Inge: A Girl's Journey Through Nazi Europe [Hardcover]

Inge Joseph Bleier (Author), David E. Gumpert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004

Like The Diary of Anne Frank and the Academy Award-winning firl The Pianist, Inge tells the moving story of a young Jewish girls struggle to escape the grip of Nazi terror in occupied Europe. In 1939, following Kristallnacht, Inge Josephs family in Germany is broken apart, and she is sent alone to Brussels to live with wealthy relatives. But she soon finds herself one of a hundred Jewish children fleeing for their lives following Hitlers invasions of Belgium and Frande. For a time, 1941 and 1942. it seems as if Inge and the others are successful, as they find shelter through the Swiss Red Cross in an idyllic fifteenth-century French chateau. Inge even finds love there. But the rumors and horrors of the Holocaust are never far away, and eventually French gendarmes surprise the children, taking them from their protectors to a nearby transit camp. In their desperate attempts to escape, Inge and her boyfriend face unexpected life-and-death decisions--wrenching decisions that will haunt Inge for the rest of her life. This powerful story--never told before--is based on Inges own 66-page manuscript, found after her death; David Gumpert has also drawn from Inges personal letters, from the recollections of friends, relatives, and people who were with her in Europe, and from his own close relationship with his aunt. One of the most dramatic untold stories of Christian rescue of Jewish children during the Holocaust, this book is at the same time a totally frank account of the life and feelings of a teenage girl struggling to survive the Holocaust on her own--and of how the effects of that experiences reverberated through her life and on into the lives of her descendants. No matter how or why one reads it, this is a story of survival that will not be soon forgotten.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In January 1939, when Bleier was 14, her parents sent her from Darmstadt, Germany, to Brussels to live with her father's cousin. Later, she was sent to a Jewish children's home there. When the Germans bombed the city, Bleier and other children were taken to a French village, where they lived in filthy conditions in an abandoned goat barn. In 1941, the Swiss Red Cross moved her and other Jewish children to an old castle in the south of France. In January 1943, she attempted to escape to Switzerland but was caught. Her second attempt, in October 1943, was successful. Gumpert is Bleier's nephew, and this book is based on a 66-page manuscript that he found after her death in Chicago in 1983. Gumpert also found some of her personal letters, and he was able to interview many of her friends and relatives, who gave him a number of black-and-white photos (32 of them appear in^B the book). The result is a compelling account of one woman's personal Holocaust struggle. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Inge Joseph Bleier survived World War II and emigrated to the United States, where she married, raised a family, and worked as a registered nurse who headed the obstetrics and gynecology department at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She died in 1983.

David E. Gumpert is a nephew of Inge Joseph Bleier. A writer and a professional journalist, he has worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and as an editor for Inc. magazine and The Harvard Business Review.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 291 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802826865
• ISBN-13: 978-0802826862
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,220,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inge A Girl's Journey Through Nazi Europe, May 10, 2004

By 

Walter W. Reed "Just a GI" (Wilmette, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Inge: A Girl's Journey Through Nazi Europe (Hardcover)

Much has been written about the millions who were murdered during the Nazis' Holocaust bestiality yet we know less about the effect on thousands of child survivors who suffered separation from family, deprivation and often multiple escapes during World War II. In "Inge" author Gumpert vividly portrays the anxieties and trauma of an innocent young girl under the duress of separation, escape and living on the margin. Inge discovers herself and turns from introvert to courageous escape artist, outwitting adult persecutioners. We also learn about selfless and heroic rescuers. It is fascinating to discover her interactions with peers and even the advent of teenage love during her turbulent youth.

The book vividly presents the gripping dangers and escapades of Inge's teenage years. Even more important, the author reveals Inge's lifelong and unsuccessful struggle to cope with the memories. One feels the author has perhaps finally provided the peace and redemption which escaped Inge during her lifetime.

As a fellow teenage refugee with Inge in 1940-41 (her first love was my best friend Walter), I knew the facts, but I am deeply moved by the compelling story told by this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The authors reveal insight into the depth of their souls., May 3, 2004

By 

Paul Karofsky, Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inge: A Girl's Journey Through Nazi Europe (Hardcover)

What a powerful and revealing insight this book lends to its readers! We learn so much, not simply of the details of a young girl's flight from death, but of her excrutiating struggles and mixed emotion as she is forced to abandon her family. The authors have courageously revealed themselves with great substance and depth in this part diary, part biography. As Inge matures, her ability to share her inner self grows consistently with her years. And nephew/co-author David Gumpert's extensive research is humbly stated, authenticating the tale even more.
This is a must read for students of history and the holocaust. It is brilliantly written and impossible to put down. I look forward to seeing this story on the big screen.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living with Inge, May 5, 2004

By 

Michael L. Johnson (Auburndale, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inge: A Girl's Journey Through Nazi Europe (Hardcover)

Inge Joseph lived in the ragged edge of the evolving Holocaust.
Escaping murderous fascism, she and a hundred other children first escaped to Belgium, and then to Switzerland. Her final months in Europe, at a fifteenth-century chateau, in the eye of the storm, tell a story of youth, hope and grief. I could not put it down. David Gumpert, in the words of his aunt Inge, allows us to live in a harrowing time, where safety and food were matters of day to day survival. The blooming Inge finds love and friendship, and eventual freedom, while longing for family and home.