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stinamirabilis's review against another edition
5.0
I read this at the tender age of 10, and was transfixed. I think I must have read it a dozen times since, and it never ceases to amaze me.
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
5.0
Unusual WWll story for me, in that the MC is Polish. Her land is the spoils of war and their people are unwanted, unless they have Aryan features or a German connection. They are helpless as Germany and Russia fight over them and then their country is divided up after the war.
This story is inspirational and empowering as Irene chooses to help as many people as she can, as long as she can.
This story is inspirational and empowering as Irene chooses to help as many people as she can, as long as she can.
finfortess's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. Her life is so very fasinating and her book is great. I rank this up there with Anne Frank and Night as being one of the best holocaust books out there. My favorite of all the holocaust books I've read.
maryehavens's review against another edition
5.0
An incredibly moving, true story of heroism during Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. What I loved about this story is that Irene did not set out to become a heroine but was compelled to. Her perseverance is so inspiring. I often wonder how I would react were I ever in this situation and I hope I would be as brave as Irene. And as kind-hearted.
I recommend all individuals interested in World War II, especially those interested in true stories, read this very moving tale.
I recommend all individuals interested in World War II, especially those interested in true stories, read this very moving tale.
emilyjoy828's review against another edition
5.0
Sometimes I wonder if these things could have happened. Was it me? Was that girl me? Was I really there? Did I see this happening? In the war, everything was unnatural and real. We wore masks and spoke lines that were not our own. This happened to me, and yet I still don’t understand how it happened at all.
Wow. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It recounts the details of Irene Gut Opdyke’s insane bravery in rescuing and hiding several Jewish people in the Holocaust. Some of the lengths she went to… safe to say I have a new hero.
If we were stopped and questioned, I always smiled at the officers, and they always smiled back. In my heart I was seeing them dead. But on my face, I was an open invitation. If you are only a girl, this is how you destroy your enemies.
This was an extremely gripping read. It reads like a work of fiction, and if I didn’t know it was a true story, I’d say it was unrealistic because of all the twists and turns.
Though at times horrifying, even the disturbing scenes were written in a way I felt honored the victims. There was always room for light and hope.
We did not speak of what we had seen. At the time, to speak of it seemed worse than sacrilege: we had witnessed a thing so terrible that it acquired a dreadful holiness. It was a miracle of evil. It was not possible to say with words what we had witnessed, and so we kept it safely guarded until the time when we could bring it out, and show it to others, and say, “Behold. This is the worst thing man can do.”
This book challenged me in so many ways- how brave would I be in this situation? Could I risk my life to do what is right? Would I be able to keep my wits about me with so much on the line? Am I going to be a person who acts or one who lets doubts and excuses keep me nice and cozy?
You must understand that I did not become a resistance fighter, a smuggler of Jews, a defier of the SS and the Nazis, all at once. One’s first steps are always small: I had begun by hiding food under a fence.
This book is so full of beauty and life and goodness, even amidst the horror. I’m so thankful that she decided she was ready to share her story with the world.
At the wars end, there was no time to say what must be said , and no time to see what must be seen. We flew from it, and did not wish to see it, and closed our mouths to keep our griefs in. But now I look back as an old woman and with one old hand over my brow to shield my eyes from the glare, I receive my past. I can see myself, and I can speak.
Wow. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It recounts the details of Irene Gut Opdyke’s insane bravery in rescuing and hiding several Jewish people in the Holocaust. Some of the lengths she went to… safe to say I have a new hero.
If we were stopped and questioned, I always smiled at the officers, and they always smiled back. In my heart I was seeing them dead. But on my face, I was an open invitation. If you are only a girl, this is how you destroy your enemies.
This was an extremely gripping read. It reads like a work of fiction, and if I didn’t know it was a true story, I’d say it was unrealistic because of all the twists and turns.
Though at times horrifying, even the disturbing scenes were written in a way I felt honored the victims. There was always room for light and hope.
We did not speak of what we had seen. At the time, to speak of it seemed worse than sacrilege: we had witnessed a thing so terrible that it acquired a dreadful holiness. It was a miracle of evil. It was not possible to say with words what we had witnessed, and so we kept it safely guarded until the time when we could bring it out, and show it to others, and say, “Behold. This is the worst thing man can do.”
This book challenged me in so many ways- how brave would I be in this situation? Could I risk my life to do what is right? Would I be able to keep my wits about me with so much on the line? Am I going to be a person who acts or one who lets doubts and excuses keep me nice and cozy?
You must understand that I did not become a resistance fighter, a smuggler of Jews, a defier of the SS and the Nazis, all at once. One’s first steps are always small: I had begun by hiding food under a fence.
This book is so full of beauty and life and goodness, even amidst the horror. I’m so thankful that she decided she was ready to share her story with the world.
At the wars end, there was no time to say what must be said , and no time to see what must be seen. We flew from it, and did not wish to see it, and closed our mouths to keep our griefs in. But now I look back as an old woman and with one old hand over my brow to shield my eyes from the glare, I receive my past. I can see myself, and I can speak.
linaleigh's review against another edition
5.0
One of my biggest heroes for having done so much. And she's Polish, yay!!
evaseyler's review against another edition
5.0
This was so beautifully written. I loved every minute of it.
luanndie's review against another edition
5.0
"I can say this now. I understand this now. The war was a serious of choices made by many people. Some of those choices were as wicked and shameful to humanity as anything in history, but some of us made other choices. I made mine."
In my hands es la memoir de Irene Gut Opdyke, una mujer polaca que ayudó a escapar a algunos judíos durante la IIGM. Sin embargo, esta memoir es mucho más que eso. Irene habla de las dudas, los miedos, las estrecheces y las injusticias que vienen de mano de la guerra. Habla de la posición de las mujeres, siempre en desventaja, siempre bajo el riesgo de la violencia sexual y obligadas en ocasiones a tomar decisiones imposibles.
"“If we were stopped and questioned, I always smiled at the officers, and they always smiled back. In my heart, I was seeing them dead. But on my face, I was an open invitation. If you are only a girl, this is how you destroy your enemies.”
Irene habla de las ironías de la guerra, de como estar en un bando u otro a veces es cuestión puramente del destino, y como los seres humanos somos mucho más complejos de lo que una etiqueta pueda describir. Habla de como puede cambiar nuestra visión del mundo de un día para otro, de como en meros segundos, realidades que creíamos inamovibles desaparecen.
"We are not a country any longer. There is no more Poland. I could not understand what the general meant. How could there not be a Poland anymore? My feet were on the ground, Polish ground. How could the land not be?"
Habla sobre las vivencias que nos persiguen el resto de nuestra vida
""There was a bird flushed up from the wheat fields, disappearing in a blur of wings against the sun, and then a gunshot and it fell to the earth. But it was not a bird. It was not a bird, and it was not in a wheat field, but you can't understand what it was yet.""
y de la imposibilidad de reconciliar todo el horror que se ha presenciado con el hecho de que la naturaleza, la vida siga su curso:
"Surely, the evil being done in my country must be a poison that would ruin the soil, tarnish the air and foul the water. Sometimes when I thought of the amount of hatred, about the amount of rage dwelling in Poland, I was surprised to see that the grass was still green, that the trees still flourished"
Y todo esto con una prosa poética, que sin entrar en muchos detalles escabrosos, consigue transmitir a la perfección los sentimientos y emociones que Irene tenía, así como la eterna atmósfera de peligro, miedo e incertidumbre durante toda la guerra. Una lectura perfecta, donde la forma y el fondo se unen para contar una historia que merece ser recordada.
In my hands es la memoir de Irene Gut Opdyke, una mujer polaca que ayudó a escapar a algunos judíos durante la IIGM. Sin embargo, esta memoir es mucho más que eso. Irene habla de las dudas, los miedos, las estrecheces y las injusticias que vienen de mano de la guerra. Habla de la posición de las mujeres, siempre en desventaja, siempre bajo el riesgo de la violencia sexual y obligadas en ocasiones a tomar decisiones imposibles.
"“If we were stopped and questioned, I always smiled at the officers, and they always smiled back. In my heart, I was seeing them dead. But on my face, I was an open invitation. If you are only a girl, this is how you destroy your enemies.”
Irene habla de las ironías de la guerra, de como estar en un bando u otro a veces es cuestión puramente del destino, y como los seres humanos somos mucho más complejos de lo que una etiqueta pueda describir. Habla de como puede cambiar nuestra visión del mundo de un día para otro, de como en meros segundos, realidades que creíamos inamovibles desaparecen.
"We are not a country any longer. There is no more Poland. I could not understand what the general meant. How could there not be a Poland anymore? My feet were on the ground, Polish ground. How could the land not be?"
Habla sobre las vivencias que nos persiguen el resto de nuestra vida
""There was a bird flushed up from the wheat fields, disappearing in a blur of wings against the sun, and then a gunshot and it fell to the earth. But it was not a bird. It was not a bird, and it was not in a wheat field, but you can't understand what it was yet.""
y de la imposibilidad de reconciliar todo el horror que se ha presenciado con el hecho de que la naturaleza, la vida siga su curso:
"Surely, the evil being done in my country must be a poison that would ruin the soil, tarnish the air and foul the water. Sometimes when I thought of the amount of hatred, about the amount of rage dwelling in Poland, I was surprised to see that the grass was still green, that the trees still flourished"
Y todo esto con una prosa poética, que sin entrar en muchos detalles escabrosos, consigue transmitir a la perfección los sentimientos y emociones que Irene tenía, así como la eterna atmósfera de peligro, miedo e incertidumbre durante toda la guerra. Una lectura perfecta, donde la forma y el fondo se unen para contar una historia que merece ser recordada.
lee_ann_a's review against another edition
4.0
I had to remind myself that this was not historical fiction, but rather based on Irene's real experiences. There were times I had to re-read several paragraphs to make sure I was truly understanding the horrors that she had lived through. The strength of the human spirit never ceases to amaze me. I wish the end gave more details about her life after the war, connection with her family, etc.