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In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

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In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

By: Irene Gut Opdyke, Jennifer Armstrong
Narrated by: Hope Davis
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IRENE GUT WAS just 17 in 1939, when the Germans and Russians devoured her native Poland. Just a girl, really. But a girl who saw evil and chose to defy it.

“No matter how many Holocaust stories one has read, this one is a must, for its impact is so powerful.”—School Library Journal, Starred

A Book Sense Top Ten Pick

A Publisher’s Weekly Choice of the Year’s Best Books

A Booklist Editors Choice Biographies History & Culture Politics, Society & Current Events War Holocaust
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Critic reviews

"Powerful and life-affirming, this is the kind of exciting memoir that marks a reader forever." -- The Plain Dealer

"Even among WWII memoirs--a genre studded with extraordinary stories--this autobiography looms large, a work of exceptional substance and style." --Publishers Weekly, starred

"Opdyke uses simple direct language to demystify the concept of heroism and depict courage as a matter of basic human decency well within the capabilities of ordinary humans." -- The Washington Post Book World
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There are many books out there that I have read, but this one was one of the best.
Please take the time to listen to the full book , as at the end .... Well I’ll leave it there for you to see for yourselves.

Please read, listen to this book

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The true story of Irene Gut, a young Polish Catholic nurse and her life, specifically during the German occupation of Poland during WWII and some of the Russian communist occupation that followed. Gut endured terrible ordeals at the hands of both the Germans and the Russians but through all that somehow managed to remain strong and resilient. Holding firmly to her strong moral compass and her belief in the power of good over evil, Gut saved the lives of many German and Polish Jews whilst being forced to work as a housemaid for a high ranking German officer.

Being a true story of one of the most heinous times in history, it's going to be a compelling read but with stories like this one, it isn't always a given that the writing will be good or the characters compelling. But this book, written by Jennifer Armstrong after extensive interviews with Gut and research and interviews with others involved, is a masterpiece! Somehow Irene Gut was able to recall her life in such detail, down to the slightest sound or smell and she and Armstrong capture all of these so beautifully that you can see and hear and smell everything going on around you as though you are stood in the midst of it all!

This is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever seen, Through Hope Davis' beautiful narration, Gut describes her ordeals with honesty, humility and resoluteness and through it all even manages to find moments of kindness in her oppressors, she brings to life the best and very worst of what humanity is capable of and makes it understandable and deeply real. It made me smile, it made me cry and simultaneously made me despair for and restored my faith in humanity.

Astounding

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