What do you think?
Rate this book
Îngerul Malei
Singură într-o pădure cu doar o pisică pe post de companie - aceasta
este povestea adevărată profund emoționantă a supraviețuirii remarcabile
a unei fetițe în umbra Holocaustului. Născută în satul polonez
Tarnogrod, la marginea unei păduri adânci de pini, Mala are cea mai
fericită copilărie la care cineva ar putea spera. Dar, când naziștii
invadează Polonia, satul ei iubit devine un ghetou, iar familia și
prietenii sunt reduși la foamete. Luându-și soarta în propriile mâini,
își smulge steaua galbenă din piept și se furișează în satele vecine
pentru a căuta de mâncare. Cu puterea și curajul inspirate de poveștile
copilăriei, ea fuge în pădure împreună cu pisica ei, Malach, care devine
familia ei, singurul suflet care o salvează de la singurătate, un ghid
și un memento pentru a rămâne plini de speranță chiar și în întuneric.
este povestea adevărată profund emoționantă a supraviețuirii remarcabile
a unei fetițe în umbra Holocaustului. Născută în satul polonez
Tarnogrod, la marginea unei păduri adânci de pini, Mala are cea mai
fericită copilărie la care cineva ar putea spera. Dar, când naziștii
invadează Polonia, satul ei iubit devine un ghetou, iar familia și
prietenii sunt reduși la foamete. Luându-și soarta în propriile mâini,
își smulge steaua galbenă din piept și se furișează în satele vecine
pentru a căuta de mâncare. Cu puterea și curajul inspirate de poveștile
copilăriei, ea fuge în pădure împreună cu pisica ei, Malach, care devine
familia ei, singurul suflet care o salvează de la singurătate, un ghid
și un memento pentru a rămâne plini de speranță chiar și în întuneric.
288 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2023
184 people are currently reading
3662 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 399 reviews
February 28, 2022
“We owe it to the dead to keep their memory alive by reminding the world of its responsibility never to forget. For to face the future one has to understand the past.”
In 1939, we meet twelve and a half-year-old Mala Szorer in the Polish village of Tarnogrod where she lives with her family – parents, grandfather and siblings. She is happy and hopeful, attending school and dreaming of finishing her education and joining her eldest sister Balla in Warsaw. WW2, anti-Semitic sentiments and the takeover of their village by the German Army lead to her education being halted, Jews being segregated from the Christian population, and her whole family plunged into poverty. The Nazi occupation of their village brings with it the desecration of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, forced labor, curfews and mass murders. A series of events results in her having to live in the forests with her cat Malach (Hebrew for Angel). On account of her golden hair and blue eyes, she can move around freely pretending to be a Polish Christian (without the Star of David sewn on her clothes identifying her as a Jew, which was mandatory). After her brother is shot dead by SS soldiers, it becomes her responsibility to find food for her family to keep them alive, forced to depend on the kindness of the people in the villages nearby.
“It soon became apparent to me that there were more bad people in the world than good ones, and I changed from a happy-go-lucky child to a serious one as I began to see things I could never have imagined.”
After her parents are rounded up, deported and ultimately killed, a fate she narrowly escapes, she is left to fend for herself with only Malach by her side. Malach’s instincts and intervention save her from imminent danger on more than one occasion. In the course of her time in the forests and nearby villages, while evading being identified and captured, she meets partisans who are determined to kill as many Nazis as they can before being caught and killed, kind families who take her in and Nazi sympathizers who would not hesitate to turn her in for a kilogram of sugar (the reward offered by the Nazis). Unsure of whom to trust, she has to rely on her own intelligence, instincts and sheer determination to survive. While she feels for and shows compassion for fellow Jews she meets on her way , she also does not fail to realize that she must fend for herself which would often call for more practical behavior and thereby the need to harden her heart.
“Hunted like a young animal separated from its flock, I felt desolate and in need of sharing my sufferings with another human being. Desperate, I began to confide in Malach more and more. I hoped that she would continue to be at my side at all times. But I needn’t have worried, for she did not look as if she was about to abandon me just yet.”
Eventually, she travels to the Labour Exchange in Biłgoraj where she assumes the identity of a Polish Christian Girl Stefania Iwkiewicz and leaves for Germany (per orders by Germans for Polish workers to report and be assigned to work in Germany). In 1942, Mala reaches Germany and is employed by the Pearlmutters who own and operate a hotel and restaurant. In Nazi Germany, she works hard, keeps her head down and lives in constant fear of being discovered. Malach is her only true companion, who she believes is truly an angel. Her story continues through the end of the War and her migration to England in 1945 and the events leading up to her marriage –the people she meets, the places she travels, the obstacles in her path and how she overcomes them. The author shares how she survived the last few years of the war, picking up the pieces to start a new life after so much hurt and loss.
'Mala's Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II' by Mala Kacenberg is a moving story of strength, resilience and of course, survival. Mala’s bond with Malach will touch your heart and make you believe that true to her name Malach was an Angel looking out for Mala through the most difficult phase in her life. Stories revolving around the Holocaust are never easy to read. Mala’s story gives us a glimpse of the struggles faced by Jews who spent years evading capture and deportation to the Nazi concentration camps. The author’s tone is matter-of-fact and direct, at times almost detached which makes it even more compelling. While it may seem that the narrative lacks emotion, it should be remembered that this is a first-hand account of events in the author’s life and not a work of fiction and this is the way the author has chosen to share it. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the brave young girl who survived all she went through and chose to tell us her story. This is an important book - one that should be read, appreciated and remembered.
“Why was I made fearless? Why was I given such a lot of courage and the strength to withstand all the suffering? Why had I survived? But others had survived and experienced miracles. Anyone who survived the Holocaust survived with miracles. Perhaps one day I would read about them and find an answer.”
In 1939, we meet twelve and a half-year-old Mala Szorer in the Polish village of Tarnogrod where she lives with her family – parents, grandfather and siblings. She is happy and hopeful, attending school and dreaming of finishing her education and joining her eldest sister Balla in Warsaw. WW2, anti-Semitic sentiments and the takeover of their village by the German Army lead to her education being halted, Jews being segregated from the Christian population, and her whole family plunged into poverty. The Nazi occupation of their village brings with it the desecration of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, forced labor, curfews and mass murders. A series of events results in her having to live in the forests with her cat Malach (Hebrew for Angel). On account of her golden hair and blue eyes, she can move around freely pretending to be a Polish Christian (without the Star of David sewn on her clothes identifying her as a Jew, which was mandatory). After her brother is shot dead by SS soldiers, it becomes her responsibility to find food for her family to keep them alive, forced to depend on the kindness of the people in the villages nearby.
