich, July 2004

The book is distinguished by a wealth of careful personal detail. Recommended for Holocaust studies collections. -- Library Journal, September 2004

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575253496
• ISBN-13: 978-1575253497
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, detailed epic journey, April 22, 2005

By 

kooky Kid "Bookfiend1818" (east coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiding in Plain Sight: The Incredible True Story of a German-Jewish Teenager's Struggle to Survive in Nazi-Occupied Poland (Hardcover)

Magnificent attenton to detail and an almost photographic like narrative characterise this Un-run of the mill Holocaust memoir. The author Betty is a modest teenager who is bold while being matter of fact and subtle- and she is able to convey with great nuance what is felt like to navigate the Nazi oocupied Poland during the height of the madness as a teenager .This lengthy memoir, a tale of youthful triumph against such huge odds, is satisfying and keeps the reader on the edge of one's seat.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A testament to the enduring human spirit, August 9, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Hiding in Plain Sight: The Incredible True Story of a German-Jewish Teenager's Struggle to Survive in Nazi-Occupied Poland (Hardcover)

Hiding In Plain Sight: The Incredible True Story Of A German-Jewish Teenager's Struggle To Survive In Nazi-Occupied Poland is the story of Bertle Weissberger, a twelve-year-old Jewish girl who lived with her mother Ilona and sister Eva in Hindenburg, Germany when on October 28th, 1938 the Nazis began rounding up all the Jews in Hindenburg and forcibly expelled Bertel and her family into Poland. There for the next seven years Bertel learned to speak Polish, changed her appearance, used falsified documents, and lived as a young Polish woman under an assumed name in her struggle to survive the Nazi holocaust. Hiding In Plain Sight is a testament to the enduring human spirit and a welcome, highly recommended addition to the growing library of Holocaust Studies and eye-witness biographies.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars meetin the author, May 23, 2005

By 

Ann W. Stone (Montrose,PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiding in Plain Sight: The Incredible True Story of a German-Jewish Teenager's Struggle to Survive in Nazi-Occupied Poland (Hardcover)

While attending a Bat Mitzvah of a relative, I was fortunate to meet and talk with Betty Lauer, the author of "Hiding in Plain Sight". I told her that I enjoyed the book immensely but found it hard to believe that she could experience so many crises. She said"Believe me: it is true" I said that it must have been very difficult for her to change her faith. She said that was very easy because both of our faiths belive in one God. She is a very upbeat woman.