Brill (author of Cholesterol Down) renders the life of her mother-in-law, Edna Stefania Brill (1934-2019), in vivid, emotive strokes in this riveting posthumous memoir. Born into an affluent Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland, Edna was just four years old when the Nazi Army began bombing Poland’s Jewish communities. In a harrowing, first-person perspective, Brill recounts Edna’s graphic and devastating story of survival, concealed identity, and staged uprisings, starting with her and her siblings’ work as smugglers inside the Warsaw Ghetto to ensure their family’s survival. When that becomes too unsafe, Edna and her older sister, Miriam, have no choice but to assume the identity of young Catholic orphans, taking refuge in churches and homes of compassionate neighbors.
Brill’s writing expertly captures the horrendous impact of World War II on Jewish families, particularly on the children. Edna’s journey is gut-wrenching and unforgettable, depicting neighbors who are willing to turn their friends into the Nazis for money, families splitting up, devastating starvation, and the never-ending specter of death looming in the distance. When nine-year-old Edna is welcomed into the resistance by Major Wilk—to serve as a courier—she proves her resilience, strength, and bravery, becoming the youngest soldier in the Polish Home Army during the war.
History buffs will be fascinated by Brill’s chronicle of Edna as a soldier, following along as she memorizes maps, delivers messages under dangerous conditions, and even navigates sewers to escape capture. After the 1944 surrender of the Polish forces (which occurred on Edna’s 10th birthday), Edna and Miriam become prisoners of war. Her steadfastness throughout those experiences is inspiring, and her observations on human nature, war, and survival resound with authenticity and wisdom. “I survived despite the hatred that infected nearly everyone around us,” she writes, marking her legacy as one of hope, freedom, and “resilience that spans generations.”
Takeaway: Extraordinary young Jewish girl fights in Polish resistance during WWII.
Comparable Titles: Marceline Loridan-Ivens’s But You Did Not Come Back, Julian E. Kulski’s The Color of Courage.
Production grades Cover: A Design and typography: A Editing: A Marketing copy: A