“It soon became apparent to me that there were more bad people in the world than good ones, and I changed from a happy-go-lucky child to a serious one as I began to see things I could never have imagined.”
After her parents are rounded up, deported and ultimately killed, a fate she narrowly escapes, she is left to fend for herself with only Malach by her side. Malach’s instincts and intervention save her from imminent danger on more than one occasion. In the course of her time in the forests and nearby villages, while evading being identified and captured, she meets partisans who are determined to kill as many Nazis as they can before being caught and killed, kind families who take her in and Nazi sympathizers who would not hesitate to turn her in for a kilogram of sugar (the reward offered by the Nazis). Unsure of whom to trust, she has to rely on her own intelligence, instincts and sheer determination to survive. While she feels for and shows compassion for fellow Jews she meets on her way , she also does not fail to realize that she must fend for herself which would often call for more practical behavior and thereby the need to harden her heart.
“Hunted like a young animal separated from its flock, I felt desolate and in need of sharing my sufferings with another human being. Desperate, I began to confide in Malach more and more. I hoped that she would continue to be at my side at all times. But I needn’t have worried, for she did not look as if she was about to abandon me just yet.”
Eventually, she travels to the Labour Exchange in Biłgoraj where she assumes the identity of a Polish Christian Girl Stefania Iwkiewicz and leaves for Germany (per orders by Germans for Polish workers to report and be assigned to work in Germany). In 1942, Mala reaches Germany and is employed by the Pearlmutters who own and operate a hotel and restaurant. In Nazi Germany, she works hard, keeps her head down and lives in constant fear of being discovered. Malach is her only true companion, who she believes is truly an angel. Her story continues through the end of the War and her migration to England in 1945 and the events leading up to her marriage –the people she meets, the places she travels, the obstacles in her path and how she overcomes them. The author shares how she survived the last few years of the war, picking up the pieces to start a new life after so much hurt and loss.
'Mala's Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II' by Mala Kacenberg is a moving story of strength, resilience and of course, survival. Mala’s bond with Malach will touch your heart and make you believe that true to her name Malach was an Angel looking out for Mala through the most difficult phase in her life. Stories revolving around the Holocaust are never easy to read. Mala’s story gives us a glimpse of the struggles faced by Jews who spent years evading capture and deportation to the Nazi concentration camps. The author’s tone is matter-of-fact and direct, at times almost detached which makes it even more compelling. While it may seem that the narrative lacks emotion, it should be remembered that this is a first-hand account of events in the author’s life and not a work of fiction and this is the way the author has chosen to share it. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the brave young girl who survived all she went through and chose to tell us her story. This is an important book - one that should be read, appreciated and remembered.
“Why was I made fearless? Why was I given such a lot of courage and the strength to withstand all the suffering? Why had I survived? But others had survived and experienced miracles. Anyone who survived the Holocaust survived with miracles. Perhaps one day I would read about them and find an answer.”
May 16, 2022
Library-overdrive Audiobook
Read by Kristin Atherton
….8 hours and 43 minutes
Phenomenal memoir in every aspect. Storytelling magnet.
Other than being a misleading title — [the cat being a guardian spirit who supported Mala during her devastating years as a resilient Holocaust survivor] —
“Mala’s Cat” is a very engrossing eavesdropping seamlessly written-listen…
It reads like fiction….
but this is a true story.
Horrific evil …
To be Jewish, was to be frightened …
A little faith …
A lot of courage …
A tragic story for Mala — with a favorable ending.
Readers and audio-listeners are easily transported and transfixed in Mala’s world.
As important of a WWII survival story - as all other valuable Holocaust books are.
Personal- heartbreaking -and moving inspiration.
Read by Kristin Atherton
….8 hours and 43 minutes
Phenomenal memoir in every aspect. Storytelling magnet.
Other than being a misleading title — [the cat being a guardian spirit who supported Mala during her devastating years as a resilient Holocaust survivor] —
“Mala’s Cat” is a very engrossing eavesdropping seamlessly written-listen…
It reads like fiction….
but this is a true story.
Horrific evil …
To be Jewish, was to be frightened …
A little faith …
A lot of courage …
A tragic story for Mala — with a favorable ending.
Readers and audio-listeners are easily transported and transfixed in Mala’s world.
As important of a WWII survival story - as all other valuable Holocaust books are.
Personal- heartbreaking -and moving inspiration.
March 6, 2022
Mala Szorer had a wonderful family whom she loved and cherished. However, the dark clouds of war were coming to Tarnogrod, a small village in Poland. Mala and her family were Jewish and as the Nazis began to infiltrate the area, her town was turned into a ghetto. Brave Mala would slip out of the ghetto to find food for the people, removing her yellow star, knowing full well what this meant should she be questioned. One day while outside the ghetto, she sees the Nazi rounding up the ghetto, and also receives a letter from her sister warning her not to return to the village. As poor Mala witnesses this horrific event, this longs to be with her beloved family, but holds back. Is it possible that Elohim had other divine plans for her?
Mala escapes to the forest where she hides and is accompanied by a stray cat, named Malah, who stays with Mala on her perilous journey through the Nazis and townspeople who were also against the Jews. Malah becomes a wonderful companion to Mala and provides moments of solace when she most needs it. Many times, it seems like Malah would appear when danger was near almost as if she was a talisman for Mala. Knowing her family had all been exterminated, Mala goes forward aided by an amazing amount of courage, much intelligence and sense, and the ability to pass as a Christian. She was constantly on the run, constantly on guard to what she said, who she might befriend her, and the daily dangers of finding food and places where she might attain a night's rest.
For six years, Mala kept on against all the evil and adversity one could possibly think. This is a true memoir that reflects what a spirit and a true belief in the almighty makes one capable of survival of a hellish nature. It's amazing that this young girl only about thirteen when this started managed to be alive. Mala learned to rely on herself and of course the instinctual Malah. She is an example to all that although times may be horrendous, the human spirit is strong and life can and does go on.
At the end of these travails, Mala does connect with some relatives, but of course they never made up for the loss of her parents and siblings. Mala eventually winds up in London and does meets a young man who she eventually marries. She and her husband had five children. Strangely, at the time of her marriage, Malah mysteriously disappears and Mala would never see her again. Malah was indeed a guardian angel who was her guide and her divine shield.
