Destined to Live - Sabina Wolanski

Destined to Live - Sabina Wolanski (2008)
Written with Diana Bagnall, Sabina Wolanski tells her true life story of being a Jewish teenager in Poland in the second world war. Just 12 years of age when the Nazis invaded Poland she kept diaries throughout her life, and tells of murder of her mother, grandparents, father and beloved brother. Hidden by friends in their houses and holes in the forest, Sabina was able to survive and escape.

After liberation by the Russians, she was able to live in Paris for two years and then emigrated to Australia where she began a new life for herself and her children. In 2005 Sabina was invited to speak at the opening of Germanys Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, in Berlin.

As always these tales of the Holocaust are extremely compelling to read and daunting at the same way. How could normal folk treat their neighbours and friends in such a way, and turn a blind eye to what was going on. Maybe so much changed now, in Europe and countries such as mine. Do we turn a blind eye though still to countries such as Darfur and other areas where injustice and persecution occur every day?

I guess these stories become all the more important, as the survivors age and their stories get lost with them. 3/5