All But My Life

Context

All But My Life is Gerda Weissmann Kleins memoir of her experiences during World War II.Klein was born on May 8, 1924, in Bielitz (now Bielsko), Poland. She remembers her childhoodas being happy, even idyllic. The Weissmanns were a Jewish family, and their town had beenpart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before 1919. Like most of the residents in the area, theWeissmann family was bilingual, speaking both Polish and German, and Kleins older brother,Arthur, studied English as well. Kleins father, Julius, was a business executive who had livedin Bielitz for more than twenty years, and Helene, her mother, was born there, as were bothKlein and Arthur. The family was horrified when German Nazi forces invaded Poland onSeptember 1, 1939. Despite the fact that Britain and the United States declared war on Germanytwo days later, it took the Nazis only eighteen days to conquer Poland.

Soon afterward, the entire Jewish population of Bielitz was forced to register with the police,and soon, sanctions were imposed against the Jews. First, they were required to turn in all gold,automobiles, bicycles, and radios. Many Jews were forced out of their homes, and the localtemple was burned down. In October of 1939, all Jewish men between the ages of sixteen andfifty were forced to register, whereupon they were sent in cattle cars to rebuild parts of Polandthat had been destroyed by Allied attacks. Kleins brother was sent to the interior of Poland inone of these transports. In December, the Weissmann family was forced to move into thebasement of their home, while the woman who had been their laundress took over the mainhouse. After Christmas, the Nazis restricted the local Jewish populations food supply bystamping their ration cards with the word JEW, entitling them to less than half the amount offood that non-Jews received. Their coal rations were also cut, and they were forced to wear blueand white armbands and, later, yellow stars that identified them as Jews.

Before the war began, Bielitz had a Jewish population of nearly 8,000 people. As news of theGerman treatment of Jews reached them, however, more and more Jews fled to the Russian-occupied parts of Poland that had not been claimed during the German takeover. By the springof 1940, the Jewish population in Bielitz had dwindled to little more than three hundred people,most of them children and the elderly. Like Kleins brother, all of the young men had left in thetransports. The young female population was declining as well, as more and more families leftor sent their children out of the country. On April 19, 1942, all of the remaining Jews in Bielitzwere ordered to move into a newly constructed Jewish ghetto. In May of 1942, shortly afterKleins eighteenth birthday, all Jews were required to register for work. Those who did notcomply were sent to Auschwitz, a nearby concentration camp intended to enable the Nazis tokill those people who were deemed not useful to the German cause. Soon, the Weissmannfamily was told that they would be sent to camps in order to make Bielitz Judenreinfree ofJews. Kleins father and mother were taken to death camps, where they were killed, along withone to three million others.

Poland was the center of the Jewish Holocaust, and Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec, Majdanek,Sobibor, and Birkenau, the infamous concentration camps, were all located there. The survivalrate for Jews living in Poland during the war was lower than in any other country. Polands

Jewish population dropped from 3,500,000 to just 50,000 by the end of the war. At the sametime that her parents were taken to Auschwitz, Klein and many other young Polish people weretaken to labor camps, where they became slaves forced to work for the German war effort. As itbecame obvious that Germany was losing the war, the Germans started dismantling the campsand forcing the prisoners onto marches that became known as death marches because of theirextremely high mortality rate. In the winter of 1945, more than four thousand young womenwere forced onto a three-hundred-mile death march from a number of labor camps inGermany and Poland to Czechoslovakia. Among them was Gerda Weissmann Kleinone ofonly 120 women in her group of 2,000 who survived this march. Klein and the other womenwere liberated by American troopsincluding one soldier who eventually became Kleinshusband in the spring of 1945.

All But My Life is Kleins memoir of the period from September 3, 1939, two days after theNazi invasion of Poland, until September of 1945. In 1946, Klein moved to Buffalo, New York,with her husband, Kurt Klein, where she began working to raise awareness about the Holocaust,prevent hunger, and promote tolerance. She quickly formed ties with a number of Jewishgroups and began lecturing about her experiences as a young woman during the Holocaust. Firstpublished in 1957, Kleins story was the basis for the Academy Award-winning documentaryOne Survivor Remembers. Klein also went on to write a number of other books, including acollection of her correspondence with her then-fianc, Kurt Klein, before their marriage in1946.

All But My Life is just one of many memoirs written in the decades immediately following theend of World War II. In 1995 the memoir was revised and re-released with an epiloguedescribing Kleins post-war life.

Plot Overview

Gerda Weissmann Kleins story begins on September 3, 1939, when she is fifteen. This day, shesays, was the beginning of a tragedy that lasted six years. She is living in Bielitz, Poland, thetown of her birth, and she reacts with horror as she watches her neighbors greet the invadingNazis with joy. The family had been trying to hide the possibility of war from Gerdas fatherbecause he was ill and they didnt want to upset him. Once their town is invaded, though, theycan no longer keep it a secret from him. Sanctions start being imposed on the Jews, and Jewishmen are being abducted by the Nazis.

In October, Gerdas brother, Arthur, is forced to leave in a Nazi transport with all of the otheryoung men in town. Gerda never sees him again, although she receives letters from himthroughout much of the war. The situation becomes more and more dire for the Jews, as theirAryan neighbors take advantage of the situation as much as they can, buying their possessionsfor a fraction of their worth and taking over the factories they own. The Weissmanns are forcedto switch homes with their laundress, who has been living in their basement, and not long after,they are told they will soon be forced to move into a Jewish ghetto. Gerda travels with herchildhood friend Ilse to visit a camp for young Jewish men and meets Abek Feigenblatt, whoquickly falls in love with her, although his feelings are not reciprocated. Gerda thinks of Abekis a friend and nothing more.

Gerda becomes increasingly aware of how truly horrifying the situation has gotten when shereceives a letter from her friend Erika, telling her how her mother, baby brother, and boyfriendwere forced to lie naked on the cobblestones of their town and were then trampled to death byNazis on horseback.

In 1942, the family is forced into a Jewish ghetto and ordered to work for the German wareffort. However, it is not long before all the Jews are told they will be moved out of town soBielitz can be Judenreinfree of Jews. Gerda is separated from her parents and never seesthem again.

Gerda goes to a transit camp in Sosnowitz, where Abeks family makes sacrifices to try and gether freedom. However, she chooses to not go with them because she realizes that she will be sothoroughly in their debt that she will be forced to marry Abek, which she does not want to do.Gerda and Ilse are then transported to a labor camp that specializes in weaving, which they areforced to do for the German war effort. Gerda regularly receives loving letters from Abek whilein the camp.

In August of 1943, the girls are divided into groups and told they will be leaving the camp andtaken to Mrzdorf, another labor camp. Luckily, Gerda and Ilse are in the same group.Mrzdorf is almost unbearable for Gerda once she refuses a supervisors advances and ispunished by being forced to work both the day and night shifts. Ilse manages to save her byhaving them both transferred to a weaving camp in Landeshut.

They discover that there is a mens camp next door, reputed to be the worst camp in all ofGermany. Gerda is shocked and guilt-ridden when she hears that Abek has voluntarily

transferred there to be closer to her.

On May 6, 1944, the girls find out that they are to be transferred again. Ilse and Gerda continueto mourn the loss of their families but still have hope for their own survival. The new camp,Grnberg, is brutal, but still not as bad as Mrzdorf. In November, the girls are forced to stripnaked and be visually inspected by the SS (stands for Schutzstaffel, the term for Hitlers elitegroup of soldiers). They hear rumors that they may be sent to provide amusement forwounded German soldiers. Gerda manages to buy enough poison for both herself and Ilse sothat they will be able to avoid this fate.

As the war progresses and Germany begins to falter, the situation at the camp becomes worseand worse. In January 1945, they find out that Germany is being invaded by the Allies. Girlsfrom other work camps arrive, increasing the camp population to over 4,000 young women.They are divided into two groups and told they will be marching to a concentration camp.Gerda says that her group was doomedonly 120 of them survivedbut she expresses noregrets about being assigned to this group. They begin their march, and after only a few days,girls begin to die of starvation and cold. They march for weeks through bombed-out cities ofGermany and, in March, finally arrive at another camp, Helmbrechts.

The next month, however, they are forced to begin marching again, and they soon cross theCzechoslovakian border. Ilse grows weaker and weaker, and Gerda tries in vain to protect her.Ilse dies on the march, as do most of the other prisoners. One night, in a town called Volary,they are locked into a factory building and left there by the SS with a bomb outside.

The bomb does not go off, however, and the Czech people unlock the doors, announcing thatthe war is over. The surviving girls are taken to a makeshift hospital by the Red Cross andAmerican soldiers. One of these American soldiers is Kurt Klein, who continues to visit Gerdawhile she is in the hospital. Before he is forced to go back to America, he asks Gerda to comewith him and be his wife. She says she knows she will never be alone again.

