books:

	• Rena's Promise Rena Kornreich Gelissen, Heather Dune Macadam Beacon Press, 1996 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 43 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

During the time they are prisoners, Rena never once forgets the promise to her mother to take care of her younger sister. There are numerous times when Rena unhesitatingly gives up her daily crust of bread in exchange for medicine or a much needed salve for Danka. And at times when Rena is able to "organize" an extra tidbit of food such as a tiny piece of potato peeling, she meticulously divides it and without exception shares it with her beloved sister.

Although Rena is the stronger of the two sisters, Danka's strength emerges during the death march when Rena becomes so weak she cannot stand and walk

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A testimony of love, survival and triumph

By: Joe E. White

Rena's Promise is the beautifully told story of two remarkable young women in their early twenties who endure and survive nearly three and one half years as prisoners of the Nazis in Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. The love that Rena has for her younger sister, Danka, sustains her and helps her to endure the atrocities and indignities forced upon them on a daily basis by the Nazis.

During the time they are prisoners, Rena never once forgets the promise to her mother to take care of her younger sister. There are numerous times when Rena unhesitatingly gives up her daily crust of bread in exchange for medicine or a much needed salve for Danka. And at times when Rena is able to "organize" an extra tidbit of food such as a tiny piece of potato peeling, she meticulously divides it and without exception shares it with her beloved sister.

Although Rena is the stronger of the two sisters, Danka's strength emerges during the death march.

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Retaining human bonds and spirit in Auschwitz

In her book, Rena's Promise, Rena Kornreich Gelissen reveals what it means to survive inAuschwitz, a system which flourishes through death. We see through the eyes of a civilian turnedprisoner and learn that, in a time and place where a person comes within a hair of dying by a crushing boot, to lift her head and see her sister still breathing next to her lends persistent hope. To one who is beaten and nearly sent to a gas chamber, an offer of a rag to clean her tortured face is the ultimate compassion. And to be led to the barracks of more "privileged" prisoners means to see blankets and sinks as an unattainable luxury. In retelling her experiences in the largest death camp of the Third Reich, Rena shows how all external complications of civilized life are stripped away and survival is nourished by any hint of a human soul. Humanity can be found in varying degrees and transcends rank, power and "race". An offering of a fellow prisoner's bread lends the will to go on, and the love for her sister lends her the strength to survive for over three years within a system geared toward mass killing. Yet Rena always keeps in mind the element of chance and the memory of those who were not so lucky. This is a highly spiritual story, saying that even through the worst of times, when all else is gone, the presence of love gives us hope, and hope gives us strength. It is the remarkable story of a woman who has dealt with the worst, and yet we can relate to her story because she is so straightfoward and very much like us.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, page 9

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