 Powefully Moving account of Survival and Determination
Seren Tuvel's story is one of strength, courage and determination. She was born into a well-to-do, yet rural, Romnian Jewish family. From birth she showed considerable will and determination as she fought back against anti-Semitism from other schoolchildren. At 13 she won a scholarship to a school in Bucharest and defied her father's orders not to go. After hurling a bottle of ink at a priest/teacher's vicious lecture against the Jews, she was expelled. Rather than returning home, she apprenticed with a dressmaker and quickly learned everything she could.
As a blond-haired, blue eyed Jew, she was able to pass as a Gentile and quickly moved through the highest reaches of Romanian society as a dressmaker. As the war progressed, tension grew in the city. A slew of anti-Semitic laws and the open persecution of well-to-do Jews lead her to leave Bucharest and return to her family home.
Seren's story continues as she and her father were arrested and taken on a forced march to a prison. Once released, she reunited with her mother and sisters. Despite the restrictions against Jews, Seren was able to find work and she strives to support and provide for her family. Captured trying to help her pregnant sister, she spent a year in a forced labor detachment before ending up in Ravensbruck, a woman's concentration camp in Germany. Seren, her sister, and two other friends worked together to survive the brutal conditions.
Powerfully written, the reader roots for Seren and her friends as they navigate the treacherous life of World War II Europe. This is one of the best Holocaust survivor books I found and I highly recommend it.
A perfect pitch memoir
Seren's memories, as published by her daughter in THE SEAMSTRESS, are totally engrossing in part because of her voice & in part because of the scope of her journey from between the wars in Transylvania Romania to post-WWII '50s America with a detour in between that killed 19 out of 20 Jewish women & tried even the soul of this fierce & feisty voyager.
Born to a Jewish lumber mill manager & his second wife, Seren had a set of half-brothers & sisters quite a bit older & then siblings from her mother. Because of her father's work, they lived in rural valleys where each spring, village louts would start a pogrom: rioting that specifically destroyed Jewish life & property. These happened for generations all over Europe due to the Easter time rantings of priests & pastors.
As Seren studied at school she dreamed of going on to college in far away Bucharest. Defying her father she did just that except her path veered off into a sewing school where she enjoyed a giddy coming of age among fellow workers & students, making friends & deciding never to marry... until in her mid-20s, the world erupted again. This time with the ominous intention of one people eliminating anyone else they deemed tainted.
Seren was marked for Hitler's Jewish Solution & the bulk of her memories deals with how & where she was herded, what happened to her family & friends, what she learnt to survive & how she did it.
Suspend all your judgments & expectations otherwise you'll miss the many lessons THE SEAMSTRESS has to teach.
More about females surviving male wars: THOSE WHO SAVE US: A novel by Jenna Blum; MY ENEMY'S CRADLE: A novel by Sara Young; LAUGHTER WASN'T RATIONED: A Personal Journey Through Germany's World Wars and Post War Years by Dorothea von Schwanenflugel Lawson.
A Must Read!
For those like myself who enjoy reading holocaust survivor stories this one is a MUST read! I have lost count of how many survivor stories I have read and enjoyed but this one is by far the best! Well written and with no stone left unturned, Seren tells her story from beginning to end. She was an incredibly strong young girl whose love for her family emits from every page. It is amazing to me that her story can be recounted with no bias or hatred, simply a recounting of her great love of her family, the horrific situations she faced and what she did to survive through those brutal years. It is an incredible testimony to what an exceptional person she was that she was not only able to survive and help her family, but do so with such class and grace. My only regret is that I will never be able to meet this wonderful lady and hug her for all she went through and thank her for her truly inspirational story. One can not read her book and not feel shame and guilt for every time we have complained about life being "unfair and tough on us". I do not know anyone who has lived through the ordeal she did and come out of it so seemingly untarnished. Incredible!
Incredible Book!
I don't typically write book reviews but when I finished reading "The Seamstress" knowing it was a true story I just had to give my opinion of this wonderful book. The courage that Seren Tuvel endured during her young life and her story of survival was so captivating that I could not put the book down and finished it on a rainy Sunday. I encourage everyone who is interested in the horrible nightmares that happened during the Holocaust to pick up this book and read it, you won't be disappointed!
Amazing Story Of Survival And Kindness
Seren Tuvel survived Ravensbruck, one of the most brutal of all concentration camps, and witnessed some of the most gratuitously violent treatment I've ever heard described, yet she managed to keep her optimism, decency, dignity, humor and integrity throughout it all.
This was a very difficult, painful story to read, though beautifully written.
|
