What a powerful memoir! | Rena's Promise | Rena Kornreich Gelissen, Heather Dune Macadam

Inspiring story of love and survival | Rena's Promise | Rena Kornreich Gelissen, Heather Dune Macadam

books:


	• Rena's Promise Rena Kornreich Gelissen, Heather Dune Macadam Beacon Press, 1996 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 52 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

I think this book is one of the best ones I have ever read!! She gives so much detail and it brought a tear to my eye a few time!! I love this book!!

What a powerful memoir!

I couldn't put this book down, it was that outstanding. The book covered a lot of material..but I was so absorbed in her experience that I wish the book had been longer. This book would be a good one to read for a high school young adult as well as the mature reader. I strongly recommend it!

Inspiring story of love and survival

Barely out of her teens, Rena Kornreich volunteered to join other Polish Jews at a work camp, hoping she could put in her time and be allowed to return to her family and friends. She'd barely gotten onto the train, however, before she knew instinctly that Auschwitz was an evil place, and she wasn't meant to survive.

Yet Rena, a spirited and intelligent young woman, was determined to survive -- especially when her younger sister Danka arrived at camp only a few days later. As a child, Rena had promised their mother she'd always take care of Danka, and as far as she was concerned, that promise still held. No matter what it took, Rena swore she'd keep Danka alive and return to their beloved parents and farmhouse.

Taken to Auschwitz on the first transport of Jews, Rena somehow manages to survive against all odds. While thousands of others die around her -- starvation, overwork, extreme temperatures, and horrific violence at the hands of the Nazis -- Rena is able to keep one step ahead of survival. Despite her weak physical condition and growing bleak mental state, Rena keeps scheming, trying to find ways to keep Danka and herself fed, protected from the elements, away from the cruelest Nazi leaders, and most importantly, having the optimism and faith that one day, the nightmare will indeed end.

Despite the unspeakable horrors endured by Rena and Danka -- almost unbearable to read, all these decades later -- her story is bravely told, to bear witness for all the countless others who were not able to tell their story. Rena is a survivor, in every sense of the word.

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Rena, a sister's promise

I really enjoyed this book. It shows how much family mean to us. I would definitely recommend reading this book. It was heartful and great.

incredible story

I loved this book. It was so true and detailed and full of hope through despair. I am not sure how these sisters survived but am so glad they decided to share their story.

A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz

As a young woman, Rena Kornreich endured the Nazi death camps for almost three and a half years. Rena's Promise, the remarkable story of her survival, shows how her relationship with her younger sister, Danka, gave her the will to persevere under unimaginable circumstances.

"Deeply moving."
-Dena Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle

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