Finding Edith: Surviving the Holocaust in Plain Sight

by Edith Mayer Cord

Finding Surviving the Holocaust in Plain Sight is the coming-of-age story of a young Jewish girl chased in Europe during World War II. Like a great adventure story, the book describes the childhood and adolescence of a Viennese girl growing up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, the rise of Nazism, World War II, and the religious persecution of Jews throughout Europe. Edith was hunted in Western Europe and Vichy France, where she was hidden in plain sight, constantly afraid of discovery and denunciation. Forced to keep every thought to herself, Edith developed an intense inner life. After spending years running and eventually hiding alone, she was smuggled into Switzerland. Deprived of schooling, Edith worked at various jobs until the end of the war when she was able to rejoin her mother, who had managed to survive in France.




After the war, the truth about the death camps and the mass murder on an industrial scale became fully known. Edith faced the trauma of Germany’s depravity, the murder of her father and older brother in Auschwitz, her mother’s irrational behavior, and the extreme poverty of the postwar years. She had to make a living but also desperately wanted to catch up on her education. What followed were seven years of struggle, intense study, and hard work until finally, against considerable odds, Edith earned the Baccalauréat in 1949 and the Licence ès Lettres from the University of Toulouse in 1952 before coming to the United States. In America, Edith started at the bottom like all immigrants and eventually became a professor and later a financial advisor and broker. Since her retirement, Edith dedicates her time to publicly speaking about her experiences and the lessons from her life.

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction

296 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2019

Reviews

[Carolyn Scarcella]

This book is a long reading page 884 which I finished within two days which I never thought I would read no more than 400 pages. The book is called “Finding Edith” by a Holocaust survivor Edith Mayer Cord”. This book is an exceptional book. I’ve enjoyed reading this book. I must say Edith is very strong, brave and very intelligent lady. She loves to study in languages and history. She loved reading so many books, however, she wasn’t interested in socialising with other people because she couldn’t fit in with her age group at the time. Yet, she has had a difficult life during the occupation years been suffering from abuse, isolated, hard labour, hunger, cold and fear. She showed many original photos and documents included in the book. She originally grew up in Vienna, Austria with her parents and older brother Kurt. They had to flee to Genoa, Italy, then had to flee to Nice, France. She was in hiding in another country to another. As a result did her family survive? Did they go to America? You can decide.

[Felice Cohen]

Another example of endurance and hope in the face of the unthinkable. What Edith lived through by the time she was 16 left me speechless. And I've met many Holocaust survivors. The message she left us with, her wish for the future, "that we could all learn and grow without hurting each other," is one we can all agree on.

[LINDA W.]

The author was my college French professor my freshman year in the late '60's. Edith's book is a very frank and detailed account of her origins and childhood in Europe during WW II as a Jewish refugee. Her father and brother were sent to Auschwitz, and she had to leave her mother and go into hiding in France and Switzerland for a year. Many pictures and original documents are included in the book.

Edith's journey was incredibly difficult. She suffered in so many ways: hunger, cold, hard labor, isolation, and constant fear. But she persevered, and worked and studied incredibly hard. Edith emmigrated to the US, married, had a family, and taught languages.She later even had a late vocation as a financial planner. Hers is not only a coming of age and an American success story. It is also a story of the resiliency of the human spirit.

[Joan]

I had the privilege of meeting Edith at a book signing at the Holocaust museum in Washington DC in July 2019. I bought a copy and she graciously signed it with a kind sincere smile. I felt her soul at that moment and now feel as if I know her after reading about her life. She is strong, brave and an inspiration. She is an excellent writer with her story being a page turner. Highly recommended!

[Evangelina]

A straight forward first-and account of an extraordinary and often hard life with reflections, photographs, and the occasional poem thrown in. It was a privilege to read so intimate an account of survival during the horror of the Holocaust.

[Lori]

Very compelling and an amazing narrative of survival.