The despair and triumph of one woman's survival is closely examined in Colette Waddell's intimate portrait of Nina Morecki, a Jewish Pole who narrowly escaped execution during World War II, and challenged Nazi authority. The reader is exposed to a unique relationship that emerges between Nina and the author, and a message of tolerance and hope resonates when life is seen "Through the Eyes of a Survivor."
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Editorial Reviews
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"Colette Waddell is an extremely talented writer. She successfully paints a picture of words that tells Nina's life. It is an honor to read...this story of humor,which testifies to the character of Nina. It should be required reading for everyone. For only when we come to understand what happened during the Holocaust will we be certain it never happens again." --Debra Gaynor: Reader Views, March 2007
About the Author
A student of history and anthropology,Colette Waddell graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and went on to write the life story of her dear friend, Nina Morecki. Step-mother to four children, equistrian, musician and flegling rock climber, Colette now divides her time between homes in Santa Barbara and along Oregon's Rogue River. Ms. Waddell is currently writing the life history of a Navajo family.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
One woman's story of survival during WWII,
By
This review is from: Through the Eyes of a Survivor (Hardcover)
More than 60 years have passed since the end of the Second World War, when the world first began to learn of the true scope of the evil perpetrated against the Jewish people of Europe. By now, most people have at least a general idea of the magnitude and nature of the Nazis' plan, but at the individual level, the story remains fuzzy. It is only through the unique stories of those who survived that we can have any hope of understanding what it was like for the millions of victims who died because of the accident of their birth as heirs of the Jewish faith and culture. So many families perished in their entirety, their stories lost forever, making the stories of the survivors that much more important in chronicling the power of unchecked evil to destroy innocent lives.
Unlike many survivors' accounts, this book describes life both before and after the war, so that we can better understand the scope of the personal tragedy suffered by Nina. Born and raised in an affluent family, Nina lost everything, only barely escaping death itself. Her ability to think quickly on her feet, to blend into the general population and most of all her instinct for survival somehow saw her through the terrible ordeal. However, while she went on to live the "American Dream", she never fully recovered from her experiences during the war. In speaking out and sharing her story, she is finally confronting the reality of what was taken from her, and helping to ensure that we learn from the past, so that we might never face such evil again. [This review is based on an Advance Review Copy]
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brings history to life,
By
This review is from: Through the Eyes of a Survivor (Hardcover)
I started reading this book because the author is a friend. But I soon found myself captivated by Nina Moreki's story. This tale of day-to-day life as the Nazi threat closed in brought the Holocaust to life for me as nothing ever has before. I couldn't put it down.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Jenny Salyers,
This review is from: Through the Eyes of a Survivor (Hardcover)
Once in a while, a person with an amazing story is quite literally stumbled upon. This is what happened when author Colette Waddell heard Nina Grütz- Morecki speak about her experiences during World War II as it raged through Poland. It was because of Nina's talk, that the author discovered an interest in helping Nina tell her story to a wider audience.
Nina Grütz was born during the winter of 1920. Her parents were a well to do Jewish couple who owned a soap factory in L'vow Poland. She grew up knowing prosperity, and led a life sheltered from the anti-Semitic outlook held by many of the Polish Catholics. All that changed the year Nina was getting ready to leave home to attend University. Nina's family faced the Russian invasion of Poland, followed by the German invasion of Russian-occupied Poland. With the Russian occupation, the Grütz family faced socialism and being separated. With the German occupation, Nina watched her family members disappear, and finally faced internment in a work camp herself. Expanding on the story that Nina tells to high school students as a guest speaker, Through the Eyes of a Stranger, follows Nina as she escapes death at the work camp. She was rescued from death of starvation in the forest by a kind Polish couple, and afterwards she joined the Polish resistance movement. As a member of the resistance Nina infiltrated a German occupied town, and worked in a position that allowed her to learn of the German's plans and send the information and vital papers needed to move around Poland to her underground contacts. However when the Russians retook the area, Nina once again found her life in upheaval. It was during this time that Nina met Josef, her future husband. When the war finally ended, they joined up with a group of displaced Jews all trying to leave the country. Nina and her husband eventually made it to America, and the book follows their lives as they make a new home and family for themselves in a new country. It took me a little while getting used to the writing style of the book. The alternating styles between an oral history and a study of the effects of the war seemed to be a little at odds to each other. This book is an attempt to educate the public on the effect of the war on Poland's Jews. It is an extraordinary example of the resiliency of the human spirit, and our ability to live through unthinkable horrors and to emerge from them stronger, even though we will be changed forever.
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