Hiding in Plain Sight: The Incredible True Story of a German-Jewish Teenager's Struggle to Survive in Nazi-Occupied Poland FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Bertel is twelve years old and living in Hindenburg, Germany, with her mother Ilona and her sister Eva. They are waiting for their American visas to arrive while making preparations to join Oskar in America. These plans are crushed in October 28 when the Nazis round up the Jews in Hindenburg, forcibly expelling Bertel and her family from Germany into Poland. For the next seven years, Bertel conceals her true identity. She learns to speak Polish, changes her appearance, and uses falsified documents. Living as a young Polish woman under an assumed name, she struggles to survive as she moves from town to town in Nazi-occupied Poland. Although at times there is the blessing of friendship and a helping hand, Bertel lives in constant fear of discovery and certain death." This is a story of faith, Providence, and the ability of a young girl to survive while hiding in plain sight, in the dark shadow of the Nazi death factory.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
...Start this extraordinary eyewitness account, and you won't quit till you're finished.
Publishers Weekly
Even if you think you've read enough about the Holocaust, start this extraordinary eyewitness account, and you won't quit till you're finished. Bertel Weissberger (now Betty Lauer) was 12 in April 1938 when her father was expelled from Germany and went to America. That October, Bertel; her sister, Eva; and her mother-along with truckloads of other German Jews-were sent to Poland. Initially, they lived as registered Jews, with special curfews, work assignments and food rations. Then came armbands, herding into ghettos and the "liquidations" of ghettos by mass executions or transports to concentration camps. Bertel and her mother-the Nazis caught Eva-got forged papers and learned to pass as Polish Christians. This was a constant strain, as IDs were continually rechecked and bounty hunters were always searching for disguised Jews. Fleeing a series of near-discoveries, Bertel and her mother ended up in Warsaw, where they fought in the 1943 uprising and were deported to an internment camp, along with Bertel's Polish Christian "husband." They bribed their way out of the camp to take various work assignments, navigated the Russian occupation of Poland, walked to Auschwitz to look for Eva and stowed away on a ship from Poland to Sweden, finally sailed to America. Beyond the incredible journey, this day-by-day account of a teenager learning "survival dexterity"-how to extract assistance from the ambivalent, how to sense danger in the slightest gesture-is unforgettable. Map, photos. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Among the multitude of personal accounts of the Holocaust, one is always struck by how quickly harrowing events become part of a routine life. In Lauer's case, the ongoing trauma never became routine. As a Jewish teenager in Germany and Poland, Lauer survived the Holocaust by blending in with the Christian population and constantly moving from place to place. She and her mother risked staying on their own while facing a constant struggle for identity papers, work, and housing. After some shockingly narrow escapes and participation in the Warsaw Uprising, Lauer found her life becoming a blur of transports and work assignments until she finally reached the United States after the war's end. She tells her story in a clear and devastating narrative, letting the unimaginable tension speak for itself. Lauer wrote the first draft in the 1950s, and the immediacy of the fresh memories is forceful. The book is distinguished by a wealth of careful personal detail, though the length may limit appeal. Recommended for Holocaust studies collections. Elizabeth Morris, Illinois Fire Service Inst. Lib., Champaign Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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