In Birkenau
Publisher: Alfabet
An exceptionally direct and deeply moving testimony, written in the summer after the liberation
With contributions by Ronit Palache and Rosa’s grandchildren
Among the passengers on the last train from Westerbork to Auschwitz was Rosa de Winter-Levy, along with her husband and daughter. Immediately upon arrival in Auschwitz, Rosa was forcibly separated from her husband. She ended up in Birkenau, where her daughter, too, was taken from her. In Birkenau, Rosa befriended Edith, Anne Frank’s mother, who had also been separated from her family. Edith died in Rosa’s arms; Rosa herself miraculously escaped death. She lay in the hospital barracks when the camp, abandoned by the SS, was liberated by the Russians.
For a long time, she anxiously awaited news of her husband and daughter. Months after the liberation, she finally held her daughter in her arms again; her husband turned out to have been killed. That same summer, Rosa began writing an account of the horrors she had witnessed.
Praise:
‘Reverent silence is most fitting after reading this poignant book.’ – Friesch Dagblad
‘This rediscovered account by Rosa de Winter-Levy on Auschwitz-Birkenau is a gem of Shoah literature.’ – NRC
Rights sold for World English Rights (Octopus Publishing Group)