Character List

Gerda Weissmann Klein - The narrator of the memoir that covers six years of her life. Thetitle All But My Life refers to what the Nazis took from Gerda, and the book covers the physicaland psychological journey that begins when she is just fifteen years olda journey that shebarely survives. Throughout the ordeal, Gerda remains hopeful about both her familys fate andher own, and she emphasizes the positive attributes of those around her. Gerdas character isepitomized by her brave optimism and strength in the face of the Holocaust.

Read an in-depth analysis of Gerda Weissmann Klein.

Julius Weissmann - Gerdas father, referred to as Papa. Despite his illness, Julius does notcomplain and does what little he can to make the lives of his family better. Although he livesonly through Part One of the book, Gerda constantly thinks about him and prays for hissurvival. She believes that he is responsible for saving her life, first by insisting that she wearher skiing boots before she left on the transport and then by making her promise that she wouldnot kill herself.Helene Weissmann - Gerdas mother, known as Mama. Helene tries to make the best of hersituation and is willing to sacrifice anything she can for her family. Helene was born in Bielitz,and although she is shocked by the invasion and the townspeoples response, she is stoic aboutwhat is happening around her. She is separated from Gerda and the end of Part One, andalthough Gerda never sees her again, she reminisces about her constantly and remembers her inher prayers.Arthur Weissmann - Gerdas older brother. Losing Arthur is one of Gerdas greatest trialsduring the war. Witty and attractive, Arthur is a brave young man who urges Gerda to be strongfor their parents. Although Arthur exists mainly in Gerdas memories, he is still a driving forcein her memoir.Ilse Kleinzhler - A childhood friend of Gerdas from Bielitz. Together, Gerda and Ilse areforced into camps and onto a death march, where Ilse eventually dies. Ilse is a good friend toGerda, sacrificing her food for her and putting herself at risk to help her. Ilses friendship isone of Gerdas key motivators throughout their time in the camps and during the death march.

Read an in-depth analysis of Ilse Kleinzhler.

Abek Feigenblatt - A suitor of Gerdas. Abek hopes that one day after the war, Gerda willmarry him. He sacrifices much to be with her, despite the fact that her feelings are notreciprocated and that she regards him as more of an older brother figure than a boyfriend.Eventually, his hopes are crushed, and he loses his will to live while housed in the most horrificGerman labor camp.

Read an in-depth analysis of Abek Feigenblatt.

Kurt Klein - An American soldier who helps liberate Gerda and the other girls. His parentswere victims of the Holocaust, so he is very empathetic to Gerdas needs and seems to knowinstinctively what will make her feel better. His love and compassion are vital to her recoveryfrom the horrors she experiences during the war.

Read an in-depth analysis of Kurt Klein.

Suse and Liesel - Two girls whom Gerda befriends in the camps and who end up on the deathmarch with her. Together with Ilse, the four girls form a loving community of support for eachother during their journey. Both Suse and Liesel die immediately after the march.Erika - A childhood friend of Gerdas. It is her heartbreaking letter that brings the reality ofthe Holocaust home to Gerda. Erikas love for her fianc also helps Gerda explore her ownfeelings for Abek.Mrs. Berger - The Jewish woman in charge of the girls at Bolkenhain; a fellow prisoner atLandeshut. Although Mrs. Berger has many undesirable qualities, she also exhibits integrityand courage and makes the girls experiences at Bolkenhain more pleasant.Tusia - A giraffe-necked girl in the camps. Tusia shares the same birthday as Gerda. Herwords, before she goes mad and dies, have a prophetic quality.Frau Kgler - A worker for the SS whose appearance resembles that of a bulldog. Frau Kglerstill has sympathy for some Jews, as she demonstrates when she saves Gerdas life by notallowing her to remain in the sickroom when the SS come to the camp for selections.Peter - A friend of Arthurs who visits from Krakow, bearing good news about Arthur. He laterconfesses to Gerda that he made up the news to bring her parents some happiness, and Gerdadecides to keep it a secret.Merin - A Jewish leader who works with the SS to help them liquidate his fellow Jews. Hesends Gerdas mother to her death, but despite her pleading, forces her to go with the othergroup, thus sparing her from Auschwitz. He is called The King of the Jews.Uncle Leo - Gerdas mothers brother, who lives in Turkey. Leo is one of Gerdas onlyrelatives to survive the Holocaust, and he helps her in any way he can throughout the war,sending her packages and ultimately inviting her to live with him at the end of the war.Aunt Anna - Gerdas fathers sister. Anna has two children, Miriam and David. Herexperiences are the first firsthand accounts that the Weissmanns hear about the horror of whatis to come. After she moves to the interior of Poland to escape the Nazis, she is never heardfrom again.Mr. Pipersberg - Gerdas fathers business partner and a family friend. Mr. Pipersberg urgesGerda to keep secret the fact that he was beaten for going to their factory once the Nazis havetaken it over. He moves to the interior of Poland under an assumed identity and is never heardfrom again.Hanka - A girl in the camps who, on the death march, remains strong. She sneaks the girlsextra food in the camps and protects them while on the march. Through her help, Gerdaultimately survives and doesnt lose her precious skiing shoes.Niania Brenza - An old Austrian who speaks only German and remains loyal to the deademperor, Franz Josef. Niania was Gerda and Arthurs nanny and lived with the family forthirteen years. She continues to visit them, despite being warned not to by the Nazis. Gerda isannoyed by her easy security but still loves her dearly.

