All But My Life: A Memoir

I enjoy reading stories of survival from the Holocaust. This book was a well written account of Greda’s experience. The end where she met her future husband was heartwarming after reading of so much sadness. I enjoyed this book and account of Greda’s experience.

This was a wonderful book, detailing a part of history that we should never forget. I read this book in 3 sittings, it was so good. It's definitely a heavy read, but one that shouldn't be ignored.

Gerda’s story is truly remarkable. Her courageous story will never be forgotten. I will recommend this book to all family and friends. It was a quick read, too!

Gerda’s book is a must read. I don’t often read two holocaust books in a row since I had just finished “We were the Lucky Ones.” Typically I need time to process one before diving into another. But the compare and contrast is unavoidable. In the latter, the whole family survived their horrific ordeals. In Gerda’s situation, only she survived. She lost her loving young parents and her beloved older brother. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Her story is poignant as is her husband’s. Her appreciation and pride in becoming an American is remarkable. As she marvels at those who were born into that freedom and take that privilege for granted- this is not a point in the story to be taken lightly. But HER story. The story of her survival from her 15th to 21st birthday will stir your heart and cause your tears to flow in a way that I believe extends honor to her and others. Though we can never possibly understand or know exactly the pain and devastation they endured, we can read read read and learn learn learn just as Gerda intended for us to do. I was also struck with sadness at her statement that under no circumstances could she, or would she ever extend forgiveness to the Germans. What do I know about what she had to endure? Nothing. My mind cannot for a minute wrap itself around that kind of mental, physical, and emotional pain. But to never forgive is a decision, which brings with it such an inherent finality of judgement and condemnation, that I feel none of us-really ultimately ever-are in such a position to make. We are humans. Not deities. I don’t want to end on that note. It’s just a takeaway from the story. Gerda’s story is one for all of us to read and honor those who died and at the same time, take a long moment, as she did for over 70 years following her liberation, to honor the liberators. The Allies, the Americans, who from imperfect countries themselves, sacrificed so much to bring freedom to those like Gerda, who had managed somehow to survive just long enough to meet those who came to their rescue.

I've read many stories of Holocaust survivors but Gerda's is the most powerful. It's a very well written story of her five years of persecution. What I found most profound, however, was the words she wrote at the end of the book. Here she tells about her life AFTER her liberation, of finding love, raising her family. She became a voice for those who perished as she (and her husband, an American soldier who was also a German Jew), spoke around the country and world to raise awareness and advocate for those who had been Holocaust victims. But she takes it one step further as she explains her feelings and her beliefs about her five years under Hitler's rule. Surprisingly, she displays no hatred. Her attitude, outlook, and insights show what a remarkable woman she was. Truly inspiring.

Gerda Weissmann Klein tells of her experiences during WWII at the hands of the Nazis. She grew up in Poland and when the Nazis invaded in 1939, her life changed forever. First her family was allowed to live in the basement of their home, with diminishing rations. But soon all of the Jews were shipped out to camps and she was separated from her parents. Her brother, who had left Poland earlier, had a fate unknown to her. She details the work camps that she went to, with the first having reasonable people overseeing them, where they worked as seamstresses, but when that camp shut down, each camp grew worse and she held on as “all but her life” was taken from her. She had a young man who loved her almost to obsession, and he made great sacrifices to be near her, but she was troubled in that she did not feel she could fully reciprocate his feelings for her. As the war came to a close, the remaining prisoners were forced into a deadly and prolonged march across the countryside until they were liberated by the American forces. One of the soldiers took a particular care for her and spent as much time as he could to see her during her prolonged recovery. As she made steps to regain her health, she found herself falling in love and finding a path forward in life without her friends, family, and home, to a new hope and a new life.

Hello! I'm in 8th grade. Having studied about WW2 in history class I've read many WW2 books and this has been one of my favourite books along with the Nightingale by Kristen Hannah. I would definitely recommend it especially for teens of my age. If you are interested in this historical time, this book is the perfect one for you. :))

What a wonderfully written book, this author had gone through so much, one of the bravest people I’ve ever learnt about, you may shed a tear or two , I did

A heartrending account of a young German-Silesian Jewish woman’s life from 1939 to 1945. The first three years of Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia and Poland brings persecution, deprivation and deportations to Gerda Weismann’s family, and the local Jewish community. By 1942 her family has been dispersed and Gerda transported to perform forced labor in a weaving mill. Conditions are inhumane and even lethal. This sets the tormented direction for Gerda’s life for the following three years, in numerous locations.I have read a number of books by or related to the hideous plight of Holocaust victims and those few who were fortunate survivors. This is one of the most personally poignant. Weismann’s memoir is special in that she consistently shares her mental and inner turmoil in great detail. No one with a heart and feelings can read this book without sharing the author’s torturous agonies, including the reduplicated flashbacks which have become embedded in her psyche. The book’s Epilogue gives the book a consummate redemptive conclusion.

Her resilincy, her power, her wisdom is so inspiring to me.Thank you for sharing your story.

Very well written book regarding the horrors of the holocaust. Worth reading to be reminded how the world went upside down by allowing good people to be so horribly persecuted for no reason. Good people who just wanted to be left alone to raise their families the way they wanted, to earn an honest living, and to live out their belief's the way they want...just like the rest of us want the world to treat us.