O Lord, God, Master of the Universe, Thou by whose will and intelligence this universe was created, heed Thou my earnest prayer. It seemed that the Lord God did indeed hear Mala's prayer.
Mala escapes to the forest where she hides and is accompanied by a stray cat, named Malah, who stays with Mala on her perilous journey through the Nazis and townspeople who were also against the Jews. Malah becomes a wonderful companion to Mala and provides moments of solace when she most needs it. Many times, it seems like Malah would appear when danger was near almost as if she was a talisman for Mala. Knowing her family had all been exterminated, Mala goes forward aided by an amazing amount of courage, much intelligence and sense, and the ability to pass as a Christian. She was constantly on the run, constantly on guard to what she said, who she might befriend her, and the daily dangers of finding food and places where she might attain a night's rest.
For six years, Mala kept on against all the evil and adversity one could possibly think. This is a true memoir that reflects what a spirit and a true belief in the almighty makes one capable of survival of a hellish nature. It's amazing that this young girl only about thirteen when this started managed to be alive. Mala learned to rely on herself and of course the instinctual Malah. She is an example to all that although times may be horrendous, the human spirit is strong and life can and does go on.
At the end of these travails, Mala does connect with some relatives, but of course they never made up for the loss of her parents and siblings. Mala eventually winds up in London and does meets a young man who she eventually marries. She and her husband had five children. Strangely, at the time of her marriage, Malah mysteriously disappears and Mala would never see her again. Malah was indeed a guardian angel who was her guide and her divine shield.
O Lord, God, Master of the Universe, Thou by whose will and intelligence this universe was created, heed Thou my earnest prayer. It seemed that the Lord God did indeed hear Mala's prayer.
October 16, 2022
3.5
I’ve agonised over what rating to give this book.
It’s the true story of Mala; a Jewish girl who was able to hide in plain sight during WWII. She overcomes the odds on countless occasions and is responsible for caring for many less fortunate than herself at great personal risk. By her side throughout this harrowing journey is her faithful cat, Malach.
Mala’s experience is beyond my trivial star-rating system for books, however, I feel obliged to share my reading experience.
Why only 3.5 stars, then? Personally, I felt the writing undersold the story. Mala was 11 when the Germans began to occupy her home town, so this biography is told through a child’s eyes and is relatively easy to read for a WWII survivor’s story. And I think herein lies my hesitation with this book; the reading experience felt impersonal and even mechanical at times. I would have liked to have read less of the inconsequential encounters in favour of more depth on some of the more important events in Mala’s tale.
Please don’t let this put you of reading this incredible story though. It’s important that survivors’ stories are read so we never forget the atrocities that occurred during the holocaust. Mala has led an incredible life and her story should be shared far and wide.
I’ve agonised over what rating to give this book.
It’s the true story of Mala; a Jewish girl who was able to hide in plain sight during WWII. She overcomes the odds on countless occasions and is responsible for caring for many less fortunate than herself at great personal risk. By her side throughout this harrowing journey is her faithful cat, Malach.
Mala’s experience is beyond my trivial star-rating system for books, however, I feel obliged to share my reading experience.
Why only 3.5 stars, then? Personally, I felt the writing undersold the story. Mala was 11 when the Germans began to occupy her home town, so this biography is told through a child’s eyes and is relatively easy to read for a WWII survivor’s story. And I think herein lies my hesitation with this book; the reading experience felt impersonal and even mechanical at times. I would have liked to have read less of the inconsequential encounters in favour of more depth on some of the more important events in Mala’s tale.
Please don’t let this put you of reading this incredible story though. It’s important that survivors’ stories are read so we never forget the atrocities that occurred during the holocaust. Mala has led an incredible life and her story should be shared far and wide.
July 27, 2023
4.5 STARS.
This is the true story of Mala Kacenberg, one of nine children in a large Jewish family living in Poland. Three of her siblings died in infancy to diseases that are curable today. Mala had no idea that they were the lucky ones. At the time she could not know that her entire family was to be slaughtered in one of mankind’s most heinous and brutal crimes, Hitler’s genocidal Holocaust. A crime against humanity, a crime that exterminated six million of her fellow people.
Mala lived a simple, but happy existence, enjoying life, the simplicities of the countryside and nature. However, things were about to change.
August 1939, and the German invasion, the Blitzkrieg, begins. Segregation soon starts after her small town is occupied. Every Jewish person must wear a yellow Star of David. Ghettos, curfews, and starvation follow.
Mala survives by living in the forest and moving from village to village. She is lucky enough to have light blonde hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. Looks that allow her to move more freely. Looks that help conceal her Jewish heritage. Eventually she moves to work as a maid in Germany. Hiding in the very heart of her enemy.
You will find yourself admiring this brave, intelligent young girl, and the choices and actions she is forced to make in order to survive. Constantly changing her identity and making life or death decisions, thinking and outwitting her enemies. Enemies who are not all German.
Malach, the name of Mala’s cat, seemed to warn and protect her from danger time and again, never leaving her side through Mala’s six years of struggle. Mala truly believes that this special cat was her guardian. Fittingly the name Malach is Hebrew for “Angel”.
A wonderful true story of survival in the face of adversity that we simply cannot fathom.
This is the true story of Mala Kacenberg, one of nine children in a large Jewish family living in Poland. Three of her siblings died in infancy to diseases that are curable today. Mala had no idea that they were the lucky ones. At the time she could not know that her entire family was to be slaughtered in one of mankind’s most heinous and brutal crimes, Hitler’s genocidal Holocaust. A crime against humanity, a crime that exterminated six million of her fellow people.
Mala lived a simple, but happy existence, enjoying life, the simplicities of the countryside and nature. However, things were about to change.
August 1939, and the German invasion, the Blitzkrieg, begins. Segregation soon starts after her small town is occupied. Every Jewish person must wear a yellow Star of David. Ghettos, curfews, and starvation follow.
Mala survives by living in the forest and moving from village to village. She is lucky enough to have light blonde hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. Looks that allow her to move more freely. Looks that help conceal her Jewish heritage. Eventually she moves to work as a maid in Germany. Hiding in the very heart of her enemy.
You will find yourself admiring this brave, intelligent young girl, and the choices and actions she is forced to make in order to survive. Constantly changing her identity and making life or death decisions, thinking and outwitting her enemies. Enemies who are not all German.
Malach, the name of Mala’s cat, seemed to warn and protect her from danger time and again, never leaving her side through Mala’s six years of struggle. Mala truly believes that this special cat was her guardian. Fittingly the name Malach is Hebrew for “Angel”.
