Wachtel's The Story Of Blim A Holocaust Survivor

When the word “JUDEN” had finally been plastered onto the window of their bakery, Blima knew that her life was about to change forever. This book is called The Story of Blima: A Holocaust Survivor. The Author of the story is Shirley Russak Wachtel. The book is a true story of Blima’s experiences as a young, Jewish girl in Germany. She was taken to a concentration camp. Before the Storm is all about Blima’s life before she was taken, Darkness Falls shares Blima’s story of the horrors she experienced at the concentration camps, and Daylight is when Blima is finally reconnected with some of her loved ones and her life begins to turn around for the better. In the first place, Blima’s life before she entered the concentration camp, was told in
Before the Storm. Before Blima’s nightmare began, she lived a normal life. She worked at the bakery with her Aunt Rachel. Blima lived in the small town of Dombrowa. She had a few younger and older siblings. The Nazi’s hadn’t struck her town, yet. Growing up, Blima was always jealous older sister , Adele. She didn’t think that she was pretty enough. Blima told her mother, “Mirrors tell the truth, mama”, after she had already stated that she didn’t think she was pretty (21). Blima was just being a normal, young teenage girl, before the storm. Meanwhile, it was just another normal day for Blima at the start, until the “JUDEN” sign was put onto her family’s bakery.
She went to work and saw her aunt Rachel in tears. As Blima was walking home, she was captured. “It is a spring day when I see my mother for the last time”, Blima thought as she was lifted off the ground and into a car (47). That is the moment that Blima’s life was about to change forever. She was shoved onto a train with many other imprisoned women, and then forced to march through the snow while feeling cold, weak, tired, and hungry. However, Blima remained strong through it all. As she reached the camp, she was stripped of all her own belongings, her head was shaved, and she was tattooed with a number on her arm. A commandant asked her if she knew how to sew, and she said yes, even though she did not. This is where she met Gizella. Gizella was a commandment that kept Blima was dying of starvation. She would bring her bread and things, to keep her alive. She treated her as daughter. One day, the camp was evacuated and Blima was sent to another camp. She was Separated from Gizella. The new camp she went to was even worse. Almost everyone had some sort of disease, or they were starving to death. They were barely alive. This is where she was reconnected with her sister-in-law, Ruschia. Blima was relieved because she never thought she would see any of her family again. The camp they were at was eventually set on fire and then liberated by British
soldiers. Furthermore, Daylight gives insight to Blima’s life after the camp was liberated.
Her and Ruschia were set free, but they stayed at the British camps. They were given food by the red cross and a place to sleep and clothing to wear. They finally felt free. Ruschia needed surgery for her legs, but she didn’t want to receive it until she found Victor. Victor finally came and found them at their camp and they were all finally together. A list of survivors from others camps was posted and Blima saw her brother’s name, Kalman. Blima knew she had to search for him. After going out to find him, she finally did. He was staying in a new town. This was the only family that she had left. Blima also wanted to find Gizella, to thank her for saving her. She went to her last known address, but she wasn’t there. There were rumors that she had been killed. Blima was set up with a guy named Chiel. Chiel had similar experiences to Blima and they were share their stories with each other. They fell in love and were eventually married. Blima said, “We are married on April 25, 1947. It is the same month I was first taken from Mama’s home, and the same month in which I regained my freedom into a world I no longer recognized. But It is the first time in many Aprils when I can freely say that, like the grass, I too am reborn” (125). Blima felt like she was a new person. To begin their new journey together in life, Blima and Chiel ended up moving to Brooklyn, New
York. The story told Blima’s life before, during, and after the holocaust. I thought that it was a good book. I finished it quickly, because I thought it was interesting. I liked that the book was short, but still told a good story. It was an informational book, but told in an entertaining way, so it wasn’t boring. I don’t think it gave enough about her life after liberation. I learned that Blima was strong and got through the holocaust with the help of her family and friends. We can can be strong with the support of family and friends too. She had Gizella at the camp to keep her alive. It is important to know about her so we can learn from her experiences.