Tatae's Promise
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The book is based on a true, previously-untold story. It unabashedly and factually recounts life in a Nazi-created ghetto, a young Jewish woman’s daring escape with her sister from Auschwitz, and their struggles to survive and build new lives.
Reviewers characterize it as a “Riveting, Inspiring Masterpiece… Nothing short of brilliant… a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of love – and the will to live to heal even the deepest wounds.”
Hinda was eighteen years old when an axe crashed through the front door of her home in Poland. Nazi soldiers swarmed inside and herded the family into an army truck and hauled them away for one lone reason: They were Jews. World War II and the Hitler-induced Holocaust was in full swing.
After almost three years of subsisting on a starvation diet and sleeping on a wooden floor in the ghetto, Hinda was imprisoned at Auschwitz concentration camp. When incarcerated there for an additional two and one-half years, Hinda endured rabid hunger, slave labor, and barbarous brutalities while clinging to her father’s promise—I know for certain that you will live, and you will tell. These twelve words—a powerful presage written by her father, Tatae, in a letter to Hinda mere hours before the Gestapo murdered him—fueled her will to persevere.
Incredibly, at the age of twenty-three, Hinda devised a daring plot to escape the exhaustively guarded gates of Auschwitz with her younger sister, Rachel. Hinda brilliantly executed the plan only to find the two of them running for their lives—from both Germans and Russians.
Two subplots, featuring pivotal characters Wolf Yoskowitz and Dr. Walter Zeilhofen, intertwine with Hinda’s life in surprising ways. Wolf, a strapping, young Jewish man, struggles to endure the horrors of Buchenwald concentration camp. Walter, a young German doctor, reluctantly works at Auschwitz under the thumb of the notorious Dr. Josef Mengele.
According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, there are less than two hundred (200) documented, successful “prisoner escapes” from Auschwitz-Birkenau. Most of that number were men. Hinda and Rachel’s victorious escape was truly remarkable.
Comments
Tatae's Promise - You will live... you will tell
"... Nothing short of brilliant...I will never forget it. Superb. ─Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite
"...based on a true story... an emotional force. ...a remarkable love story at the heart of this novel... a moving work about the horrors of the Holocaust." ─Kirkus Reviews
"a powerful tale of survival, resilience, and love... an essential read for anyone interested in historical fiction... a standout in the genre... worth every moment of your time. ─Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite
"With its added value of emotional and atmospheric richness, Tatae's Promise is a 'must have' acquisition for any library looking at high-quality fiction and nonfiction accounts of Polish Jewish history, concentration camp experience, and the power of survival. These explorations will also attract book clubs... [Tatae's Promise is] powered by an oral history that comes to life through solid literary excellence... ─Midwest Book Review
"Hinda Mondlak's story is nothing short of extraordinary... Inspired by her father's promise and last words to her just before his execution—'You will live; you will tell'—this riveting adaptation urgently demands only one thing from us: we must listen!"
─Eli Rubenstein, religious leader, Congregation Habonim Toronto; National director, March of the Living Canada; director, International March of the Living; Appointed to the "Order of Canada" by the Governor General of Canada
"This moving and suspenseful book... [is] based on hours of her taped testimony, it describes in rich detail every phase of the persecutions she endured—Nazi occupation, the village ghetto, the death journey to Auschwitz, beatings, illness, starvation, escape, and then a harrowing flight from Russian troops. Saved occasionally through the unexpected kindness of others and always by her own courage, Hinda is vividly alive in this reweaving of her memories. A memorable story of resilience and enduring love."
─Betty Sue Flowers, PhD, Professor Emeritus UT-Austin; former director, Johnson Presidential Library, Editor, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
"As a student of the Holocaust and one who interviewed Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah History Foundation, I thought I had heard it all. Now, I know I was wrong. This is not your ordinary Holocaust story. Do yourself a favor. Find out for yourself."
─Mike O'Krent, Founder and CEO, LifeStories Alive; Holocaust survivors interviewer for Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah History Foundation
"Reading Tatae's Promise was a captivating and a perspective altering experience for me. The authors skillfully wove together several personal, historical, psychological, medical, political, cultural, and religious threads into a meaningful whole. This book should be on every recommended reading list.
─Dr. John Horn, Former Superintendent (Retired) Mesquite Independent School District, Mesquite, Texas
"...absolutely one of my top reads this year... highly recommend" ─Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite