11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
very good, but sad and depressing, January 27, 1999
By A Customer
I am in the 7th grade. Most people might think i'm too young to read this, but belive me, i've read much more mature stuff. You should also believe me when i say that this is a really good book. I read this for an English report and i will never forget what i read. what the author went through was a horrifying experience and i hope that something like the holocaust never happens again.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thanks To My Mother Review, October 4, 2005
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Thanks to My Mother (Mass Market Paperback)
Schoschana Rabinovici, known as Suzie Weksler as a child, was very brave during the harsh conditions that she endured during the Holocaust. I chose to read this memoir because I am interested in the events of the Holocaust and the conditions that people had to live through in the Jewish ghettos. It seemed very fascinating to read a detailed account of what occurred during the Holocaust. In this memoir, Suzie and her mother travel to the Vilnius ghetto and fight for their lives to get to the Kaiserwald ghetto, where their living conditions are even worse. I believe Suzie and her mother survive these deplorable hardships because of her mother's strong wit and courageous nature.
When World War II started, the Germans took the Jewish people of the city of Vilnius, including Suzie and her family, to the ghetto within the city of Vilnius. They were taken from there homes and were only allowed to take their most important possessions. Everyone was frightened and confused, especially Suzie, but her mother Raja, took good care of her. Raja packed all the necessities. They had good food the first few days and clothes for all weather conditions. Suzie found these clothes very useful when it got really cold. Raja also found work, which enabled her and Suzie to receive special passes. "Everyone understood that the passes conferred privileges on those who held them and that those privileges had to be shared (page 38)". Suzie was glad to receive passes because she was too young to work. The author realized that her mother loved her enough to take great care in packing her belongings and sharing her hard-earned work passes. All of these things that Raja took care of were essential for their survival throughout the duration of the time Suzie and Raja spent in the Vilnius ghetto.
Suzie had been hiding underground with other Jews during her last days in the Vilnius ghetto. Her mother and father made these arrangements because they were fearful that they would be among those that were exterminated. The people who joined Suzie and her family in their hiding place, the Malina, remained there until they found it unbearable to hide there any longer because they weren't getting enough oxygen. "The ventilation was so poor that some among us who were susceptible began struggling for breath (page 73)." Suzie hated the Malina because she felt suffocated down there, but she was very grateful for her parent's arranging the hiding place because she probably would have been sent to her death without it. The Jews who were hiding in the Malina came out and turned themselves in to the Germans.
They were then taken just outside of the ghetto, joining many other Jews, and were ordered to get into a line. When the Jews got to the front of the line, the German soldiers decided if they should go to the right or left side. The right side, which consisted of the strong people, was the line that would live. The left side, which consisted of the weak, the old and the children, was the side that would be exterminated. Since Suzie was a child, Raja and Suzie, were directed at first, to the left side. Raja refused to go to this side and went to the back of the line, to try again. She tried many times to get them to the right side. Suzie finally succeeded in getting to the right side by hiding in Raja's backpack as she was accepted to the right side. Suzie says, "We had won the fight for our lives (page 94)." They had lived because Suzie's mother, Raja didn't give up and made sure that she tried everything she could for their survival. This event was very important to Suzie because getting to the right side was the difference between life and death and she also realized how determined her mother was to protect her and assure their survival.
Suzie and Raja traveled by train to a new ghetto, called Kaiserwald. This ghetto was very uncomfortable because four people had to share each narrow bunk. Also the food rations were very small there. Starvation was probably the worst factor of their suffering. Raja always made sure that Suzie had enough food. She first did this by trading jewelry that she had secretly kept from the Germans, with people outside of the ghetto. They took the jewelry in exchange for food for Raja. Raja gave most of this food to Suzie. Later on during their stay at Kaiserwald, Raja succeeded in getting a job at the clothing depot. This was a very desirable job because Raja was given food there in addition to the food given at the camp. Suzie then received much of her mother's food. "Therefore, my mother felt she could sacrifice her food ration in camp and leave me her bread and soup (page 133)". This was important to Susie because she was always hungry from working hard at the battery factory where she was forced to work. This is another example of Raja's careful planning that helped Suzie to survive: this time from starvation.
Schoschana Rabinovici learned a vital lesson about her mother. Through all the hard times Rabinovici and her mother went through, and all the hate directed at them by the Germans, they both never gave up hope for survival. Her mother wouldn't let her lose hope and always encouraged her. Rabinovici was a helpless child during her occupation of the ghettos, so her mother, Raja knew it was up to her to enforce their survival. She learned that her mother was tenacious, courageous, and a survivor. After the war had ended, and the remaining Jews had been freed, Rabinovici knew that she owed her thanks to her mother, for being brave when she wasn't, and for always finding ways to protect her.
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