Analysis of Major Characters

Gerda Weissmann Klein

Gerdas maturation takes place gradually throughout All But My Life, under the shadow of theNazi regime. At the beginning of her memoir, Gerda depicts herself as an innocent and naveteenager. As she loses her family members one by one, she is forced to become entirely self-reliant, and only then does her resolute spirit truly become apparent. Most notable about Gerdais her ability to remain optimistic in the face of the Holocaust and despite everything, to focuson the positive aspects of her life. This optimism allows Gerda to make her memoir a tale oflove and community set against the backdrop of the horrors of the Holocaust, rather than a talethat focuses on the cruelty that she has endured.

Though Gerda encounters almost unbelievable evil during her life, she also witnesses manyinstances of kindness, though she never becomes sentimental when she describes them. Sherelates the events as they happen but leaves out a certain element of emotional complexity,which keeps us from getting to know her better. However, the distance that Gerda maintainsoffers an insight into her character as well. Her inability to attach emotional resonance to theevents that she witnesses shows just how damaged she is by the events of the Holocaust. Herinsistence on paying homage to the goodness of her peers in the camps epitomizes her beliefthat bearing witness to what happened is more important than merely telling her own story, andthis belief illustrates her unselfish character. Gerdas personality is typified by her steadfasthope, brave optimism, and willingness to help her comrades despite personal risk.

Ilse Kleinzhler

Ilse, one of Gerdas childhood friends, eventually becomes Gerdas only family. Ilse is atalented musician who plays the piano with emotional intensity and gives herself entirely to hermusic. Although Ilse is more timid than Gerda, she is intensely brave in her own way and iswilling to sacrifice much to assist her friend. She is not envious of Gerdas good fortune whenGerda is given the opportunity to leave the transit camp to be with Abeks family; rather, she isgenuinely happy for Gerda. They hold hands constantly throughout the memoir, both to giveeach other strength and to demonstrate their unbreakable friendship. They are even holdinghands when Ilse dies during the last week of the death march.

Perhaps because Gerda wrote her memoir after Ilses death, she attributes a sort ofotherworldly goodness to Ilse and credits her with saving her life many times. She attachesgreat significance to the time that Ilse found a slightly crushed raspberry and carried it all dayto give it as a gift to Gerda that night. This momentwhen Ilses only possession in the worldis nothing more than a bruised raspberry, yet she chooses to give it to her friendprovides anintimate view of Ilses character. Not only is she kind and sweet, but she is self-sacrificing andwilling to do anything she can to help Gerda. Even on her deathbed, she expresses concern forher friends and her family, forcing Gerda to promise to live to see the end of the war, andasking that Gerda spare Ilses parents the pain of hearing that Ilse died as she did. Her characteris that of an admirable martyr without whom Gerda would have probably not survived the war.

Abek Feigenblatt

Abek is an intense and passionate young man who falls in love with Gerda at first sight andcontinues to love her despite her constant rejections. He is a Jewish Hebrew scholar and has asuperior air about him when he speaks to people. He is intelligent and has sound judgment, andeven Gerdas father respects him. Abek is convinced that Gerdas love is all he needs in orderto maintain the courage required to get through the war. He is determined and forceful, yetGerda sees his neediness toward her as a sign of weakness. She feels that were he moreforceful, perhaps he could be the man she is searching for, but his weakness disillusions her.

