Chana Rotenberg spent a happy childhood in Antwerp with
loving parents who took her and her siblings to summer vacations at the
seaside in Holland and winter vacations in the Alps. She wore nice
clothes, and every year on the last day of school, a photographer would
come to the house to take the children's portraits while the parents
stood by, beaming.
But there was an invisible curtain in their
home, kept tightly closed. It hid something that was off-limits,
forbidden and terrible, something that wasn't spoken of, something that
was scarcely even thought about - until one day, when Chana was already a
grown woman raising a family of her own in Israel, the curtain is
pulled back. The secret of her Polish-born parents' war experiences is
revealed, and her whole world is overturned. To see her strong, capable
parents as victims is traumatic. But Chana decides to confront the
monstrous facts, and in the process, she discovers that her Mama and
Papa are many times greater than she ever knew.
This is the true
story of Chana Rotenberg's voyage of discovery. Half as a guide and half
as a visitor, she joins a trip to Poland with a group of Israeli
graduate students, organized by Nefesh Yehudi. She retraces the steps of
her parents' youth, revisits the scenes where they were dragged into
the seventh level of Gehinnom, and relates the stories of their
strength, courage, and unwavering faith. As she goes through her
personal journey, she imparts to the students a recognition of what real
heroism is, and what it truly means to be a Jew.
Approbations:
"Although she is a second-generation survivor, the author has
fulfilled, through this book, the mitzvah of 'Remember what Amalek did
to you… do not forget.' In addition, the book fulfills the last wishes
of the martyrs, may their blood be avenged, who asked that their memory
be preserved and perpetuated."
