Review Detail

'Sabina: In the Eye of the Storm' by Bella Kuligowska Zucker is an incredibly moving tale of the author's search for survival during the Holocaust. Her story is one of sadness, uncertainty, pain, and loss, but it is equally one of navigating seemingly insurmountable odds and having something at the end of it all – her life. Painful memories of her life in Poland before the war, along with her time in Germany afterward dot the pages of Zucker's eloquent and poignant memoir, ensuring that readers will root for her and stay invested in her life's journey for every moment she is willing to share through her writing.

From a happy family to near brushes with death many a time, to impoverished ghettos, time on her own, and the loss of her identity, both in other's eyes and her own as she tried to squelch her past to ensure her future, Zucker paints a hauntingly vivid and incredible tale of survival.

Her safety was always front of mind, despite never feeling safe, even in her own skin. The kindness of strangers and her whole-hearted attempts to subdue her past life saved her, even though her struggles seemed to grow greater each day.

A definite must-read for anyone who is looking for literature about this horrific time of the past and would like a first-hand account. Though Zucker never spent time in a concentration camp, her story nevertheless is harrowing and true. It embraces all of who she is, from her childhood to her means of survival during the war years, to her life after the war ended and she worked to find any semblance of the life she once knew – family included.

Any reader – young or older – will benefit from reading this tremendously heartfelt memoir.