A wonderful true story of survival in the face of adversity that we simply cannot fathom.
January 29, 2022
Um livro muito giro narrado por uma criança.
Não me arrebatou,mas é uma história muito interessante, como é possível uma criança sobreviver em plena segunda guerra mundial e apenas com a companhia da sua gata.
Fora dos campos de concentração, uma história que flui muito bem e que sem dúvida devia ser uma obra de iniciação ao tema do holocausto e fazer do PNL.
Leiam porque nem por isso é uma obra muito pesada.
Em breve a minha opinião em vídeo em Livros à Lareira com chá!
Não me arrebatou,mas é uma história muito interessante, como é possível uma criança sobreviver em plena segunda guerra mundial e apenas com a companhia da sua gata.
Fora dos campos de concentração, uma história que flui muito bem e que sem dúvida devia ser uma obra de iniciação ao tema do holocausto e fazer do PNL.
Leiam porque nem por isso é uma obra muito pesada.
Em breve a minha opinião em vídeo em Livros à Lareira com chá!
March 13, 2022
Just when you think you've read all there is to read and WWII and the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis on the Jews, there is another voice to be heard. Kudos and thanks to Mala (Szorer) Kacenberg for sharing her story of perseverance in Poland and Germany, and for following her own north star. It's 1939 and Mala lives in the small Polish village of Tarnogrod her parents, grandfather and siblings, where she hopes to get educated and follow her sister to Warsaw. However, the Nazis have other plans, starting with turning neighbors against the Jews, forcing them into poverty and ghettos, and then exterminating them. Mala flees into the forest with her cat, Malach (Yiddish for Angel), and survives because of her ability to pass as a gentile (blonde hair and blue eyes) and to her cat's "warnings." Along the way, she finds some Poles and Germans will to help with kindness, food, and money. As I finished the book, I wondered whether Malach was real or imaginary, as she was able to follow Mala everywhere. 4.5 stars, recommended.
January 6, 2022
“Hunted like a young animal separated from its flock, I felt desolate.”
Mala’s Cat by Mala Kacenberg is a beautifully written story about the dangers of true discrimination and oppression. The consequences and sufferings of when those in power deem a people as less than based on their religion or ethnicity. When true evil takes hold and it is acceptable for some people to no longer be seen as people, stripped of their freedom and ultimately their lives. Neighbor turned against neighbor, friend against friend, how quickly the Jews became public enemy number one for nothing more than their religion and origins. And the story of one young girl’s determination and courage to survive and find liberation.
The resolve the author shows as such a young child in the face of such awful events is remarkable. I truly admire her for how she pushes herself to risk her life to feed her family, to go where those weaker than her cannot. The atrocities she witnesses and describes brought me to tears and chilled me down to my bones.
Something about listening to her experience as a Jew during the Holocaust, listening to the way she tells it is different. I am grateful to her for sharing her story with us, I can only imagine how it must have felt to not only live and survive this time but to re-tell this point in her life. The strength it must have taken.
Kacenberg also brings to light so many details and incidents I had never learned about. (or maybe I did and I just don’t remember but it’s pretty awful) For example, I didn’t realize that keeping a diary or having paper and pen was so dangerous or that Jewish cemeteries were being desecrated and tombstones were used to pave roads. The end of the war didn’t even bring relief for her and her people as there was still so much hate towards the Jewish people. The bitter cruelty she and her people faced broke my heart. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I cried with and for the author. And I just kept coming back to the knowledge that this is a memoir, not a fantastical story but Mala’s actual life experience.
I think it’s easy to gloss over the things that were really going on at this time to these people. Slave labor, starvation, torture, and murder just to name a few. In the face of real horrors and oppression, everything else pales in comparison. When you can be ordered to come outside after curfew by an SS soldier and then shot by that same soldier for being outside after curfew it really puts things in perspective and forces you to reflect on your own life. It also (scarily) brings to light some similarities to that time as well as current events.
“For what normal person could absorb what was happening then?”
The relationship with Mala and her cat is so endearing and a much needed bright spot in the story as I’m sure it was a bright part in her life. As a lover of cats and believer that they are truly special, I definitely want to believe that she is Mala’s guardian.
I would love to get to know this author and ask more in depth questions about her life if she felt comfortable to discuss these events again but of course I understand not wanting to relive these events again.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for this Arc audio!
Mala’s Cat by Mala Kacenberg is a beautifully written story about the dangers of true discrimination and oppression. The consequences and sufferings of when those in power deem a people as less than based on their religion or ethnicity. When true evil takes hold and it is acceptable for some people to no longer be seen as people, stripped of their freedom and ultimately their lives. Neighbor turned against neighbor, friend against friend, how quickly the Jews became public enemy number one for nothing more than their religion and origins. And the story of one young girl’s determination and courage to survive and find liberation.
The resolve the author shows as such a young child in the face of such awful events is remarkable. I truly admire her for how she pushes herself to risk her life to feed her family, to go where those weaker than her cannot. The atrocities she witnesses and describes brought me to tears and chilled me down to my bones.
Something about listening to her experience as a Jew during the Holocaust, listening to the way she tells it is different. I am grateful to her for sharing her story with us, I can only imagine how it must have felt to not only live and survive this time but to re-tell this point in her life. The strength it must have taken.
Kacenberg also brings to light so many details and incidents I had never learned about. (or maybe I did and I just don’t remember but it’s pretty awful) For example, I didn’t realize that keeping a diary or having paper and pen was so dangerous or that Jewish cemeteries were being desecrated and tombstones were used to pave roads. The end of the war didn’t even bring relief for her and her people as there was still so much hate towards the Jewish people. The bitter cruelty she and her people faced broke my heart. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I cried with and for the author. And I just kept coming back to the knowledge that this is a memoir, not a fantastical story but Mala’s actual life experience.
I think it’s easy to gloss over the things that were really going on at this time to these people. Slave labor, starvation, torture, and murder just to name a few. In the face of real horrors and oppression, everything else pales in comparison. When you can be ordered to come outside after curfew by an SS soldier and then shot by that same soldier for being outside after curfew it really puts things in perspective and forces you to reflect on your own life. It also (scarily) brings to light some similarities to that time as well as current events.
“For what normal person could absorb what was happening then?”
The relationship with Mala and her cat is so endearing and a much needed bright spot in the story as I’m sure it was a bright part in her life. As a lover of cats and believer that they are truly special, I definitely want to believe that she is Mala’s guardian.
