Yesterday – My Story, by Hadassah Rosensaft is an incredible Holocaust memoir, and one that exhibits Rosensaft’s strength and courage under the most adverse of circumstances.
Rosensaft was deported to Auschwitz, along with her husband, five-year old son and other family members. Her husband and son, and most of her family members were sent to the gas chambers and were murdered. Rosensaft survived by her mental stamina, emotional strength and will, and the fact that she was deemed useful by those in charge at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. She used her intern-doctor skills, and she saved hundreds of Jews while in Auschwitz.
She saw unspeakable horrors and acts, but speaks about them quite graphically in her memoir. She wanted to make sure the reader knew exactly what transpired, and didn’t sweeten any of the despicable and horrific acts. And, these acts didn’t just occur before liberation, but after liberation, also. Rosensaft describes the verbal and physical cruelty of the British military and British bureaucracy, and how they tried to demean the liberated individuals by treating them as less than human. Imagine undergoing and witnessing atrocities of the Holocaust, and then being treated with cruelty after liberation. I can’t conceive of such inhumane treatment.
Rosensaft’s testimony at the Belsen trials was important, and helped ee some Nazis to be convicted of war crimes. She met with world leaders, and was well-respected and well-known in the world Jewish community.
Her efforts helped to form the basis for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Hadassah Rosensaft is a role model and testament to courage, not only for survival under extremely harsh and horrendous circumstances, but she is also a role model for maintaining a positive attitude during a time of extreme duress. She acted with bravery and decisiveness, and is an inspiration, and her story will stay with me for a long time. Her strength and positive attitude encouraged those around her. Without her nurturing and acts of pure selflessness and kindness, many of those Holocaust victims she helped saved would not have been alive to see liberation. Yesterday is a must-read memoir, a compelling and intense memoir, and belongs in every school, university and home library.
