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The Girl Who Survived Auschwitz
Poland, 1944 The train slowed and halted with a squeal of the breaks. It felt like we waited in the carriage for an eternity, but eventually, the heavy doors opened, directly into the chaos inside.
Sara Leibovitz, a 16-year-old Jewish girl, was a passenger on the train with her family. They spent their final moments together on the platform in Auschwitz before their horrific fates were sealed. Sara’s mother and baby brothers were sent straight to their deaths. Her father was made to work in the Sonderkommando as one of the men forced to remove the bodies from the gas chambers and was later executed. Sara survived.
This is the powerful true story of Sara Leibovits and the incredible pain and hardships she went through during her time in the death camp. Yet despite the horrors she faced, she always tried to maintain her family’s values of courage, faith and kindness to others. In this compelling memoir, Sara’s story is intertwined with that of her daughter, Eti. Seventy years after the horrors of the Holocaust, Eti reveals the inherited trauma of the second generation and completes the Holocaust survivor’s tale.
This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with HarperCollins.
Book club questions for The Girl Who Survived Auschwitz by Esther Frumkin - translator, Eti Elboim and Sara Leibovits
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
Would you describe the story as a biography, memoir, or a novel – and how does the form of the story change how it is read?
The book shifts between Sara’s experiences during the war and Eti coming to terms with it in the narrative present – how does this shape the relationship between mother and daughter?
What can Eti’s story teach us about survival?
How have the events of the story informed your understanding of the complex history of this region?
The book deals with several complex relationships set against the backdrop of one of the darkest periods in recorded history – what effect does this have on any sense of objective morality?
How does the past influence the creation of identity, especially how Eti revisits the war through her mother’s eyes?
In difficult times, what role does hope play in survival?
What roles do writing and storytelling serve in keeping traditions alive?
Do settings, like Auschwitz, hold onto painful experiences?
The Girl Who Survived Auschwitz Book Club Questions PDF
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“A moving account that concludes with a sense of triumph over evil and darkness.” - Kirkus Reviews