The Story of a Hidden Child Survivor of Transnistria.
Leah Kaufman was nine years old when the Romanian Jews
were driven on a death march to Transnistria, a frigid area with hardly any
food, shelter, or human decency. Somehow, she lived - and lived with her Judaism
intact! As a young orphan, all alone, she kept Pesach and Yom Kippur, and
remained faithful to her parents’ faith in Hashem and love of Judaism. She
retained her humanity after a series of harrowing experiences and miraculous
rescues that would have destroyed a less resourceful, less pure person.
When the War was over, the memories of her past lay dormant inside her for
fifty years, while she put together a new life in Canada and raised a fine
Jewish family. But then she remembered her legacy, her mother's constant charge to her during the last weeks of her life: "Leah, you must live! You must remember! You must tell the world!"
She has been telling it ever since. She speaks for those who are forever
silenced. Her message of triumph, hope, and continuity brings pride to her
audiences and inspires them to return to the Judaism of their grandparents. It's
a gripping story, an uplifting story, a story that makes us marvel at the
greatness of the Jewish spirit that enabled a young girl all alone in the world
to persevere and triumph.
Leah Kaufman has spent many years telling the tale to audiences all over the
world; and with Sheina Medwed as her collaborator, she tells it in this
marvelous book with flair and sensitivity. When we read it, we see why thousands
of listeners have been mesmerized by her story, why audiences of every type have
taken Leah Kaufman and Sheina Medwed to their hearts.
A listener wrote, "Every once in a while I hear a speaker who makes me look at myself and ask, 'What can I do to make myself a better person?' Thank you for being such an inspiration!"
This is a book that will be treasured, admired, and shared - and remembered!