Fiet's Vase: And Other Stories of Survival, Europe 1939-1945

This book offers a collection of summarized stories of those who survived World War II concentration camps. In one story, it covers a man who survived POW camp after an extended time "on the lam" with the assistance of Italian partisans who took enormous risks of reprisal from the Germans for their assistance. The stories are collected in chapters which group like experiences together. In itself, this book is very moving and informative about the German solution in WW II. I learned a great deal about the treatment that the Jews and others received from the master race that is gone over lightly in general books on the subject. The primary benefit of this book for me was to introduce me to several full length personal accounts written by the people featured. The story of Joseph Bau (he was put on Schindler's list), Wladyslaw Szpilman (the Pianist), Solly Ganor (a central figure in the Mr. Jablonksi story listed in another review) and others are introduced and their works found in the blbliography. I obtained 5 or 6 and have read them to get a deeper understanding and appreciation of what they endured and how the Holocaust affected them and continued to do so in later life. I highly recommend this book in its own right as well as using it as a pointer to further study.

I am 14 years old and I am really enjoying this book. It teaches me alot and at times I can't put it down. I reccomend this book highly and encourage children to read it.

I've read dozens of Holocaust testimonials, but this collection is certainly one of the most gripping. Though they are survivor tales, they do not make for light reading (they do make for important reading). I'm still haunted by one story in particular about a young boy who escapes being buried alive -- I challenge you to read this book and not be plagued by the image of his teacher, Jablonski. The author does a fabulous job of culling together incredible stories of how dumb luck, random chance or connections play a role in saving people from unspeakable evil. An important collection that should not be missed.

Alison Leslie Gold has given us both truth and connection through the women's lives that she shares with us. In their stories, we find answers to the mystery of survival within that inexplicable fabric of love and spirituality. These are tales that have not been told before, not this entirely. It is time for the public to honor the women of the Holocaust. "Any consistent Nazi plan had to target Jewish women specifically as women, for they were the only ones who would finally be able to ensure the continuity of Jewish life. In deed, although statistical data about the Holocaust will never be exact, there is sound evidence that the odds for surviving the Holocaust were worse for Jewish women than for Jewish men" (Rittner and Roth, Different Voices)Gold, honors these women whose stories have been ignored for so long, so that we may now we honor their struggles and memory with our own lives. Thank you for the service you do for womankind. Shalom, Heather Dune Macadam (co-author, Rena's Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz -- part of Rena's story is cited in this wonderful book.)

We all have nightmares, but this one was real. In Fiet's Vase we gallop through horror after horror in Europe between 1939 and 1945. There is a thread of hope weaving its way through the book, reminding us of the immeasurable human spirit and of its infinite capacity to survive against the depths of human depravity. This book gives a powerful look, taste and feel of some of those special spirits and the conditions they survived. I am grateful for and inspired by Fiet's Vase, thank you Alison Leslie Gold. Now I must weep for humanity.