A Time to Speak

This slight book, only 132 pages, is a worthy addition to Holocaust literature. Lewis describes her journey from Prague,with harrowing months in the ghetto at Terezin and Auschwitz, to her final destination, a "work" camp at Lauenburg, Poland on the Baltic Sea. Although she does not go into great physical detail about the horrors she faced, her understated, elegant prose leaves no doubt about the descent into hell she and her companions endured. When all hope is lost, small kindnesses gave her a extra push to live. And, most surprising, are the human touches provided by a few Germans. There is the fierce guard who saves a portion of his dinner each evening so he can share with the prisoners; the quiet SS officer who smuggles needed show more medical supplies into the barracks; the commandant who single-handedly saves the prisoners left to die, caring for them until the Red Army liberates the area. He, in turn, is spared execution when his charges rally to save his life.

One of the most powerful chapters is toward the end when liberation is so close. Because of hunger, cold and weakness the author, and many prisoners begin to hallucinate as they are forced to march for days to keep ahead of the Russians. Even after she finds a kind of haven with a Polish peasant woman who is reluctantly caring for her after she manages to escape the death march, Helen drifts in and out of reality. This disconnect is, though different than the other horrors she faced, just as dangerous to her survival. In the end, Lewis somehow endures and even she cannot comprehend why. At her lowest ebbs someone or something managed to give her the will to last just one more day. show less

La drammatica avventura di Helen Lewis, giovane ebrea praghese che cerca di diventare ballerina. Dalla Praga ricca e affascinante della fine degli anni Trenta al ghetto di Terezin, Auschwitz e la liberazione: l’incredibile racconto di una donna sopravvissuta all’Olocausto grazie alla passione per la danza e alla solidarietà segreta di coloro che tra i carnefici non dimenticarono la propria umanità. Amore e perdita, amicizia e tradimento, paura e humour, gioia e disperazione: autobiografia e romanzo insieme, il libro della Lewis testimonia la verità di un dramma personale e l’incredibile cammino della Storia. E spiega come sia stato possibile che milioni di ebrei si siano piegati alla volontà di sterminio nazista. (fonte: Einaudi)