In Gerdas life, Abek takes the role of an older brother, although he would prefer to be herlover. His love for her is intensehe forces his family to help Gerda, at great personalsacrifice, and he truly believes that one day he will be able to change her feelings toward him.Abek writes to Gerda faithfully, even when he receives no response, and eventually hevoluntarily transfers to the worst camp in Germany to be closer to her. Though Abek initiallyfunctions as an older brother in Gerdas life, he eventually becomes the focus of the guilt shefeels when she recognizes that he has made his life nearly unbearable in order to be closer toher. Only when he truly realizes that Gerda does not love him does he give up hope completelyand begin to lose the desire to live.

Kurt Klein

Kurt is an American soldier who helps liberate the remaining girls from the death march, andGerda believes that he is her soul mate. Kurt was born in Germany, and he moved to the UnitedStates a year after Hitler came to power, leaving his parents behind. His parents were put in acamp, and his letters to them were marked Undeliverable. The suffering and guilt he feelsregarding his parents fate allow him to understand Gerdas feelings, and this helps the twoconnect more deeply. Intuitively, Kurt understands what Gerda feels and needs, and hisinstinctual understanding of her makes Gerda believe that they are truly destined to be together.While she is in the hospital, he does not bring her clothes and food, though she needs them,because he wants her to feel that this is a normal courtship and that he does not see her asvictim. Although Gerda doesnt explore his character very thoroughly in her memoir, his deepand abiding love for Gerda, and hers for him, is clear.

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

Themes

The Sustaining Power of Hope

Despite all she endures, Gerda never loses hope that her life will improve and that her sufferinghas some greater meaning. Gerda is not strongly religious, but she has faith in humanity,nature, and the belief that no matter what happens, something good can come from it. WhenGerda writes about being in the group sent on the death march from Grnberg, of which only120 out of the 2,000 in her part of the group survived, she says of another group that wasliberated earlier, Had I been part of it my fate would have been different. Less suffering, yes,but less happiness, too, I am sure. Gerda clearly believes that the pain and hardship in her lifehave been more than offset by the happiness she has experienced. From her perspective, the wartook her family, but it brought her a new family as well: because of the war and the Holocaust,she met the man who became her loving husband and the father of her children. The idea thatone must persevere through pain in order to experience joy has helped Gerda come to termswith her experiences.

The Importance of Bearing Witness

In the epilogue, Gerda writes that she hopes her lifelong efforts to raise awareness about theHolocaust have given back some small part of what she has received. One way she does this isby bearing witness to the life and death of those who have no other voice. Gerda strives toprovide as much first-hand information as she possibly can about her fellow prisoners. In thesection describing her time in Bolkenhain, she describes what happens to a fellow prisoner,Lotte, saying, I cannot help but want to tell her story, for I might be the only one left in theworld who knows it. Gerda believes her duty is to be as detailed as possible when she writesabout the others in her camp. Just as she does not know what her familys last days or weekswere like, she recognizes that most Holocaust victims died in obscurity, and she uses hermemoir to try to right that wrong. In many instances, she includes peoples full names and theirfates, even if they are such minor characters that they are mentioned in only one or twosentences. For Gerda, telling the stories of others who died is just as important as telling herown story, and she does so in a way that is both respectful and deeply moving.

Morality Is a Choice

No matter what their circumstances or situation, people have free will, and they always havethe option to act with morality and humanity. Gerda illustrates this theme by writing aboutpeople who behave in unexpected ways, such as the decision by Frau Kgler, who works for theSS, to save Gerdas life. By giving examples of people who, while working for the Nazis,nevertheless behaved with humanity, Gerda illustrates that it was not impossible for Germansduring the Nazi era to act decently toward Jews, forcing the reader to question why it was onlythese few specific people who chose to behave humanely. By pointing out that some peoplechose to show compassion, she makes the parallel point that those who behaved cruelly weremaking a choice as well. She also gives numerous examples of girls who helped one another inthe camps, at great personal risk to themselves. Even under the harshest conditions, whether

working for the Nazis or imprisoned in a slave labor camp, people are not entirely powerless orentirely unable to make a moral choice. Some become monsters, and some choose to treatothers as fellow human beings and thereby reaffirm their own humanity.

