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Miracles Do Happen
In 1933, a ten-year-old Jewish girl, Fela Perelman, befriended a new family that had moved into her street in Lodz, Poland. There were three children in the Rozenblum family — Rose, Felix, and Maria. Fela and Rose became best friends, while Felix kept his distance. Five years later, Fela and Felix discovered that they liked each other, and soon became sweethearts.
When war broke out not long after, the Jews of Lodz found themselves under German occupation, and were soon forced into a ghetto. For Fela and her family, and her community, it was the start of a descent into hell. Fela eventually survived the ghetto, forced labour in Germany, and then the last 17 months of Auschwitz’s existence and the death march out of it.
For Felix, the Germans’ intentions were crystal clear. Late in November 1939, as a 17-year-old, he decided to flee eastward, to Soviet-controlled Polish territory. He begged his family to come with him, but they felt unable to. Felix spent the war doing forced labour in the Soviet Union, often in very harsh conditions.
After the war, miraculously, Fela and Felix found each other. None of Fela’s family had survived. Of Felix’s immediate family, only his two sisters had survived — and they were now in Sweden. The young couple were bereft and alone. This is their story.
When war broke out not long after, the Jews of Lodz found themselves under German occupation, and were soon forced into a ghetto. For Fela and her family, and her community, it was the start of a descent into hell. Fela eventually survived the ghetto, forced labour in Germany, and then the last 17 months of Auschwitz’s existence and the death march out of it.
For Felix, the Germans’ intentions were crystal clear. Late in November 1939, as a 17-year-old, he decided to flee eastward, to Soviet-controlled Polish territory. He begged his family to come with him, but they felt unable to. Felix spent the war doing forced labour in the Soviet Union, often in very harsh conditions.
After the war, miraculously, Fela and Felix found each other. None of Fela’s family had survived. Of Felix’s immediate family, only his two sisters had survived — and they were now in Sweden. The young couple were bereft and alone. This is their story.
170 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 9, 2017
My View:
A remarkable story of strength, resilience, family and survival.
A poignant memoir that is told in two parts: Fela’s story of life pre-world war two, a time of innocence and meeting the boy who was destined to become her husband and an economically worded description of life during the war and as an inmate of Auschwitz and other detention centres. I am glad for the sparseness of words – what Fela has written must have been very difficult to survive let alone recount afterwards. The horrors penetrate event the toughest psyche. Fela story ends with her migration to Australia.
Felix’s story is a little different – yet just as haunting and survival just as miraculous as that described in Fela’s narrative; forced labour in Russia was no doubt an extremely difficult and perilous, yet Felix survived and post war reconnected with Fela and eventually migrated to Australia. What a remarkable story. What resilience!
I think we all would benefit from reading these courageous personal stories - a reminder of just how hostile life was during this ghastly inhuman war (all wars are unconscionable). There are lessons for all here.
PS
Love the cover art – the images and the tactile paper.
A remarkable story of strength, resilience, family and survival.
A poignant memoir that is told in two parts: Fela’s story of life pre-world war two, a time of innocence and meeting the boy who was destined to become her husband and an economically worded description of life during the war and as an inmate of Auschwitz and other detention centres. I am glad for the sparseness of words – what Fela has written must have been very difficult to survive let alone recount afterwards. The horrors penetrate event the toughest psyche. Fela story ends with her migration to Australia.
Felix’s story is a little different – yet just as haunting and survival just as miraculous as that described in Fela’s narrative; forced labour in Russia was no doubt an extremely difficult and perilous, yet Felix survived and post war reconnected with Fela and eventually migrated to Australia. What a remarkable story. What resilience!
I think we all would benefit from reading these courageous personal stories - a reminder of just how hostile life was during this ghastly inhuman war (all wars are unconscionable). There are lessons for all here.
PS
Love the cover art – the images and the tactile paper.
