Clara's War: A Young Girl's True Story of Miraculous Survival under the Nazis

On 21 July 1942 the Nazis invaded Poland. In the small town of Zolkiew, life for Jewish 15-year-old Clara Kramer was never to be the same again. While those around her were either slaughtered or transported, Clara and her family hid perilously in a hand-dug cellar. Living above and protecting them were the Becks. Mr Beck was a womaniser, a drunkard and a self-professed anti-Semite, yet he risked his life throughout the war to keep his charges safe. Nevertheless, life with Mr Beck was far from predictable. From the house catching fire, to Beck's affair with Clara's cousin, to the nightly SS drinking sessions in the room just above, "Clara's War" transports you into the dark, cramped bunker, and sits you next to the families as they hold their breath time and again. Sixty years later, Clara Kramer has created a memoir that is lyrical, dramatic and heartbreakingly compelling. Despite the worst of circumstances, this is a story full of hope and survival, courage and love.

Clara's War: A Young Girl's True Story of Miraculous Survival Under the Nazis

Clara Kramer

Biographies & Memoirs

Ebury

On 21 July, 1942, the Nazis took control of the small Polish town of Zolkiew, life for Jewish 15-year-old Clara Kramer was never to be the same again. While those around her were either slaughtered or transported, Clara and her family hid perilously in a hand-dug bunker. Living in the house above and protecting them were the Becks. Mr. Beck was a womaniser, a drunkard and a self-professed anti-Semite, yet he risked his life throughout the war to keep his charges safe.Nevertheless, life with Mr. Beck was far from predictable. From the house catching fire, to Beck's affair with Clara's cousin, to the nightly SS drinking sessions in the room just above, Clara's War transports you into the dark, cramped bunker, and sits you next to the families as they hold their breath time and again. Sixty years later, Clara Kramer has created a memoir that is lyrical, dramatic and heartbreakingly compelling. Despite the worst of circumstances, this is a story full of hope and survival, courage and love.

Leaders & Notable People

“You lose your loved ones, and still you want to live.” On 21 July 1942, the Nazis reached the small Polish town of Zolkiew. Life for fifteen-year-old Clara Kramer would never be the same. While those around her were either slaughtered or transported, three families found perilous refuge in a hand-dug cellar. Hers was one of them. Living above and protecting them were the Becks. Mrs. Beck had been the families’ maid. Mr. Beck was alcoholic and a self-professed anti-Semite, yet he risked his life to keep his charges safe. But survival under his protection proved to be anything but predictable. Whether it was his nightly drinking sessions with officers of the SS in the room just above or his torrid affair with one of the hiding women, it seemed that Clara and the others often had as much to fear from Beck as they did from the war. Clara’s mother told her to keep a diary while they lived in the bunker in order to fill her time and “so the world would know what happened to us.” Over sixty years later, Clara Kramer has finally turned those diaries into a compelling and heartbreaking memoir — a story of love and memory and survival. From the Hardcover edition.

MCCLELLAND STEWART

Clara was a teenager when her family and others hid from the Nazis in a secret bunker under the floor of their former housekeeper's house; rescued by this former housekeeper and her husband, a reputed drunken anti-Semite who turned out to be an avenging angel. Kramer's extensive recollections detail the daily happenings in the tomblike underground quarters where food was scarce, their fear of discovery by the Nazis and the despair of learning about relatives and friends who had been killed. Her sister was sold out by a neighbor boy for a few liters of vodka. A vividly detailed narrative. Black and White photos.

Clara's War - One Girl's Story of Survival

History

World

Ecco/Harper-collins

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Clara Kramer. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Clara Kramer

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Clara Kramer. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Clara's War: A Young Girl's True Story of Miraculous Survival Under the Nazis

Clara's War: A Young Girl's True Story of Miraculous Survival Under the Nazis

Clara's War: A Young Girl's True Story of Miraculous Survival under the Nazis

Clara's War - One Girl's Story of Survival