Motifs

The Beauty of Nature

Despite the horrors that the Nazis perpetrate on the Jews, Gerda is quick to point out that thereis still beauty in the world, although perhaps it exists only in nature. When the Germans firstinvade Bielitz, Gerda is brought to tears when her neighbor picks Gerdas mothers white rosesto give to the Nazis. He drops them, however, and she watches as the soldiers boots tramplethe roses in the dust. She points out the incongruousness of the Nazis depraved behavior whenset against the backdrop of the glorious natural world. Gerda describes the Grnberg laborcamp as cruelty set against a backdrop of beauty. Her surprise at seeing a camp lined withtulips in full bloom yet filled with skeletal girls underscores the horror of the scene. During thedeath march, a few girls stop and are unable to go on. Gerda looks around and admires thebeauty of the snowy pine trees while she hears the gunshots as the girls are executed. Shecannot understand how a world that is so full of beauty can also be inhabited by people who areso heartless.

Home

Throughout All But My Life, Gerda lovingly describes her childhood home. The day before sheis moved to the ghetto, Gerda takes a serious risk, saying, I did not care whether I was caughtor not, I had to see my beloved home once more! In the camps, Gerda often thinks of herparents and brother, always set against the backdrop of her home as it was before they wereforced to sell their belongings and move out. She uses fantasies of returning home and meetingher family to help her get through the horrors of her days in the camps, and her longing forhome sometimes comes close to overwhelming her while she is on the death march. The feelingof security she gets from picturing her childhood home does not diminish until she is liberated.Only then does she slowly start to realize that her home no longer exists in the way sheremembers it. In her epilogue, however, Gerda recalls her first steps on American soil, withKurt, her husband, embracing her and saying, You have come home. Only then does Gerdarealize that home is not a physical place but, rather, a set of feelings that has survived thedestruction of the war and will live on through her new family.

Chance

Rather than portraying her survival as the result of her own cunning or of divine intervention,Gerda is quick to note the many times that sheer luck determined whether she would live to seethe end of the war. Gerdas brushes with death are too numerous to count, and only because of aseries of close calls and coincidences does she avoid being exterminated with the rest of herfamily. The police officer who lets her go when she is caught studying English, her fathersinsistence that she wear her ski boots before she leaves their home, Merins forcing her ontothe truck to the camps instead of to Auschwitz, and Ilses backing out of their escape plan at thelast minute are all examples of the role that chance plays in her eventual survival. Byaccentuating these moments, Gerda makes clear that she does not believe herself to be superior

to those who did not live. Rather, she portrays the wartime world as a terrifying place wherematters of life and death are again and again determined completely by chance.

Kindness

The Holocaust is one of the most dramatic instances of people behaving inhumanely andtreating others with hideous cruelty, yet Gerda chooses to focus on the deep friendships shedevelops during the war and the acts of generosity she witnesses. Other Holocaust memoirs,such as Night by Elie Wiesel, detail not only the brutality of the Nazis but also the cruelty ofthe Jews toward one another as they are forced to struggle for their own survival. In contrast,Gerda in almost every case shows the acts of kindness among her peers in the camps and triesto act as charitably as they do. Despite the fact that she and her fellow prisoners are nearstarvation, Gerda gives her food away many times and, when she is weak, is given food by Ilseand Hanka. Much like Anne Frank, the author of the Holocaust memoir Diary of a Young Girl ,Gerda is inspired by the horrors of the war to be more generous and kind rather than less so.

Symbols

Flowers

Gerda mentions flowers dozens of times in her memoir: roses, buttercups, daisies, lilacs, tulips,and violets. These references often point to the beauty of nature and the goodness of which theworld is capable. Flowers are also important symbols for the memories of home that sustain herduring her ordeal. When Kurt brings Gerda lilies-of-the-valley early in their courtship, hebrings her to tears by reminding her of her childhood garden. To keep hope alive during hertime in the camps, she often recalls images of flowers. She uses the beauty of these images tounderscore all that she has lost in the war and to remind herself that, despite what she hasendured, the world is still capable of producing beauty and inspiring hope.

Shoes

In the world of the Holocaust, shoes represent the difference between life and death. Manytimes in her memoir, Gerda says she believes that the fact that her father insisted she wear herskiing shoes before she left for the camps saved her life. She sleeps curled around her shoes onthe death march, to protect them from the shoeless girls who would otherwise steal them duringthe night, for those who are properly shod have the best chance of surviving. She writes ofseeing a girl break off her own toes after they become thoroughly frozen, and of other girls wholeave bloody trails in the snow when they walk. Gerda keeps poison in her shoe as well, to beused as a last resort. Her shoes not only have the power to assure her survivalthey alsocontain the means of her death, if she so chooses.

