Glaser had been raised Catholic and it was only as an adult that he found out he had Jewish roots and a whole family he'd never heard of that had endured, or died in the Holocaust.
Glaser tells of trying to talk to his father who had lived through the holocaust and who would not talk of it no matter what. It is through distant relations that he learns about his Aunt Rosie (his father's sister) who had survived Auschwitz. In chats with her before her death and through her journals, Glaser learns how amazing her survival story really was.
Before the war, she had a great career teaching dance and was even a little famous. During the war, she literally danced with the Nazi's to placate them and keep them on her side so that she wouldn't end up in the gas chambers. She also slept with them as a survival tactic. Because of these relationships she was able to get extra food and supplies which she shared with the other captives.
I really enjoyed this book, it was written from both the perspective of Glaser himself as he was discovering these things about his family and also from the perspective of his Aunt Rosie. Despite the subject, this book is actually uplifting because of Rosie's will to survive and her persistence in making it through the war.
Rating: 9 / 10
ISBN: 9780385537704
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Edition: 1st American Edition