This books tells a true story about a saving life of a young girl during Holocaust. It describe the whole rescuing operation of freeing the girl from concentration camp. The book is well-written and very engaging, but some part are difficult to read due to content of it. Highly recommended.

A childhood torn apart by war. Lore Schindler (b.May 1927) was 10yo when her dentist father Harry,was arrested in Berlin and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. His wife Grete bought his release by giving all their possessions to the Nazi state. Leaving Germany with just 10 marks each,the Schindlers suffered humiliating strip searches at the border.In her first French concentration camp, her mother died. Her father also died in another camp. Orphaned and ill in the huge camp at Gurs, she was saved by prisoner-nurse Schwester Käte, but would later have starved to death, had not 2 sisters - Elsie and Marthe Liefmann - 'adopted' her. Elsbeth Kasser, aka the 'Angel of Gurs', gave her dairy products to build up 'the thinnest girl in the camp'. Another social worker, Elisabeth Hirsch used a forged identity card to get Lore out of the camp and took her to The Moissac Children's House,known for having sheltered Jewish babies and adolescents,saving them from deportation thanks to the active complicity of the population of Moissac.It was led by Shatta and Bouli Simon ,a couple of Israelite scouts from France.When it became unsafe to stay in Moissac, Lore was adopted by pianist Hélène Gribenski, living in a remote village.When that too became unsafe, she moved her little family into a primitive hovel in the forest to await the Allied victory.Lore survived due to these courageous women, who risked their own lives to save hers.Postwar, she attended university and married Yitzhak Levine and moved with him to New York, becoming a librarian with the Brooklyn Public Library.Saint-Cyprien, Pyrénées-Orientales,
was used to intern people before they were sent to extermination camps.The Camp de Rivesaltes,was an internment and transit camp in the commune of Rivesaltes in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales of the French Southern Zone.Between August 11 and October 20, 1942, foreign Jews, including children were transferred from Rivesaltes via the Drancy internment camp to the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz.Gurs internment camp was constructed in 1939 in Gurs, a site in southwestern France, not far from Pau.

A very touching story about a young girl rescued from hell. It was well written and engaging. It was absolutely harrowing at times but I would recommend this book to someone interested in knowing more about the holocaust.

Saving the Schindler's Daughter by Douglas Boyd is a true story on How Courageous Women Rescued an Orphaned Girl from French Concentration Camps

Lore Schindler was ten years old when her dentist father Harry was arrested by the Gestapo in Berlin and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. His wife Grete bought his release by giving all their possessions to the Nazi state. Leaving Germany with just 10 Marks each, parents and daughter suffered humiliating strip searches at the border.

This was the start of Lore’s ordeal. In her first French concentration camp, her mother died. Her father also died in another camp. Orphaned and ill in the huge camp at Gurs, she was saved by prisoner-nurse Schwester Käte, but would later have starved to death, had not two sisters – Elsie and Marthe Liefmann – ‘adopted’ her, found food and made her eat it. Elsbeth Kasser was a Swiss-German social worker in the camp who gave her treats of milk and Swiss cheese to build up ‘the thinnest girl in the camp’. Another social worker, Elisabeth Hirsch used a forged identity card to get Lore out of the camp and took her to La Maison de Moissac, a children’s home in SW France run by her sister Shatta Simon.

This is a story that can never be forgotten and should be told in schools etc. A courageous story from WW11

I received an advanced copy of this book from Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History via NetGalley.

Lore Schindler's harrowing journey began at the age of ten when her father, a dentist named Harry, was arrested by the Gestapo in Berlin and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Her mother, Grete, secured his release by forfeiting all their possessions to the Nazi regime, leaving the family with a mere 10 Marks each. Crossing the border, they endured degrading strip searches.

Lore's ordeal unfolded in French concentration camps, where her mother and father tragically succumbed to the harsh conditions. Orphaned and ailing in the vast Gurs camp, she was saved by prisoner-nurse Schwester Käte. However, had it not been for the compassion of two sisters, Elsie and Marthe Liefmann, who "adopted" her, found sustenance, and ensured she ate, Lore might have perished from starvation. Elsbeth Kasser, a Swiss-German social worker, also played a vital role by offering her milk and Swiss cheese to help nurse "the thinnest girl in the camp" back to health. Elisabeth Hirsch, another social worker, used a forged identity card to facilitate Lore's escape from the camp, ultimately taking her to La Maison de Moissac, a sanctuary for refugee children in southwestern France, overseen by her sister Shatta Simon.

In Moissac, Lore was among several hundred children hidden from Nazi occupiers and French fascists who sought to send them to Polish death camps. When danger loomed in Moissac, Lore found refuge with pianist Hélène Gribenski in a remote village. As circumstances grew perilous once again, they relocated to a primitive forest-dwelling, awaiting the Allied victory.

The remarkable tale of Lore's survival owes its debt to these courageous women who risked their lives to safeguard hers. After the war, she found love in an Israeli kibbutz and eventually settled in New York with her American husband, where she worked as a librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. Her borrowers never suspected the terrifying ordeals she had endured during her adolescence and the challenges of her formative years in a foreign land whose language she could not even speak.

The sheer resilience and unyielding spirit with which Lore navigates the unfathomable hardships and atrocities that beset her are nothing short of inspirational. Beyond Lore's remarkable journey, the book also illuminates the unsung heroes who emerged from the shadows, risking everything to save countless lives. Their acts of valor and compassion, detailed within these pages, serve as a poignant reminder of the incredible capacity for humanity's nobility, even amidst the darkest of times.

It's essential to clarify that the book isn't connected to the Schindler of 'Schindler's List.' Nonetheless, this book offers a powerful and emotionally resonant journey through a lesser-known but equally important chapter in history.

A touching and heartwarming novel how a young girl was saved by total strangers from certain death in a concentration camp. How she endured the hardships and atrocities was inspirational. This is a great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

It’s confirmed - I can’t bear to read about the suffering and cruelty that happened in those concentration camps and I hate reading about wars. These were all described well in this book.. I did find some parts of the book about Lore or Laure pretty engrossing though. I also loved reading about the heroes who helped save so many lives and how they did it.

I found some of the sentence structures a bit unusual.. And the book has nothing to do with the Schindler of Schindler’s list. Silly me - I wonder why I thought that it did.

My e-copy did not have the photographs that the author mentioned towards the end of the book. Would have loved to see those.

3 stars.