Lovers in Auschwitz
A True Story
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
'Haunting and powerfully resonant... this is a story not just of remarkable individuals, but also a tribute to the wider indomitability of the human spirit at the darkest moment in European history' - Sinclair McKay, bestselling author of Berlin and Dresden
Zippi Spitzer and David Wisnia’s story began when they first locked eyes across the work floor. It was the start of a romance that could have unfolded anywhere if it weren’t for one key difference: Zippi and David were prisoners in history’s most infamous death camp.
David and Zippi defied the odds by surviving for years beneath the ash-choked skies of Auschwitz. Shielded by the protection of their fellow inmates, saved on occasion by their own ingenuity and twists of fate, their love affair reminded them that their old world still existed – a world of possibilities, of freedom and desire. As the war’s end drew near, little did they know just how far their lives would diverge, and how many years would pass before they would meet again.
An unbelievable true story of romance, sacrifice, loss, and resilience, Lovers in Auschwitz chronicles the lives of two young people ensnared in the Nazis’ horrific creation, who discovered hope and humanity in history’s darkest hour.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Blankfeld debuts with a page-turning account of the unlikely love story between David Wisnia, a Polish Jew from the Warsaw ghetto, and Zippi Spitzer, a Jew from Slovakia, that blossomed amidst the horror of Auschwitz. The two met during a work detail in the prisoner intake area; the only woman stationed there, Spitzer—a smooth operator who had "immediately been strategic in creating connections prisoners and guards"—had talked her way into a position painting the stripes on women's prison uniforms. She eventually became the right-hand woman to the commandants of the women's camp, Birkenau, and, according to Blankfeld, "used her growing influence to shield unhealthy prisoners by giving them positions inside her office." A graphic designer by trade prior to her internment, she made secret copies of rosters and camp diagrams, "hiding the copies in her office in hopes that one day they'd come in handy" for prosecuting Nazi crimes. Separated after the war, Spitzer and Wisnia both made their way to the U.S., where they began new lives. Unbeknownst to Wisnia until they met again, more than 70 years after the war, Spitzer had taken several actions to keep him alive in the camps, including removing his name from crematorium rosters. Fast-paced and novelistic, this is a moving demonstration of the ability to find love in the darkest places.
