All But My Life Book Report

For my second book report, I read the book “All But My Life” by Gerda Weissman Klein. I chose to read this book because I thought it sounded interesting, and I always like learning more about the Holocaust and World War II time periods. I didn’t know much about the book, other than the fact that it is a memoir, but I was excited to be able to read it and learn more about history from it. Gerda Weissman Klein is a fifteen year old girl that lives in Bielitz, Poland with her family. The story begins on September 3, 1939 when the Nazis invade her town. “There is a watch lying on the green carpet of the living room of my childhood. The hands seem to stand motionless at 9:10, freezing time when it happened.” Gerda’s family had been hiding the fact that there might be a war starting from her sick father, but they can’t anymore when their town is invaded. Arthur, Gerda’s brother, is required to leave in a Nazi transport in October with some other young men in their town, and Gerda never sees him again. Gerda’s family is eventually forced to sell most of their things and live in their basement, where their laundress had lived. Gerda and her close friend Ilse also visit a camp for young Jewish men, and Gerda meets Abek Feigenblatt, who falls in love with her, although Gerda only sees Abek as a friend. Erika, another friend …show more content…
Gerda Weissman Klein never lost hope that her life would get better, even though she went through such a horrible experience. She still has faith in humanity, and even in the terrible conditions of the camps and dealing with the loss of her family, Gerda and her friends manage to still support each other and see the light in everything. “My experience has taught me that all of us have a reservoir of untapped strength that comes to the fore at moments of crisis.” Her story was inspiring and beautifully written and had a great message of the importance of life and