Read
September 9, 2017It's not possible to have "too many" memoirs of World War II. We must keep hearing these stories so that we are forever sorry and forever determined not to let racial violence reign. There will never be a time when it is okay to forget, and even though we may have heard such stories before, each one is new and personal, with the power to challenge us again.
Miracles Do Happen is a shared memoir written by Fela and Felix Rosenbloom, a young Polish couple whose youthful love story is only just beginning when they are separated by the onset of war and the systematic oppression of the Jewish people. Fela's narrative tells of her family's forced exile into a ghetto and her struggle for survival in Auschwitz. Felix's tale covers his journey into Soviet territory and the war years spent in forced labour in brutal conditions. Somehow, even though conflict ravages their lives and families, Fela and Felix find one another again in the fragile peace that follows, and set out to build a life together in the shadow of war.
The Rosenblooms are not writers; rather, their story is a collection of memories put into words at the request of their family members. Yet the minimalism of the text -- simple and honest -- does not underplay the grief of their specific suffering. If anything, the quiet humility of their voices makes the depths of man's depravity appear all the more stark by contrast. Reading this memoir, I was struck by the Rosenbloom's unflinching work ethic and their commitment to optimism and hope. Towards the end of the book, when the Rosenblooms arrive on Australian shores as new immigrants, I felt a rush of thankfulness for the Rosenblooms and others like them who came to build a life here, bringing with them their endurance, hard work, and rich perspectives.
Miracles Do Happen is a shared memoir written by Fela and Felix Rosenbloom, a young Polish couple whose youthful love story is only just beginning when they are separated by the onset of war and the systematic oppression of the Jewish people. Fela's narrative tells of her family's forced exile into a ghetto and her struggle for survival in Auschwitz. Felix's tale covers his journey into Soviet territory and the war years spent in forced labour in brutal conditions. Somehow, even though conflict ravages their lives and families, Fela and Felix find one another again in the fragile peace that follows, and set out to build a life together in the shadow of war.
The Rosenblooms are not writers; rather, their story is a collection of memories put into words at the request of their family members. Yet the minimalism of the text -- simple and honest -- does not underplay the grief of their specific suffering. If anything, the quiet humility of their voices makes the depths of man's depravity appear all the more stark by contrast. Reading this memoir, I was struck by the Rosenbloom's unflinching work ethic and their commitment to optimism and hope. Towards the end of the book, when the Rosenblooms arrive on Australian shores as new immigrants, I felt a rush of thankfulness for the Rosenblooms and others like them who came to build a life here, bringing with them their endurance, hard work, and rich perspectives.
October 3, 2017
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Great true family story, heartbreaking at times but an insight to the human spirit to overcome the most horrible events and still have a wonderful life.
Read
October 15, 2018Miracles Do Happen is a harrowing yet infinitely reassuring read. It is a reminder and a promise, as well as a testament to the value of a purer, simpler diction.
Bookanista
The book is a moving account of not only the Holocaust but of a young couple, alone in the world, rebuilding their lives halfway across the world.
The Jewish Chronicle
[A] moving story.
Sydney Morning Herald
Bookanista
The book is a moving account of not only the Holocaust but of a young couple, alone in the world, rebuilding their lives halfway across the world.
The Jewish Chronicle
[A] moving story.
Sydney Morning Herald
July 12, 2018
We must read these simple yet heartbreaking memoirs as the very youngest people who suffered through the Holocaust as probably close to 90. A love story of Fela Perelman who did not give up hope that her teenage love, Felix Rosenbloom would survive the War. They settled in Melbourne and raised two wonderful sons in that peaceful city.
September 7, 2017
I received this through a goodreads giveaway.
This story is told in two parts, and it's such a wonderful story of not just survival but of the hard work and determination of these people. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
This story is told in two parts, and it's such a wonderful story of not just survival but of the hard work and determination of these people. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
April 14, 2019
So heartwarming. Cherish your loved ones.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews