In my Hands Memories of a Holocaust Survivor. Book Review.

In my Hands Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer.The topic of the book is exactly what the title is. It's the story of a holocaust survivor. The main issue that is addressed in the book is how Germans treated Jews and Polish people during the holocaust.

In the book a Polish girl, named Irene Gut Opdyke, Struggled to survive in the Holocaust. Irene wanted to become a nurse,so she went to med school. When the war broke out, Irene and some soldiers went to help, when they were ambushed. During the ambush Irene escaped. When she was on the run, she was raped by some Russians soldiers. After she was raped, she was rescued by some German soldiers, and was brought to their hospital. Soon she was completely healed, she began to help out the nurses around the hospital. There at the hospital she became fluent in German, and was almost raped by a German doctor. She then found herself on the run again. Then she was in another town working as a German. She found a job as a waitress. There she found out what Germans really do to Jewish and Polish people.

The  perspective that the author gives me is how cruel people can be to one another. The main issue in the story is the story is between the German and Russian soldiers against the Jewish and Polish people. The Germans would act as if they did not care what happened to the Polish and Jewish people. In the book Irene stated “The scene below me was like an ant hill kicked to pieces. Men, women, and children were running through the streets. SS men spilling out of trucks and shooting at the fleeing Jews. Bodies were sprawled in the slush” (page 102.) She also stated on page 101 that “...an announcement was being trumpeted with great pride from the loudspeaker at the corner of the street. “This town is Jew free.””

The book In my Hands Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer is worth reading, If you are interested in the holocaust. The main strength of the story is that it is written in first-person.  The main character in this story is the author Irene Gut Opdyke. The one weakness that the author has is she focuses more on her jobs then the sights had witnessed.

The conclusion reached by the author is anybody can overcome the the impossible and there is another away.