Important Quotations Explained

1. He looked steadily at me and then answered my thoughts. Whatever you are thinkingnow is wrong. It is cowardly. I couldnt deny it. He lifted my chin up and looked at mefirmly again. Promise me that no matter what happens you will never do it.

In Part One, Chapter 5, when Gerda finishes selling the familys possessions to the neighbors tofinalize their move to the ghetto, she recalls hearing of a family that committed suicidetogether. She half-heartedly wishes that her parents would suggest this. As she is consideringthe idea, her father walks into the room and forces her to promise to never do itthoughneither he nor Gerda specify out loud what it is. This scene is the first of two major eventsduring which Gerdas father gives the impression of omnisciencehe knows what she isthinking without her saying a word, and he knows what is best for her. The second instance ofher fathers wisdom is when he insists that she wear her ski boots despite the fact that it issummera request that ultimately saves her life.

Throughout the book, Gerda gives the impression of her fathers impotence in the face of theNazishe cannot save his family or stop what is happening to them. However, this scenemakes clear that no matter what the Nazis power, Gerdas father still has the power to save herthrough small acts such as this one. Once Gerda is sent to the labor camps, she remembers thepromise she made to her father, and it motivates her to go on. In the Mrzdorf labor camp,where Gerda is working both the day and night shifts, she considers jumping onto the railroadtracks. At that moment, she gets a feeling in her neck that reminds her of how her father hadheld her head while making her promise to never give up. At that moment, when death seemslike the only solution, the memory of this conversation, and of her fathers love for her, givesGerda the courage to stay alive.

2. I hope you will never be disillusioned. To you, life still means beauty, and that is howit should be. Continue to go through mud without dirtying your feet. She spoke withoutexplanation or introduction and without finishing, and then she stalked away towards ourquarters.

In Part Two, Chapter 5, Tusia says this to Gerda while they are in Bolkenhain together. Tusiaswords in the book have a prophetic tone, particularly when she gives a similarly wordedoutburst in a fit of madness immediately before her death at Helmbrechts. Despite Tusiasapparent lunacy, her words are largely accurate. The idea that cruelty can breed cruelty isreflected in Gerdas descriptions of the girls in the camp who steal one anothers shoes, and thegirl who betrays her fellow inmates by having an affair with an SS guard. However, these arebehaviors that Gerda would never exhibit, and her reaction to the brutality she is forced toendure provokes quite the opposite reaction in her. If anything, Gerda becomes more dedicatedto remaining kind and generous. The Nazis may destroy her body, but she refuses to let themconsume her soul.

The slave labor camps and the death march are the mud that Gerda is going through, bothliterally and figuratively, yet despite the hunger and deprivation that she must suffer in order tosurvive, she continues to treat her peers with respect and dignity, thus not dirtying her feet.

Although Gerda recognizes the viciousness that is possible in humankind and that which shesees in the Nazis, she also stops to notice the beauty that exists in nature and in the hearts of theother girls in the camps. Her memoir focuses more on the friendships that she manages todevelop in the camps than on the harsh treatment that the girls endure. Although the title ofGerdas book, All But My Life, describes what the Nazis have taken from her, she also succeedsat holding onto her own humanity, no matter what the circumstances.

3. My eyes remained dry. I felt my features turn stony. Now I have to live, I said tomyself, because I am alone and nothing can hurt me any more.

Gerdas thoughts, which appear in the first chapter of Part Two immediately after she has beenseparated from her mother, are paradoxical, for she implies that to lose everything is a kind ofliberation. The natural reaction to losing all of ones family members might tend towardbecoming more self-destructive, but Gerda takes the opposite view. Thanks to Gerdas uniqueoptimistic viewpoint, even her most morbid thoughts, such as this one, reflect her positiveperspective. Gerda finds that losing her family prompts her to go on living. She sees this loss asa new kind of freedom: now she doesnt have to worry about her parents welfare or beingforced to make the right decisions, and she can put her own desires before her duty to herparents, which feels like a reprieve from responsibility. Knowing that her only duty is to lookout for her own survival allows her the discretion to express the feelings, such as rage sheshows here, that she has kept inside for fear of upsetting her parents.

