Marta’s Notebooks

"Marta's Notebooks is not your usual Holocaust story. It is a combination of fact and fiction, based on the story of the author's mother, Marta Kraus, who survived Auschwitz as a young girl. But it is not solely about the horrors that she endured. It is about the life that she and others led before, during, and after the war and what those experiences did to the survivors. Marta indeed survives the war, marries a childhood friend, and begins to raise a family, but a chance meeting with a former Kapo causes her to collapse and become hospitalized. The psychiatrist treating her encourages her to write her story, with the catharsis enabling her to heal. The second part of the book is composed of Marta's actual writings, describing her life, and the volume concludes with the end of Marta's story, leaving the reader to wonder what parts of the fiction may be based on fact. A fascinating read!”

— Prof. Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz, Director, Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research, Bar-Ilan University