Rena's Promise

A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz

By: Rena Kornreich Gelissen, Heather Dune Macadam

Narrated by: Heather Dune Macadam

"I do not hate. To hate is to let Hitler win." - Rena Kornreich Gelissen.

On March 26, 1942, the first mass transport of Jews - 999 young women - arrived in Auschwitz. Among them was Rena Kornreich, the 716th woman numbered in camp. A few days later, her sister Danka arrives and so begins a trial of love and courage that will last three years and 41 days, from the beginning Auschwitz death camp to the end of the war.

Rena's Promise stands out from other memoirs not only for the mere length of time she spent in the camps (no other survivor from the first transport has ever written about her experience) but for her dedication to honoring the bonds between mothers, daughters, and sisters, prisoners, and even guards. From her escape from Dr. Mengele's experiment detail to her surreal meetings with SS woman Irma Grese, Rena tells a dynamic tale of courage and compassion that reminds us of the resiliency of the human spirit, and the power of people to help one another in unimaginable circumstances, be they Gentile or Jew, German or Pole, kapo or prisoner.

©1994 Heather Dune Macadan and Rena Kornreich Gelissen (P)2013 Heather Dune Macadam and Rena Kornreich Gelissen

Harrowing

Another harrowingly wonderful Holocaust memoir. The fact that two sisters survived is a miracle in itself. The horrors are too much to take in. Surviving was and us the miracle. The narrator does a beautiful job with such a deeply personal story.

AK

This story or survival and the will to live is amazing. The recording, however, reminds me of making a mixed tape when I was a kid. The book would be much better to read.

Rena's promise

I thought the narrated was not right for this book. I felt like I was a small child being read to in some parts.

What a gripping story.

I’ll probably never be the same. Every time I I feel like the world is against me I’m going to remember Rena. Well worth the time.

The most horrifying and best survival story

Rena has turned into my hero, and the reader is the author who got to know Rena well during their sessions. The story will forever tear on my heart strings, and forever be close to my heart. I will never forget Rena and Danka’s journey to freedom, and the absolute disgusting scenes they witnessed during their 3 years in camp. Sending love to Rena’s reminding family.
- Elina