Marie Jalowicz Simon (1922–1998)

I just finished this book last night and I must say I can HIGHLY recommend it. It had a knack for showing each character’s individuality and their internal contradictions—there were no heroes in this story, and even many of the Nazis were not monsters.

Marie Simon, a German Jew from a middle class family, an only child whose parents died before the deportations started, spent (save for an abortive flight to Bulgaria) three years “gone to ground” on Berlin on papers she’d borrowed show more from a helpful woman and then altered to better fit herself. She stayed with a long series of different hosts and estimates that over 20 people could share credit for having saved her life.

At the same time, many of her rescuers, although they were undoubtedly risking their lives for her, were very also unkind to her, and Marie had complicated and often painful relationships with them. She does a good job showing the hypocrisies: the committed Communist who looked down on working class people, the gynecologist who was helping save Jews left and right while cheering the German war successes, the Nazi sympathizer who blackmailed Marie while at the same time treating her lovingly like a daughter, and so on.

Marie often had to barter her body to stay safe, something she also speaks about frankly and without self pity, as if she was only describing what she had for breakfast. I’m sure many other Jews in hiding had to go through the same experiences, but few of the other accounts I’ve read have touched on this.

This is definitely a win, especially if you’re interested in Jews hiding in plain sight in Germany. show less

This is a story of a remarkable woman who, with the help of friends, went underground in Berlin during WWII 1942 - 1945. She initially escaped arrest from the Gestapo, and was able to survive terrifying events, thwart starvation, and to trust numerous people to protect her and not denounce her. The story is one that I hadn't heard before. I've read stories of survivors that were locked away in small room and nearly starved to death waiting for the war to end. Her story is unique in that she show more had forged documents and an identity card (that weren't that good, but luckily she was able to survive with them). She would have to hide, slip away and flee in order to not show her documents as she knew they weren't that good. She lived openly with sooooo many people knowing about her and protecting her that it is really a miracle she wasn't caught. She moved from place to place staying a couple weeks here and a couple weeks there... pretending to be a relative staying for a while. She had to sleep with men for protection, starve as some of her hosts wouldn't share their food... and cower for hours in corners away from windows. Yet, other times, she would stand in line for hours getting provisions for the families that she was staying with. She also discusses what happened with the Russians came to Berlin... those weeks of mass rapes, hunger and the mistreatment to the Germans by the Russians. Of which, she feel victim to this as well.

The prologue and afterword were written by her son (a historian). He states that multiple people requested for Marie to share her story with the world, but she refused every time. She never talked about it at home with her family, with people she worked with, or those she knew personally. She was a very closed person... keeping all her memories of those years to herself. 26 December 1997, her son set a tape recorder down on the table asking her to share her story, and she proceeded to make 77 tapes in chronological order... amounting to 900 pages of typed transcript. Marie died 16 September 1998.... with the last of her tapes made only a few days before she died. It's not clear, if her wishes were for this to be made into a book. My thoughts are no... I'm not convinced that was her wishes when she made these tapes. In the 15 years that followed, her son researched the many names, address and dates for accuracy. She had kept a diary for a couple of years while in hiding but she had to leave them behind after a bombing... and they were never recovered. Pictures and her identity papers were saved and are shown in this book.

This is were the review is hard for me... Her amazing story is 5 stars, but the telling of the story was choppy, and difficult at times. It took me rereading multiple passages to understand the meaning of what was being said. The use of names was a challenge as well... she would talk for a long time about a person calling them by their last name... and then all of a sudden speak about them using their first name. It was difficult to make the connection of whom she was talking about. I had to flip around multiple times in confusion trying to find their full name so I could get a clearer understanding.

I'm not sure if my difficulty was because the book was originally written in German and than translated to English and therefore things were lost in translation. OR, if it's because the book is basically a transcription of her tapes. The voice of the book is a matter-of-fact account that happened a long ago and it has limited feeling. It just felt like a sterile account of events. I wish the son would have taken the extra step to have an author write her story. I think it would have been so moving and impactful if the writing would have been better. I suppose his intent was to have the story "in her own words," but it made the book a hard read for me. So, overall, I'm settling on 3.5 stars, I'm happy I read about her amazing life. show less

This is a story of a remarkable woman who, with the help of friends, went underground in Berlin during WWII 1942 - 1945. She initially escaped arrest from the Gestapo, and was able to survive terrifying events, thwart starvation, and to trust numerous people to protect her and not denounce her. The story is one that I hadn't heard before. I've read stories of survivors that were locked away in small room and nearly starved to death waiting for the war to end. Her story is unique in that she show more had forged documents and an identity card (that weren't that good, but luckily she was able to survive with them). She would have to hide, slip away and flee in order to not show her documents as she knew they weren't that good. She lived openly with sooooo many people knowing about her and protecting her that it is really a miracle she wasn't caught. She moved from place to place staying a couple weeks here and a couple weeks there... pretending to be a relative staying for a while. She had to sleep with men for protection, starve as some of her hosts wouldn't share their food... and cower for hours in corners away from windows. Yet, other times, she would stand in line for hours getting provisions for the families that she was staying with. She also discusses what happened with the Russians came to Berlin... those weeks of mass rapes, hunger and the mistreatment to the Germans by the Russians. Of which, she feel victim to this as well.

The prologue and afterword were written by her son (a historian). He states that multiple people requested for Marie to share her story with the world, but she refused every time. She never talked about it at home with her family, with people she worked with, or those she knew personally. She was a very closed person... keeping all her memories of those years to herself. 26 December 1997, her son set a tape recorder down on the table asking her to share her story, and she proceeded to make 77 tapes in chronological order... amounting to 900 pages of typed transcript. Marie died 16 September 1998.... with the last of her tapes made only a few days before she died. It's not clear, if her wishes were for this to be made into a book. My thoughts are no... I'm not convinced that was her wishes when she made these tapes. In the 15 years that followed, her son researched the many names, address and dates for accuracy. She had kept a diary for a couple of years while in hiding but she had to leave them behind after a bombing... and they were never recovered. Pictures and her identity papers were saved and are shown in this book.

This is were the review is hard for me... Her amazing story is 5 stars, but the telling of the story was choppy, and difficult at times. It took me rereading multiple passages to understand the meaning of what was being said. The use of names was a challenge as well... she would talk for a long time about a person calling them by their last name... and then all of a sudden speak about them using their first name. It was difficult to make the connection of whom she was talking about. I had to flip around multiple times in confusion trying to find their full name so I could get a clearer understanding.

I'm not sure if my difficulty was because the book was originally written in German and than translated to English and therefore things were lost in translation. OR, if it's because the book is basically a transcription of her tapes. The voice of the book is a matter-of-fact account that happened a long ago and it has limited feeling. It just felt like a sterile account of events. I wish the son would have taken the extra step to have an author write her story. I think it would have been so moving and impactful if the writing would have been better. I suppose his intent was to have the story "in her own words," but it made the book a hard read for me. So, overall, I'm settling on 3.5 stars, I'm happy I read about her amazing life. show less

Very good book. It really gives a good insight of the life a Jew in hiding and that of many ordinary Germans during WWII. Well written and detailed.