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Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Series
William & Rosalie: A Holocaust Testimony
William & Rosalie is the account of two young Jewish people from Poland who survived six different German slave and concentration camps throughout the Holocaust. In 1941, newlyweds William and Rosalie Schiff are forcibly separated and sent on their individual odysseys through a surreal maze of hate. Terror in the Krakow ghetto, sadistic SS death games, cruel human medical experiments, eyewitness accounts of brutal murders of men, women, children and even infants, and the menace of rape in occupied Poland make William & Rosalie an unusually candid view of the chaos that World War II unleashed on the Jewish people.
The lovers' story begins in Krakow's ancient neighborhood of Kazimierz, after the Germans occupy western Poland. A year later they marry in the ghetto; by 1942 deportations have wasted both families. After Rosalie is saved by Oskar Schindler, the husband and wife end up at the Plaszow work camp under Amon Goeth, the bestial commandant played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List. While Rosalie is on "heaven patrol" removing bodies from the camp, William is working in the factories. But when Rosalie is shipped by train to a different factory camp, William sneaks into a boxcar to follow, and he ends up at Auschwitz instead.
Craig Hanley narrates the struggle of the lovers to stay alive and find each other at war's end. Now in their eighties, William and Rosalie come to terms in this book with the loss of their families and years of torture at the hands of Nazi captors. Unique among memoirs from this era, the book connects directly to the present day. The Schiffs' ongoing and highly effective campaign against prejudice and discrimination is a heroic culmination of two lives scarred beyond belief by racism. William & Rosalie combines biography with timely lessons on the nature of mass hate, a stubborn phenomenon that continues to endanger every life on Earth.
The lovers' story begins in Krakow's ancient neighborhood of Kazimierz, after the Germans occupy western Poland. A year later they marry in the ghetto; by 1942 deportations have wasted both families. After Rosalie is saved by Oskar Schindler, the husband and wife end up at the Plaszow work camp under Amon Goeth, the bestial commandant played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List. While Rosalie is on "heaven patrol" removing bodies from the camp, William is working in the factories. But when Rosalie is shipped by train to a different factory camp, William sneaks into a boxcar to follow, and he ends up at Auschwitz instead.
Craig Hanley narrates the struggle of the lovers to stay alive and find each other at war's end. Now in their eighties, William and Rosalie come to terms in this book with the loss of their families and years of torture at the hands of Nazi captors. Unique among memoirs from this era, the book connects directly to the present day. The Schiffs' ongoing and highly effective campaign against prejudice and discrimination is a heroic culmination of two lives scarred beyond belief by racism. William & Rosalie combines biography with timely lessons on the nature of mass hate, a stubborn phenomenon that continues to endanger every life on Earth.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published July 2, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 26, 2016
I do not understand what compels me to read Holocaust literature, but this is another entry. I do not have to heed the advice of "never forget", because this era has etched much pain in my soul for the victims and for my people at large.
William and Rosalie Schiff endured the horrors of captivity in six concentration camps during the war. Each chapter is spelled out painfully in alternating voices. The fact that they endured the described atrocities was difficult to read, but amazing to perceive. The enclosed section of photographs illustrates happier times for them and their families.
Despite multiple readings of journals, fiction and non-fiction devoted to Nazi abuses and destruction, I continue to wonder at such lack of guilt or caring for other human beings.
William and Rosalie Schiff endured the horrors of captivity in six concentration camps during the war. Each chapter is spelled out painfully in alternating voices. The fact that they endured the described atrocities was difficult to read, but amazing to perceive. The enclosed section of photographs illustrates happier times for them and their families.
Despite multiple readings of journals, fiction and non-fiction devoted to Nazi abuses and destruction, I continue to wonder at such lack of guilt or caring for other human beings.
June 15, 2021
It's a difficult read because of the atrocities that are detailed from the Holocaust. There are first person narratives from both William and Rosalie. As challenging as it is to read, the book does celebrate a love between two people that made it through the Holocaust. It is so important not to forget what happened at that horrendous time. There is a bright spot in their story, though. William and Rosalie do find each other at the end of the war (this is on the dust jacket - not a spoiler).
August 3, 2011
The story of two Polish Jews who marry just as the Jews are rounded up into the Krakow ghetto. Not sugar coated at all, this tells of their survival in the same and then different camps. The violence against the Jews by the Germans and the Poles was sickening. They now live in Dallas, Texas and spend their time teaching about the Holocaust and the need for tolerance. Recommend.
March 26, 2019
A beautiful story of strength and love found within the desperate struggle for freedom. Although William and Rosalie lost the lives they once knew, they were able to live through one of the most harrowing times in history and eventually live a life of happiness, even after all the horrors they experienced together and alone.
January 21, 2023
Gloria loaned me this book, as she met the authors during her teaching years. They autographed her copy of the book. I am entranced by holocaust stories....because of the strength of these people, and their willingness to survive - and their fortitude kept them above the illness where so many others could not.
That these two found each other after release is amazing to me....no phones, no letters, different camps, different countries, horrid experiences after the war, back to each other? Astonishing and profound. Against all odds. I lift the grace of God in their story.
That these two found each other after release is amazing to me....no phones, no letters, different camps, different countries, horrid experiences after the war, back to each other? Astonishing and profound. Against all odds. I lift the grace of God in their story.
July 21, 2019
Great book! Another reason to remember what has happened in the past should never happen again!
December 29, 2019
I paid for and listened to their story on audible. It’s a miracle they both survived. Wow. Thanks for sharing their horrific paths.
July 31, 2016
I found this story a lot different from other books about the world war II that I have been reading. This book is very interested and it is really a love story that cover two peoples lives, from they where young, their marriage when the jews where rounded up and deported from Poland, their time in different camps and now their life in Texas where they trying to teach the new generation.
The book is very emotional and really touching. I find this one of the best stories I have read in a long time due to how different it is. There is horrible accounts in this story, where we get to see the horror of the camps and lives but mostly it really is a love story and how love can make people survive and do what is necessary, not just to stay alive but also to find the person they are looking for.
I can really recommend this read and this book.
The book is very emotional and really touching. I find this one of the best stories I have read in a long time due to how different it is. There is horrible accounts in this story, where we get to see the horror of the camps and lives but mostly it really is a love story and how love can make people survive and do what is necessary, not just to stay alive but also to find the person they are looking for.
I can really recommend this read and this book.
July 7, 2015
Thought provoking
William and Rosalie are courageous to tell their story. It's heartbreaking, unfathomable what they endured, thought provoking, and amazing they are able to share their story to educate people.
William and Rosalie are courageous to tell their story. It's heartbreaking, unfathomable what they endured, thought provoking, and amazing they are able to share their story to educate people.
December 5, 2015
A touching story of love and survival. It's a good testament to their lives now that both have passed on.
On a side note, this was the first title published by the Mayborn Press, back when the Mayborn did something important aside from whine about how racist cops are...
On a side note, this was the first title published by the Mayborn Press, back when the Mayborn did something important aside from whine about how racist cops are...
February 27, 2009
Very personal stories of suffering and hope. I have actually met the authors so that made reading even better.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews