PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Rising From the Holocaust is the astonishing real life
story of an indomitable young Jewish girl who miraculously survives the
horrors of Hitler's plot to destroy her people. Here is the
quintessential account of survival while all around is being destroyed.
Fanny's determination and irrepressible spirit keep her from bitterness
as she forges ahead to make a joyful life in North America and to wield
influence in the political and social fabric of her community and
nation.
Rising From the Holocaust is the astonishing life story
of Holocaust survivor, Fanny Goose of London, Ontario, Canada. Though it
was extremely difficult for Goose to face a myriad of terrifying
memories in the telling of her story, in doing so she has fulfilled a
promise she made a long time ago to herself--that she would live to be a
witness to tell all she had seen. Indeed, she has survived as the only
witness of some historical events, involving the obliteration of her
community, battles between the Germans and the Russians, partisan
skirmishes and brutal murders in front of her eyes. Fanny was a young,
irrepressible teenage girl (then known as Fanie Stenbock), growing up in
Skalat, a small Jewish town in Poland, when the Nazis took over. By
degrees, the community unravels until it is totally destroyed. Only by
an endless string of miracles does Fanie survive. No matter how horrible
the devastation, including the loss of her family and friends and
entire community, her inner resolve and her faith in God keep her
hopeful for a better future. And she is determined that she will live to
be a witness of all the atrocities she sees. Her indomitable spirit
cannot be destroyed and her constant goodwill towards others brings the
support and intervention she needs to help her survive. Many risk their
lives to save hers, including a priest and nuns who hide her in a
monastery where she is kept dressed in religious garb to disguise her
race and religion. She is also hidden in a barn by Polish farmers, saved
from the trains heading to a death camp by a young Judenrat police
officer who pretends to be her fiance, and spared certain death before
the final destruction of the ghetto when a sympathetic railroad official
ushers her out. When the war is over, Fanie returns to find her whole
town obliterated, with only a small tree remaining on the grounds where
her family home had once stood. This tree was one that had been planted
by her father on the date of her birth and beneath its trunk, among the
roots, she finds in the dark soil heirlooms that had been hidden by her
family who had since perished in the ovens of the Holocaust. She meets
Jerzy Gusz, a hero from the Jewish underground, who she finds attractive
and exciting. They decide almost immediately to get married as the only
way for Fanie to get an exit visa is for them to be a married couple.
Fanie and Jerzy eventually find a way to travel to North America where
they make a new life for themselves. They take new names - Fanny and
Jerry Goose - and become respected members of their community, with
Fanny in particular becoming politically influential. No would-be
politician in her city could hope to be elected without first coming and
getting Fanny's blessing. This story, with its many twists and turns
and with the uniqueness of its main character - Fanny Goose - leaves
readers in both tears and laughter. And readers cannot help but
acknowledge the miracles that spared Fanny and allowed her life to be a
blessing to many.