My Years in Theresienstadt: How One Woman Survived the Holocaust

Spies, a Jew born in Germany in 1897, spent three years during WWII in Theresienstadt, the so-called model ghetto established by the Nazis northwest of Prague, where prisoners supposedly cultivated artistic pursuits. In reality, the camp was a holding station whence many Jews were ultimately dispatched to Auschwitz and other death camps in Poland. Because the author was once married to a Gentile--the marriage ""ended"" after about seven years, notes the translator (Spies herself does not elaborate)--she was not deported until 1942, and her two children were never incarcerated. Spies recalls her daily camp life in vivid and haunting vignettes, describing watching friends and family die, the lack of food and the exhausting labor she was forced to perform. She committed herself to writing poetry and keeping a diary, a selection of which is included here, that she had to keep hidden from the camp guards. She credits her writing with helping keep her alive and convincing her to forgive but not forget her persecutors. After the war, Spies returned to live and publish books in Germany. Photos not seen by PW. (May)