Yaldah

by Frankel Alona

Soft cover Hebrew book recent publication from a major publisher fiction or non-fiction brand new

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II, Polish Literature, Memoir, Holocaust

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alona Frankel is best known for her toddler books, specifically I know her for a book that helps toddlers start using a potty.

While arranging books I bumped into this book and remembered that I read it years ago.

I remember that I was very impressed, she has an unusual story of survival.

In addition, I noticed that she is from Krakow as my father was.
The Krakow survivor community in Israel was very close to each other, so possibly he knew her (or her parents who survived too and probably were closer to his age.)

I might read it again as it seems to be an impressive story

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different style of writing for a memoir of this type. Sometimes it drags and other times just stab you in the heart. Those times when so much is revealed in an unassuming way make this a good book.

[Shahar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3 it is important and intriguing tale, but it is told in repeating fragments that makes it hard to read.

[Katie Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Won in a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for a review.

I am not quite sure how I feel about the style; sometimes it was a bit annoying, the repetition frustrating. However, it did feel as if it was written by a younger person, which I think Frankel intended. I did fully enjoy the content of the story and the perspective of a young survivor. I would highly recommend this to anyone that wants a firsthand account of hiding during the Holocaust.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started out really enjoying reading this book. I thought the author's style was interesting, but then the repetition began to annoy me more and more and then I no longer had any more interest finding out what happened. I didn't bother finishing.

[The Jewish Book Council]

Review by Marcia Weiss Posner for the Jewish Book Council.

[Dani Tracz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very recommended!

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure why the author needed to repeat throughout the book, that was annoying me.

[Iodine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this is a personal memoir of the war and many things the author shared were disturbing I found this book to be too repetitive. The author always repeated things in threes. She also jumped around and would tell about one thing and then pages later she would be saying the same thing. I know she wanted to make a point of the horrors of war however for me I found this style of writing sometimes difficult to follow. The author was profoundly impacted by her childhood experiences but I found her way of telling her story often hard to grasp.

[Adrian]

Frankel was a child in Poland when the Germans invaded, her parents found a place to hide but the owners refused to take their daughter who was taken by a woman who looked after her for money. Frankel was separated from her parents for a few years until they ran out of money to pay her keeper. The keeper dumped Alona on the parents' doorstep. Alona at this stage had no idea who her parents were. The three Frankels remained hidden in a converted carpentry shop for eighteen months until the Red Army moved through Poland. This story has all the ingredients of a classic Holocaust tale unfortunately Frankel's eliptical writing style where she continually doubles back to cover territory already dealt with is frustrating and tedious. The family survive the war move to Krakow and eventually sail to Palestine in 1949. I skimmed the last 40 pages as I lost patience with the writing style.