DO NOT CRY WHEN I DIE, by Renee Salt, is both a Holocaust memoir and the biography of one of the oldest Holocaust survivors. In 1939, Renee was 10 years old. She lived in Poland, loving her parents and her sister, and up until the time the Germans invaded, they had a good life. For the next six years, Renee and her mother, Salah, along with millions of others, lived in a world they could never have imagined. DO NOT CRY WHEN I DIE tells their story as they went from the ghettos in Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Bergen Belsen to their liberation in 1945. As Renee tells of the horrors they endured, she credits her mother's faith, courage, and devotion to her, along with a few miracles. After the war ended, Renee faced a new world. One in which she had to face her memories and losses herself. However, later in life, she was able to share her story and DO NOT CRY WHEN I DIE also tells that story.
DO NOT CRY WHEN I DIE is not an easy story to read and it is imperative that it be read and that its message be shared. This is an inspiring and moving story about a mother and daughter's remarkable bond and the courage to keep their story alive. Highly recommended
When German soldiers invaded Poland in September 1939, it began a six year journey for then-ten-year-old Renee Salt and her mother Sala. Until their liberation in 1945, Renee and Sala were imprisoned in ghettos and concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen. The only light in the darkness and brutality for Renee was the unwavering grasp of her mother’s hand in hers–enduring, against all odds.
It was this unbreakable bond, along with a few miracles, that kept Renee alive. Sala’s staggering courage to defy the will of SS guards saved both her and her daughter from the gas chambers, and the pair survived the deadliest days in Auschwitz’s history.
After suffering the nightmarish conditions at Bergen-Belsen, Renee and her mother were liberated in April 1945–but Sala died soon after they were saved. To this day, Renee attributes her survival to the love and bravery of her beloved mother.
Do Not Cry When I Die is an incredibly moving and deeply crucial book that tells the shocking story of one of the oldest Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen survivors–and the mother’s love that saved her life.
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