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book_concierge's review
4.0
Subtitle: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World
In February, 2015 Michael Frank attended a lecture, where he had a brief conversation with an elegant elderly woman. The next morning, he received a call from the woman who had organized the lecture. Stella Levi, she told him, had enjoyed meeting him and wondered if he would be willing to help with a bit of writing she had done. Stella was not a native English speaker and wanted to ensure her piece was accurately written. Thus began a series of meetings over one hundred Saturdays and six years, as Stella told her story to Frank.
This is a marvelous tale of a very strong woman. She was a strong girl and teenager when growing up in the Juderia in Rhodes, and she was a strong young woman when she was “evacuated” to Auschwitz. She survived the camps, by using her intelligence and being prepared and willing to do what was necessary to stay alive. She managed to get to the United States where some of her relatives had gone before World War II. And she found her own path here as well.
Her memories, as related by Frank, and forthright and clear. She shows great courage in recalling and reliving some of these episodes in her life. She also shows her strength of character. But make no mistake, her experiences during the Holocaust did NOT define her. She did not forget or forgive, but rather she focused on moving forward. Stella made herself into the woman she always wanted to be and ensured that she LIVED her life.
In February, 2015 Michael Frank attended a lecture, where he had a brief conversation with an elegant elderly woman. The next morning, he received a call from the woman who had organized the lecture. Stella Levi, she told him, had enjoyed meeting him and wondered if he would be willing to help with a bit of writing she had done. Stella was not a native English speaker and wanted to ensure her piece was accurately written. Thus began a series of meetings over one hundred Saturdays and six years, as Stella told her story to Frank.
This is a marvelous tale of a very strong woman. She was a strong girl and teenager when growing up in the Juderia in Rhodes, and she was a strong young woman when she was “evacuated” to Auschwitz. She survived the camps, by using her intelligence and being prepared and willing to do what was necessary to stay alive. She managed to get to the United States where some of her relatives had gone before World War II. And she found her own path here as well.
Her memories, as related by Frank, and forthright and clear. She shows great courage in recalling and reliving some of these episodes in her life. She also shows her strength of character. But make no mistake, her experiences during the Holocaust did NOT define her. She did not forget or forgive, but rather she focused on moving forward. Stella made herself into the woman she always wanted to be and ensured that she LIVED her life.
chandler_lane's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
This book tells the story of Stella Levi through her Saturday conversations with Michael Frank. Stella grew up in a unique slurry of culture and language as a Jew on the island of Rhoades. She lived as a Spanish Jew, descended from those who come to Rhoades via the Spanish Expulsion, in ancient Turkish community, under Greece sovereignty for her early life, then becoming an Italian territory, to later be invaded by Germany during the final months of World War II.
All this crossing of cultures made Rhoades and the Juderia, where the Jewish community resided, a culture unlike any other and one at risk of losing its untold story to the Holocaust.
A tender and beautifully heartbreaking story it was wonderful to get a piece of what life was like in the Juderia. While at the same time, tragic to know how it was going to end.
I find myself more and more fascinated with learning about remote cultures and these stories that preserve parts of history that are fading or will never be the same again. More than just a Holocaust story from the perspective of a survivor, Stella tells the story of a people that she wants to preserve.
All this crossing of cultures made Rhoades and the Juderia, where the Jewish community resided, a culture unlike any other and one at risk of losing its untold story to the Holocaust.
A tender and beautifully heartbreaking story it was wonderful to get a piece of what life was like in the Juderia. While at the same time, tragic to know how it was going to end.
I find myself more and more fascinated with learning about remote cultures and these stories that preserve parts of history that are fading or will never be the same again. More than just a Holocaust story from the perspective of a survivor, Stella tells the story of a people that she wants to preserve.
yourpervertedneighbor's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
debandleo's review
5.0
I thought I knew a lot about WWII, yet in reading this book I learned so much about a whole world I knew nothing about. Terrific read.