The Seamstress

Although I've read other Holocaust books that reached in more deeply and left me with more anger at man's inhumanity to man, this book dove within the descriptions of what it must have been like to LIVE day after day in the trenches of a Holocaust prison and the ravages of prolonged & extreme starvation, the humiliation of one's body virtually deteriotating before your very own eyes and the horrors of watching your beloved family members dying in your own arms. Originally it was hand written by the woman who endured and then transcribed by a writer who attempted to put her thoughts and experiences into a cohesive story.It is a touching account of the unabated suffering of a Jewish family and in particular a woman who tried desperately to do what she felt necessary to keep her family alive. There are numerous siblings, cousins, aunts & uncles not to mention parents who perished in the ovens or the abject desperation inside the concentration camps. What she did to keep living and how she managed to survive considering the wretched conditions she experienced is astonishing to say the least.If for no other reason than to cherish the memory of those who perished as well as commend those who survived, this book is worth a read. Not everyone will find it easy to comprehend or follow but if you persist, the realization of what man can overcome despite the odds (and in this case the odds were severely stacked against our heroine)will leave you with an admiration and appreciation for nothing else more pricelss than love.This is a hard-to-put-down book; once you have reached the final pages and digested the reality of what was endured over the years of World War II as a Jewish individual, I foster nothing but incredible admiration and respect for any mention of suffering such as this.

The Seamstress is the memoir of author Seren (Sara) Tuvel Bernstein, a Romanian Jew who came of age during the rise of the Third Reich, was expelled from Romania, arrested and beaten by Hungarian Guard, forced into a temporary labor camp where her sister was shot and killed before her eyes, and eventually ended up on a concentration camp before escaping/liberated by American forces while being transported, likely for execution.What was somewhat unique about The Seamstress is that the book was about Ms. Bernstein's entire life, not just her experience with the Holocaust. To me, it made her experiences much more personal, because they were happening to a person a felt I knew. She talked of her premature birth, childhood, family, schooling, and how she learned her trade. Knowing that make Ms. Bernstein much more real.My only complaint about the book was that although Ms. Bernstein was very descriptive about the atrocities of others during her experience, she seemed to minimize her own ordeal. Don't get me wrong: she starved, was abused, she was nearly killed and witnessed awful things. But in the forward her daughter-in-law, who helped write the book, spoke of her being beaten so badly her leg was broken and there were other permanent deformities, but none of that appeared in the book. I don't think it is out of character for survivors of that time to minimize their experience, and perhaps that's what happened here.The Seamstress is a well told story of a woman who lived, and survived, as a Jew in Eastern Europe during the build-up and Second World War. It and similar memoirs should be required reading for young people around the world.

Seren's memories, as published by her daughter in THE SEAMSTRESS, are totally engrossing in part because of her voice & in part because of the scope of her journey from between the wars in Transylvania Romania to post-WWII '50s America with a detour in between that killed 19 out of 20 Jewish women & tried even the soul of this fierce & feisty voyager.Born to a Jewish lumber mill manager & his second wife, Seren had a set of half-brothers & sisters quite a bit older & then siblings from her mother. Because of her father's work, they lived in rural valleys where each spring, village louts would start a pogrom: rioting that specifically destroyed Jewish life & property. These happened for generations all over Europe due to the Easter time rantings of priests & pastors.As Seren studied at school she dreamed of going on to college in far away Bucharest. Defying her father she did just that except her path veered off into a sewing school where she enjoyed a giddy coming of age among fellow workers & students, making friends & deciding never to marry... until in her mid-20s, the world erupted again. This time with the ominous intention of one people eliminating anyone else they deemed tainted.Seren was marked for Hitler's Jewish Solution & the bulk of her memories deals with how & where she was herded, what happened to her family & friends, what she learnt to survive & how she did it.Suspend all your judgments & expectations otherwise you'll miss the many lessons THE SEAMSTRESS has to teach.More about females surviving male wars: THOSE WHO SAVE US: A novel by Jenna Blum; MY ENEMY'S CRADLE: A novel by Sara Young; LAUGHTER WASN'T RATIONED: A Personal Journey Through Germany's World Wars and Post War Years by Dorothea von Schwanenflugel Lawson.

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brilliant read, really enjoyed

A gripping and enthralling true story

Excellent written book! I'm so sorry for the horror that the Jewish people hadvto suffer!