I would love to get to know this author and ask more in depth questions about her life if she felt comfortable to discuss these events again but of course I understand not wanting to relive these events again.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for this Arc audio!
August 16, 2022
This is so hard to review. It deserves five stars for what this incredible woman (a child, at that point) did to survive the Holocaust. But the writing is so emotionless, it’s so hard to get attached to the main character when it should be so easy. It reads like a play by play of events, not an emotional story.
January 21, 2022
..."Não compreendia completamente o que a guerra significava. Graças às minhas lições de história, sabia apenas que muitos soldados morrem nas guerras. Nunca imaginei que tantos milhões de pessoas inocentes e os seus filhos seriam massacrados apenas por terem uma religião ou uma cultura diferentes."
..." E, se eu conseguisse sobreviver, diria ao mundo o que se passara. Assegurar-me-ia de que nunca ninguém esqueceria os acontecimentos que me atingiram, à minha família e ao meu povo... queria desesperadamente sobreviver, nem que fosse só para isso."
Este livro tem um título fofinho mas é tudo menos isso. Este é o testemunho verídico de Mala Kacenberg ( nascida Szorer) que vê a sua vida transformada aos 12 anos quando as tropas alemãs invadem a Polónia e arrasam a sua aldeia, matando todos os seus familiares e amigos.
Escondida na floresta, consegue escapar à morte e sobrevive graças à bondade de estranhos e à companhia da sua gata Malach. Uma biografia valiosa que serve como aviso para o que nunca podemos esquecer: as atrocidades practicadas no Holocausto.
..." E, se eu conseguisse sobreviver, diria ao mundo o que se passara. Assegurar-me-ia de que nunca ninguém esqueceria os acontecimentos que me atingiram, à minha família e ao meu povo... queria desesperadamente sobreviver, nem que fosse só para isso."
Este livro tem um título fofinho mas é tudo menos isso. Este é o testemunho verídico de Mala Kacenberg ( nascida Szorer) que vê a sua vida transformada aos 12 anos quando as tropas alemãs invadem a Polónia e arrasam a sua aldeia, matando todos os seus familiares e amigos.
Escondida na floresta, consegue escapar à morte e sobrevive graças à bondade de estranhos e à companhia da sua gata Malach. Uma biografia valiosa que serve como aviso para o que nunca podemos esquecer: as atrocidades practicadas no Holocausto.
December 23, 2022
*MY 3RD FAVORITE BOOK OF 2022!*
Kacenberg’s story of survival during the Holocaust is one of hope, determination and courage. She makes it on her own without her family, her cat will become her hope and will find help from many different people. Sad, but full of faith and strength. A (100%/Outstanding)
Kacenberg’s story of survival during the Holocaust is one of hope, determination and courage. She makes it on her own without her family, her cat will become her hope and will find help from many different people. Sad, but full of faith and strength. A (100%/Outstanding)
April 14, 2024
this was such a stark and heartbreaking memoir. i feel like i don't need to say much on this, but please check trigger warnings if you're going to read/ listen to this! a wonderful retelling of a childhood as a Jew in Europe during WWII. i just wanted to pick mala and her cat up and give them a huge hug. she takes no shit from anyone and doesn't leave anything out from her story
10.01.24: god this was just as good on the second reading, definitely one i’ll reread yearly
14.04.24: just finished reading with frazer and he loved it as much as i do
10.01.24: god this was just as good on the second reading, definitely one i’ll reread yearly
14.04.24: just finished reading with frazer and he loved it as much as i do
January 6, 2022
This harrowing account of a young, Jewish Polish girl who evaded capture by Nazi forces in WWII is divided up into 5 books. Through several trials and hardships, Mala perseveres with the aid of a small cat, the kindness of strangers, and a good head on her shoulders. After the war is over, she tries to pick up the pieces of her orphaned life. A suspenseful, heart-wrenching biography. A valuable read and a reminder that we should never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust.
January 21, 2022
When Mala Szoror was 12, Nazis invaded Poland, and she and her family were slowly stripped of their rights and put into a Jewish ghetto. Mala dared to remove her yellow star and sneak from the ghetto to search for food for her family, with Malach the cat accompanying her around the area. On her way back one day, Mala sees her family being rounded up for deportation, and her family begs her to stay away and remain free. Mala lives alone in the forest, with only Malach to keep her company. He helps save her on numerous occasions and always turns up again, even when Mala thought she had lost him. With Malach by her side, Mala manages to survive until the end of World War II.
Mala’s story is incredible; if I didn’t know this was a memoir, I would have thought it fiction. I am so glad she took the time to write down her story for us. Kristin Atherton did an excellent job narrating the audiobook. I definitely recommend this for people who like reading stories about World War II.
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.
Mala’s story is incredible; if I didn’t know this was a memoir, I would have thought it fiction. I am so glad she took the time to write down her story for us. Kristin Atherton did an excellent job narrating the audiobook. I definitely recommend this for people who like reading stories about World War II.
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.
July 20, 2022
First off, this book isn't really about Malach the cat. Still, Malach is not romanticized or personified, except for the seeming unbelievable ways it was able to stick with Mala through everything. She credits the cat with alerting her to several dangers that would have meant her death. Shrug. I really don't know what to think about all that, or what to believe. It is a non-fiction book.
Regardless, I keep thinking about this story. It's a hardscrabble, amazing, own voice piece like many WWII recollection stories. Just....I'm glad we are far on the other side of that era of our world....or are we?
Anyway:
The travails of the Polish people, especially Polish Jews, maybe aren't so so well known, but discoveries are recent: Mass graves found in Poland containing the ashes of at least 8,000 individuals were found and in the news just the other week: Two Mass Graves Discovered in Poland The timing of that along with this book being published are kind of eery.
Regardless, I keep thinking about this story. It's a hardscrabble, amazing, own voice piece like many WWII recollection stories. Just....I'm glad we are far on the other side of that era of our world....or are we?
Anyway:
The travails of the Polish people, especially Polish Jews, maybe aren't so so well known, but discoveries are recent: Mass graves found in Poland containing the ashes of at least 8,000 individuals were found and in the news just the other week: Two Mass Graves Discovered in Poland The timing of that along with this book being published are kind of eery.
April 29, 2022
Прекарах прекрасни два дни с "Котката на Мала" от Мала Каценберг.
Както е видно от корицата, книгата е мемоар за Втората световна война, написан от едно бедно момиче, чието семейство е убито, а тя успява да се спаси и да се пребори с всички трудности и несгоди по време на война!
