Waubonsee Community College

In my hands, memories of a Holocaust rescuer, Irene Gut Opdyke with Jennifer Armstrong

eng

autobiography

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no index present

non fiction

In my hands

46673156

Irene Gut Opdyke with Jennifer Armstrong

memories of a Holocaust rescuer

"In My Hands began as one non-Jew's challenge to any who would deny the Holocaust. Much like The Diary of Anne Frank, it has become a profound document of an individual's heroism in the face of the greatest evil mankind has known. In the fall of 1939 the Nazis invaded Irene Gut's beloved Poland, ending her training as a nurse and thrusting the sixteen-year-old Catholic girl into a world of horrors that somehow gave her the strength to accomplish what amounted to miracles. Brutally abused and left for dead by Russian soldiers, Irene escaped into German-occupied territory, where she was forced to work for the German army. Her Aryan features landed her a job in the relative safety of an officers' dining room. With access to food and supplies, as well as the dinner conversations of SS officials, Irene was able to smuggle nourishment and information to the Jews in the ghetto, transport work camp prisoners to a forest enclave, and ultimately hide a dozen Jews in the home of the Nazi major for whom she was housekeeper. A harrowing and deeply affecting story of resistance and an extraordinary memoir of one young woman's belief in humanity, In My Hands stakes an impressive claim as a contemporary classic"--Page 4 of cover

I was almost fast enough -- Finding wings -- Where could I come to rest? -- Amber -- Postscript -- Polish : a rough guide to pronunciation -- German : a rough guide to pronunciation -- Some historical background -- A note on the writing of this book

juvenile