Being there. . . . to share, nay, empathize and project, literally, figuratively, and imaginatively,your consciousness as a member of the Marta Seiler family struggling to not only survive thehorrors of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, the death marches, and hard labor camps for HungarianJews, but also the often-murderous persecutions in the immediate aftermath of the 1945Soviet liberation. Read slowly, ponder in anger but bear patiently in resolution, what it musthave been like to live and endure under the Stalinist regime concealed behind the Iron Curtain.Appreciate and value the recently re-discovered cache of endearing family letters and exclusiveinterviews conducted by author Vanessa Holburn who also translated the letters for the firsttime, supplementing them with childhood memories and hitherto unpublished photographs. . .CASEMATE PUBLISHERS PROUDLY OFFER ONE OF THE LAST ORIGINAL MEMOIRS RECALLINGTHE UNSPEAKABLE ATROTICIES HUNGARIAN JEWS SUFFERED DURING THE FINAL YEARS OF THEHOLOCAUST AND AFTER . . . . we, and the young, must be there to witness, lest ever we forget.In their deeply heartfelt “Forewords”, Laura Marks, OBE Chair, Holocaust Memorial DayTrust, writes, “As Holocaust survivors are becoming increasingly less able to share theirmemories and their experiences of the Holocaust, it is all the more important that memoirssuch as this be written and read. For Marta, it’s important we learn the lessons of the pastbefore they are lost forever . . .”; Vanessa Rosenthal, author, “Inside Out: A Life in Stages”,adds, ‘In Surviving the Holocaust and Stalin”, Vanessa Holburn brings us the remarkable story ofsurvival in one family over three generations, set against some of the most tumultuous eventsof the twentieth century. Her sweeping narrative moves from prewar Hungary to 1960s Londonand beyond in a span of over seventy years. It is a compelling story in which she highlights, as isfound in other Holocaust survivors’ stories, the ability of the human spirit not only to have thewill to survive, but to go on surviving even after witnessing the worst cruelties and depravitiesman could ever inflict on fellow man.Reviewed and Highly Recommended by Don DeNevi“SURVIVING THE HOLOCAUST AND STALIN – – The Amazing Story of the Seiler Family”, byVanessa Holburn. Pen & Sword HISTORY Books, Dist. by CASEMATE PUBLISHERS: 2023, 207pages, 6 ½” x 9 ½”, hardcover; $34.95. Visit, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk and email, Uspen-and-sword@casematepublishers.com.This book often brings tears, and certainly fearful awareness it can all happen again. How canit not when read by kind, gentle, caring people? How can the intelligent and well-read notrealize that powerful nations are poised to strike the peaceful?Exploring themes of resilience, identity, and inherited trauma, by the end of the book welearn Marta rediscovered her forbidden Jewish identity, found her place within the communityand has moved toward a place of tolerance. In the tradition of oral history, Martha tells herriveting family story with great warmth, humility, and sad but grateful tears to Vanessa who in
equal love shares it with us.