Мала е момиче с бърз и точен ум, притежава съобразителност и е изключително находчива в решенията, които взима за оцеляването си! Проследяваме пътя й от Полша, през Германия, Чехия, Великобритания, срещите й с добри хора, които й помагат по всякакви начини. А до нея винаги е котката - нейния ангел-хранител!
Както е видно от корицата, книгата е мемоар за Втората световна война, написан от едно бедно момиче, чието семейство е убито, а тя успява да се спаси и да се пребори с всички трудности и несгоди по време на война!
Мала е момиче с бърз и точен ум, притежава съобразителност и е изключително находчива в решенията, които взима за оцеляването си! Проследяваме пътя й от Полша, през Германия, Чехия, Великобритания, срещите й с добри хора, които й помагат по всякакви начини. А до нея винаги е котката - нейния ангел-хранител!
September 13, 2022
2.5 stars rounded down. I understand why the book -- and others like it -- get so much praise, because no one wants to criticize something so terrible that happened to someone. But criticizing the BOOK as a BOOK is not criticizing a Holocaust survivor who endured unspeakable experiences. I admire the person, and am amazed by what she managed to live through, but the BOOK is poorly written and bathetic and weirdly self-aggrandizing and I found it very hard to take.
March 6, 2023
Mala’s Cat has cemented itself as my favourite book, ever.
It is a brutal, unforgiving read, where I lost count of how many times my eyes welled up. At the end of pages and before turning over, you often find yourself staring into nothingness, hardly believing this book isn’t a work of fiction, and realising you just cannot comprehend how unfathomably difficult it must’ve been for Mala, a 12-year-old Polish Jew, to witness first-hand the atrocities of war and demonisation of her people.
It’s a true story about pure perseverance, an unwavering God, and a fiercely loyal cat - and I can’t help but find myself recommending it to everyone I know, book-lovers and book-haters alike.
It is a brutal, unforgiving read, where I lost count of how many times my eyes welled up. At the end of pages and before turning over, you often find yourself staring into nothingness, hardly believing this book isn’t a work of fiction, and realising you just cannot comprehend how unfathomably difficult it must’ve been for Mala, a 12-year-old Polish Jew, to witness first-hand the atrocities of war and demonisation of her people.
It’s a true story about pure perseverance, an unwavering God, and a fiercely loyal cat - and I can’t help but find myself recommending it to everyone I know, book-lovers and book-haters alike.
May 28, 2024
Този мемоар за Втората световна война и Холокоста определено ме разплака!
Но още повече ми харесва, че историята е чиста история и няма никакви излишни, ако не и никакви разговори всъщност, което беше още по-силно за цялата история.
Ами хареса ми и то много! Силна книжка!
Но още повече ми харесва, че историята е чиста история и няма никакви излишни, ако не и никакви разговори всъщност, което беше още по-силно за цялата история.
Ами хареса ми и то много! Силна книжка!
Read
October 16, 2022I’m not going to rate this book because it’s a biography and I feel weird about putting star ratings to people’s actual, real-world experiences. I will say that I found the writing a bit awkward and the title makes little sense because Malach (the cat) isn’t really a prominent figure, and also I feel a little uncomfortable with how much Kacenberg seems to promote people staying in their in-groups and not mingling (though I do understand her apprehension in light of what she’s witnessed and lived through).
No, I don’t really want to talk about the book itself, I’d much rather talk about publisher dishonesty, because here’s the thing: According to two articles I found (no. 1, no. 2, proxy for no. 2 in case of paywall troubles), a. Mala Kacenberg died at the age of 90, so in 2017 or 2018, and b. Mala’s Cat is actually a republication of Kacenberg’s 1995 book Alone in the forest . This is pretty much the only information on Mala Kacenberg available online, so I’m inclined to believe these articles, also because I had already suspected as much. I haven’t heard of many 95-year-olds writing books, so it was always a little suspicious that Mala’s Cat would’ve been written recently, and also Kacenberg references an event in the 1940s by saying “almost 50 years later” when the 1940s are more like “80 years later” from a 2020s perspective. Besides that, the author biography given in the book and on the publisher’s website set of my plausible deniability alarm bells:
Note the lack of present tense and 0 indication of whether Kacenberg is alive or not here.
Look, I don’t mind that Mala’s Cat is a republication. I don’t mind that Kacenberg is dead. I don’t blame her or any of her friends and relatives that may have been involved in the publication process, because I know that authors (or their representatives) often have little control over the marketing and publication of their works, and this seems like a decision an uninvolved third party would make, not someone who knew and loved the author. So I feel justified in blaming the publisher or marketing department or whoever’s idea this was because they indicated these two things — that Kacenberg predeceased this edition’s publication by a number of years, and that this book had already been published under a different title — exactly nowhere in the actual hardcover copy of Mala’s Cat that is in my possession. It’s like they’re afraid that people won’t want to read Mala’s story if they find out she died or that this book is a republication. As if art loses its value just because the artist has died or the work is a couple of decades old. It doesn’t discredit Mala Kacenberg or nullify what she has witnessed. I just honestly find it quite scummy and I needed to rant about it, and maybe someone else who is reading this book has wondered about this as well, and if you’re reading this now then you won’t have to wonder anymore, you’re welcome.
No, I don’t really want to talk about the book itself, I’d much rather talk about publisher dishonesty, because here’s the thing: According to two articles I found (no. 1, no. 2, proxy for no. 2 in case of paywall troubles), a. Mala Kacenberg died at the age of 90, so in 2017 or 2018, and b. Mala’s Cat is actually a republication of Kacenberg’s 1995 book Alone in the forest . This is pretty much the only information on Mala Kacenberg available online, so I’m inclined to believe these articles, also because I had already suspected as much. I haven’t heard of many 95-year-olds writing books, so it was always a little suspicious that Mala’s Cat would’ve been written recently, and also Kacenberg references an event in the 1940s by saying “almost 50 years later” when the 1940s are more like “80 years later” from a 2020s perspective. Besides that, the author biography given in the book and on the publisher’s website set of my plausible deniability alarm bells:
Mala Kacenberg (nee Szorer) was born in Tarnogrod, Poland in 1927. As World War II broke out, Mala found herself having to fend for herself at the tender age of 12. Surviving by her wits, courage and the help of a guardian angel (her cat Malach), she was the sole survivor of her family. Mala immigrated to London with other Jewish refugees after the war, where she raised a large beautiful family, living long enough to be blessed with many grandchildren.
Note the lack of present tense and 0 indication of whether Kacenberg is alive or not here.
Look, I don’t mind that Mala’s Cat is a republication. I don’t mind that Kacenberg is dead. I don’t blame her or any of her friends and relatives that may have been involved in the publication process, because I know that authors (or their representatives) often have little control over the marketing and publication of their works, and this seems like a decision an uninvolved third party would make, not someone who knew and loved the author. So I feel justified in blaming the publisher or marketing department or whoever’s idea this was because they indicated these two things — that Kacenberg predeceased this edition’s publication by a number of years, and that this book had already been published under a different title — exactly nowhere in the actual hardcover copy of Mala’s Cat that is in my possession. It’s like they’re afraid that people won’t want to read Mala’s story if they find out she died or that this book is a republication. As if art loses its value just because the artist has died or the work is a couple of decades old. It doesn’t discredit Mala Kacenberg or nullify what she has witnessed. I just honestly find it quite scummy and I needed to rant about it, and maybe someone else who is reading this book has wondered about this as well, and if you’re reading this now then you won’t have to wonder anymore, you’re welcome.
March 19, 2022
Had a lovely book group chat about this book today. We all seemed to agree we felt privileged to read this amazing story. Mala is a resourceful, determined, resilient young woman. She describes her experiences in rather a factual style and for me, the writing lacks something in emotion. She makes reference to the most horrendous events that take place in front of her and yet moves swiftly on. Curious to know more about her. Was this a coping mechanism or part of who she was? She is focused on survival and this is to the detriment of others even in her family. I admired her no question but not sure I warmed to her.
November 20, 2022
The writing wasn't great and the time line was confusing at times; but in this case, it just doesn't matter. What a story!
April 30, 2023
As the cover dictates, it really was an ‘astonishing journey’ of a holocaust survivor. I enjoyed the details about the cat.
May 10, 2022
Mala Szorer woont in het kleine Pools dorpje Tarnogrod en heeft een gelukkige jeugd. Ze is 12 jaar oud als de Duitsers Polen binnenvallen. Dat veranderd alles voor haar. Het leven wat ze kende bestaat niet meer.
Terwijl de situatie steeds erger wordt, besluit Mala de getto uit te sluipen opzoek naar eten. Zodra zij de getto uit is doet ze haar jodenster af. Doordat ze blond haar en blauwe ogen heeft lijkt ze op een Christelijk meisje.
Wanneer Mala terugkomt ziet ze dat al haar dierbaren gedeporteerd worden. Haar zus heeft een brief achtergelaten waarin staat dat Mala weg moet blijven. Ze vlucht het bos in samen met een kat genaamd Malach. Deze kat zal haar tijdens de oorlogsjaren vergezellen, begeleiden en hoop geven.
Mala is een fijn persoon om te volgen. Ze is dapper, zit vol moed en geeft niet op. Maar niet alleen Mala is bijzonder. Ook haar kat Malach laat een diepe indruk achter. Door het lezen raak je ervan overtuigd dat Malach inderdaad een engel is die haar beschermd.
Hoewel Mala haar daden ook niet altijd even goed zijn, verdoezeld ze dit niet. Het is mooi om te zien hoe ze haar leven op papier heeft gezet. Ik heb zeker bewondering voor haar gekregen.
Het is ongelofelijk dat dit een waargebeurd verhaal is. Sommige dingen zijn zo surreëel dat je jezelf afvraagt hoe dit ooit heeft kunnen gebeuren.
Alle emoties zijn voelbaar in dit boek. Je leeft echt met Mala mee. Het breekt je hart.
Een mustread voor als je geïnteresseerd bent in WOII. Dit boek verdient veel meer media aandacht. Het geeft je een duidelijk en rauw beeld over wat de Joden hebben doorstaan.
Ik geef dit boek 5 sterren.
Recensie-exemplaar
Terwijl de situatie steeds erger wordt, besluit Mala de getto uit te sluipen opzoek naar eten. Zodra zij de getto uit is doet ze haar jodenster af. Doordat ze blond haar en blauwe ogen heeft lijkt ze op een Christelijk meisje.
Wanneer Mala terugkomt ziet ze dat al haar dierbaren gedeporteerd worden. Haar zus heeft een brief achtergelaten waarin staat dat Mala weg moet blijven. Ze vlucht het bos in samen met een kat genaamd Malach. Deze kat zal haar tijdens de oorlogsjaren vergezellen, begeleiden en hoop geven.
Mala is een fijn persoon om te volgen. Ze is dapper, zit vol moed en geeft niet op. Maar niet alleen Mala is bijzonder. Ook haar kat Malach laat een diepe indruk achter. Door het lezen raak je ervan overtuigd dat Malach inderdaad een engel is die haar beschermd.
Hoewel Mala haar daden ook niet altijd even goed zijn, verdoezeld ze dit niet. Het is mooi om te zien hoe ze haar leven op papier heeft gezet. Ik heb zeker bewondering voor haar gekregen.
Het is ongelofelijk dat dit een waargebeurd verhaal is. Sommige dingen zijn zo surreëel dat je jezelf afvraagt hoe dit ooit heeft kunnen gebeuren.
Alle emoties zijn voelbaar in dit boek. Je leeft echt met Mala mee. Het breekt je hart.
Een mustread voor als je geïnteresseerd bent in WOII. Dit boek verdient veel meer media aandacht. Het geeft je een duidelijk en rauw beeld over wat de Joden hebben doorstaan.
Ik geef dit boek 5 sterren.
Recensie-exemplaar
November 12, 2024
i finished this in a coffee shop and the amount of tears I had to fight was painful. What a harrowing and astonishing account of survival and bravery. This book will stay with me for a long time.
November 2, 2025
I loved this book. I could read it over and over again and not get bored. The suffering Mala had to go through to live is insane and I can’t believe she lived. I also love that she had a cat with her, that just makes her survival even better.
Good job Mala and thank you for telling us your story.
Good job Mala and thank you for telling us your story.
January 18, 2023
O inesquecível relato de sobrevivência de uma criança ao holocausto. A história real de uma corajosa e destemido menina que se deparou de frente com a morte por diversas ocasiões. Foi muito interessante ficar a conhecer um pouco mais deste lado da segunda guerra mundial.
May 10, 2025
I feel bad about this because she is probably amazing and stronger than me but she is not a very good writer. The storytelling was incredibly bland. I just couldn't handle reading 300 pages of that.
August 27, 2022
I believe that this book will stay with me for a long time. Just a young girl, Mala Szorer is forced to flee her home and hide out in near by woods as her family is entrapped and then slaughtered by the increasingly powerful and inhumane Nazis. It is shear luck that she was far enough from the house that she could escape, followed by a stray cat that had started to follow Mala around when she was just a small child. They roam the forest and nearby towns for years, begging for food and sometimes obtaining work and shelter. She is Jewish but has blond hair and blue eyes so is able to get by.......mostly. it is a long, terrifying, and sometimes miraculous journey through Poland and into Germany where she works, disguised as a gentile but still in grave danger until the war ends and beyond. Her wit and resourcefulness are amazing and inspiring, but her personal journey does not end there. She is left with no one, or so she thinks, and must decide which way to proceed in a still dangerous world.
By her side the whole time was Malach (Angel) her cat. Mala is convinced that her cat was sent by God to protect her, a child alone. On numerous occasions her loyal pet seemed to be able to warn her of danger, face her in the right direction, create a distraction, and, in one case, land on the head of a near by killer, chasing him off for good. Some animals do seem to have incredible powers, and this was no ordinary kitty! The two nomads eventually arrived in England where Mala married at age 21 and raised a large family, always keeping close to her faith and remembering the loved ones who did not make it.
I think this volume would benefit from a little more forward or afterword than it contains, so I went searching. Mala died just a few years ago at age ninety. According to one of her daughters, the kids grew up listening to snippets of stories about their mother's terrifying escape, the horror, the loneliness, the hunger, and the never knowing who to trust, something she never got over. While raising five children and running a small B & B in England, she did not have time to write any of these stories in a journal, but she started to jot down her memories once the children were grown. Eventually, this habit developed into the book ALONE IN THE FOREST, published in 1995. MALA'S CAT is a reissue of that book. Mala herself had, according to her daughter, always wanted the book to be named AN ANGEL AT MY SIDE, in honor of the extraordinary pet and companion who kept her alive and optimistic through hopeless situations, sometimes appearing out of nowhere to save the day. In my opinion, her choice of title would have been the most expressive of this moving memoir.
By her side the whole time was Malach (Angel) her cat. Mala is convinced that her cat was sent by God to protect her, a child alone. On numerous occasions her loyal pet seemed to be able to warn her of danger, face her in the right direction, create a distraction, and, in one case, land on the head of a near by killer, chasing him off for good. Some animals do seem to have incredible powers, and this was no ordinary kitty! The two nomads eventually arrived in England where Mala married at age 21 and raised a large family, always keeping close to her faith and remembering the loved ones who did not make it.
I think this volume would benefit from a little more forward or afterword than it contains, so I went searching. Mala died just a few years ago at age ninety. According to one of her daughters, the kids grew up listening to snippets of stories about their mother's terrifying escape, the horror, the loneliness, the hunger, and the never knowing who to trust, something she never got over. While raising five children and running a small B & B in England, she did not have time to write any of these stories in a journal, but she started to jot down her memories once the children were grown. Eventually, this habit developed into the book ALONE IN THE FOREST, published in 1995. MALA'S CAT is a reissue of that book. Mala herself had, according to her daughter, always wanted the book to be named AN ANGEL AT MY SIDE, in honor of the extraordinary pet and companion who kept her alive and optimistic through hopeless situations, sometimes appearing out of nowhere to save the day. In my opinion, her choice of title would have been the most expressive of this moving memoir.
November 25, 2023
I admit it, I went into this because of the title! Anything with "cat" on the title is a pretty strong hook!
Unfortunately, the narrative itself went downhill after its engaging title.
It seems harsh to criticize a personal memoir of someone who lived during the horrific Nazi occupation of Poland, but while there's a poignant story here, it is not told well. It reads like some kind of fractured fairy tale, complete with an innocent girl, terrifying monsters, unsurmountable obstacles, topped off with a magical cat! I'm sure the whole experience must have seemed surreal to Mala as she lived through it, but it fails in the retelling by a wandering timeline, unclear circumstances, and huge gaps in her journey. Also, the cat is quite peripheral to the main story, popping up now and then when least expected, and almost forgotten. There are few, if any, explanations of how they came to be together or why she appears when she does. I understand that Mala considers her a kind of "guardian angel," but they don't really seem to have a genuinely close bond.
Mala herself seems blessed or lucky beyond measure! It frequently seems like she has an invisibility cloak, the way so many German soldiers fail to see her! She acknowledges God's hand in her many escapes and landings in favorable places, yet she also seems to take it for granted that she is destined for a higher purpose.
Mala often mentions how she tried to hang on to her humanity and not sink to the same depravity as the Nazis and their informers, but as soon as she is cornered, she shows an equal viciousness to a girl from her hometown who tries to report her.
Even though she faces many harrowing trials and witnesses some truly traumatizing events, the Germany she describes does not seem short of essentials, like food and clothing. In that way, she fares better than many in similar predicaments.
If you haven't read many true stories of WWII and the Jewish Holocaust, this might be a good entry point. It reads like a YA book to me.
Unfortunately, the narrative itself went downhill after its engaging title.
It seems harsh to criticize a personal memoir of someone who lived during the horrific Nazi occupation of Poland, but while there's a poignant story here, it is not told well. It reads like some kind of fractured fairy tale, complete with an innocent girl, terrifying monsters, unsurmountable obstacles, topped off with a magical cat! I'm sure the whole experience must have seemed surreal to Mala as she lived through it, but it fails in the retelling by a wandering timeline, unclear circumstances, and huge gaps in her journey. Also, the cat is quite peripheral to the main story, popping up now and then when least expected, and almost forgotten. There are few, if any, explanations of how they came to be together or why she appears when she does. I understand that Mala considers her a kind of "guardian angel," but they don't really seem to have a genuinely close bond.
Mala herself seems blessed or lucky beyond measure! It frequently seems like she has an invisibility cloak, the way so many German soldiers fail to see her! She acknowledges God's hand in her many escapes and landings in favorable places, yet she also seems to take it for granted that she is destined for a higher purpose.
Mala often mentions how she tried to hang on to her humanity and not sink to the same depravity as the Nazis and their informers, but as soon as she is cornered, she shows an equal viciousness to a girl from her hometown who tries to report her.
Even though she faces many harrowing trials and witnesses some truly traumatizing events, the Germany she describes does not seem short of essentials, like food and clothing. In that way, she fares better than many in similar predicaments.
If you haven't read many true stories of WWII and the Jewish Holocaust, this might be a good entry point. It reads like a YA book to me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 399 reviews