Lily’s Promise: Holding On to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond—A Story for All Generations
“Heartbreaking, inspirational, and uplifting, this is an engaging story of one remarkable woman’s will to survive.” — The Library Journal
It is the Holocaust survivors who help us transform history into memory by their ability to humanize the inhumane. It is them and their words that make the past present.
These lessons, important then, remain vital now – especially when the events of the Holocaust are sometimes distorted, diminished, or denied, the testimony of victims and witnesses is invaluable and essential.
The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles
Lily’s Promise
She promised herself she would tell the whole story if she lived through it. It took a while to actually be able to speak the words, but she finally did. It was an unfathomable experience:
- from Hungary to the ghettos
- from the ghettos to Auschwitz
- Auschwitz to the munitions factories
- From the factories to the March of death
But that wasn’t the end. Many of us may think, “well, that took care of that. We saved some. Now life can move forward.” But it was not the end. There were so many orphans. So many were separated from their families. How would they ever find one another? Where would they live? Where could they call home? How would they get to Israel?
And when they did, would they ever dare speak of the horrendous atrocities that were put upon them. And who suffered more? The ones that survived in hiding? Ones that came out of Auschwitz? The ones that watched their parents march off to their death?
Over time, Lily found her way to Israel. But it still was only the beginning of restoration. She had managed to save two of her sisters and keep the three of them together. Somehow she was able to go on, restore her health and even find love, marriage, and her own family. But she didn’t dare tell them what she endured. Not until a grandchild innocently asked, “Why do you have numbers on your arm?”
The Aftermath of the Holocaust
Lilly remembered her promise to tell her abhorrent experience. Slowly, she was able to sit down and relay the whole awful truth to her adult great-grandson. Dov was able to find descendants of an American Soldier that gave a small kindness as she began her new life after Auschwitz. Soon she found herself visiting the memorials and the actual place where her mother and younger siblings (too young to work) were exterminated and where she was forced to work. She was asked to share about her experience and, thus, began, her work to help others through it.
Never, Ever Forget
It’s an event that must never, ever be forgotten. Though a story you may not want to read, you must read, in order that we never, ever forget.
It makes no difference the color of your skin is or what nationality you are, because for all human beings one thing is for sure: our blood is red, and when you cut us, it hurts. That what I want children to remember when they hear my story, I though there would be an end to genocide after the Holocaust. Yet still these murderous campaigns keep happening – in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Cambodia, Sudan, Myannmar, China. We need to remember and speak out about them all. If we don’t keep remembering, we can’t change the future.
Lily Ebert, Lily’s Promise
Pick up a copy today and another for a friend. And another for your local library. Please. Do it today.
-Mandy
Other Post That May Interest You
God is my Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Small Steps Toward a Big Difference for Women of Color
Pastor’s Wife (retired) & Chronic Pain Warrior blogs about how to make it through anything by relating her own life experiences to her writing. She is passionate about her love for the Lord and desires to spread that passion to others. She has a great desire to encourage women who are following behind her.
Thank you for recommending, Lily’s Promise, Mandy. It is amazing how God’s love can help one endure horrific incidents, move forward in a life-giving way, then in time find healing for the pain endured in the past. I look forward to reading Lily’s life story.
Please do read this. Awareness is so important. Knowing that she made it through made this an easier read and I felt I could cheer her on through my tears.
Survival stores are so heart warming
and eye-opening. This book really gave me incite,
This sounds like a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing about it.
FMF #3 from last week.
Corinne, thanks for coming by to read my review. It really is a good story and opened my eyes to things I had not thought about concerning survivors.