Rywka’s Diary: The Writings of a Jewish Girl from the Lodz Ghetto

Diaries kept by young people during the Holocaust are depressing, but full of life and revelations. That is the same with this one. It was not known about until recently, since a Soviet doctor found the diary in the ashes of Auschwitz, and it did not find its way to the United States until the late 1990s. After careful examination and painstaking research, it has now been translated into English. This diary is the life, and struggles, of a 14-year-old Jewish girl living in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. She was young when the war started, lost both her parents quickly, and then her two young siblings were deported and killed. Often, she talks about the lack of food, the hardships of trying to survive, and the uncertainty of it all. But throughout she keeps her faith that God will provide. It seems she managed to survive the liquidation of the Lodz Ghetto, and might have even survived the war, but died shortly thereafter due to medical issues. This is a powerful and moving book, with essays explaining life in the ghetto, and research done to find Rywka after the war.