The idea that all suffering comes from attachment is reflected in Gerdas thoughts: she believesthat now that her family has been taken from her, she can no longer be hurt. However, thisconclusion is much like her mothers belief that once the Nazis took their house they were safe,because that was the worst injustice they could place upon them. Obviously, this is amiscalculation on both of their parts, for the Nazis continue to prove that they can alwayscommit worse injustices. In a sense, though, the freedom Gerda now feels is very real. The lossof responsibility to her parents allows her the audaciousness to behave in ways that she wouldnot have considered before, such as barging into the commanders office at Sosnowitz, whichultimately benefits her.

4. There is a watch lying on the green carpet of the living room of my childhood. Thehands seem to stand motionless at 9:10, freezing time when it happened.

The first lines of All But My Life reflect Gerdas belief that the Nazis stole her childhood, andthat, in a way, time stopped for her when her town was invaded. Many times throughout thebook, Gerda writes about feeling that her childhood ended when the Nazis first came to Bielitz,and that at that moment her life changed dramatically. From the first days of the invasion, theburden of responsibility in her family was placed on her shoulders. Jewish adults who freelywalked the streets were often abducted or assaulted, so Gerda is the only member of her familywho can come and go from their house unchallenged, forcing her to assume responsibility formany important decisions. Her role with her parents switches after the invasion, for shebecomes the caregiver in many respects, causing her to feel that she must behave as an adult atall costs.

The idea that time stops for Gerda when the invasion occurs is a notion that she visits again in

her epilogue. She says she experienced a break in her social development because she was notallowed to participate in ordinary adolescent activities during the six years of war. Her normalemotional growth was slowed. Although she had more horrifying experiences in her teenageyears than most people see in a lifetime, she also had a huge gap in her social development. In asense, time did stop for Gerda when the war started, for after she was liberated she was still agirl of fifteen in many respects. She writes that, at the age of twenty-one, she was afraid thatKurt would attempt to kiss her, much as she feared Abeks romantic attempts as a teenager.

5. I had reached the summit, as I had dreamed I would in the dark years of slavery, andthere, beyond the sphere of human vision, we met and embraced. We would never be aloneagain.

The last lines of the memoir summarize Gerdas feelings about life and love. She believes thatno matter what happens in a persons life, there is no pain or suffering that love cannot heal.While she does not believe she will be rewarded in life just because she has suffered, sherecognizes that in order to reap the rewards of a wonderful life, one must be willing to endurethe pain of that life as well. Gerda has endured the suffering of the Holocaust (which she termsthe dark years of slavery), and she now sees her love for Kurt as her reward. She believes thatthey are not merely engaged to be married, but that they are soul mates who connect on a levelbeyond what we as humans can understandperhaps even in a place where only God makes thedecisions. The idea that a power greater than either Kurt or Gerda brought them together isimplied when Gerda says that they met beyond the sphere of human vision. This idea comfortsGerda, who has been through so much in the preceding years.

For a woman like Gerda, who has lost her entire family and seen how readily a person can loseeverything in life, the idea that now she and Kurt will never have to be alone again is radical.Gerda knows all too well how easy it is to lose someone you lovelove in itself does notprotect against that loss. However, Gerda feels that her relationship with Kurt is not merelyphysical, but spiritual as well. Although their bodies may be taken, their souls cannot becaptured, and in that sense, Gerda and Kurt will remain together forever.

Key Facts

full title All But My Life: A Memoir

author Gerda Weissmann Klein

type of work Memoir

genre Memoir, historical nonfiction

language English

time and place written New York, date unknown; the epilogue was written in Arizona in1994.

date of first publication 1957

publisher Hill & Wang

narrator Gerda Weissmann Klein

point of view Gerda writes in the first person, relating the events that she sees from her ownpoint of view.

tone Although Gerda writes about the Holocaust after it has taken place, her tone still conveysthe sense of shock and horror she felt at the time. Overall, though, she maintains a sense ofoptimism and highlights the positive experiences she has during that time.

tense Past

setting (time) 19391945, during World War II. The epilogue contains information about theauthors post-war life through 1995.

setting (place) Gerdas story beings in her hometown of Bielitz, Poland, and follows her to aseries of labor camps, including Bolkenhain, Grnberg, Mrzdorf, and Landeshut, which werelocated in Poland (and controlled by Germany during this time), and culminates in a three-hundredmile death march that ends in Volary, Czechoslovakia.

protagonist Gerda

major conflict Gerda struggles to survive in the face of Nazi persecution and to remain loyalto her friends, despite losing her family.

rising action Gerda first loses her parents and then is sent to a series of slave labor camps.

climax Gerda and her friends are forced onto a three-hundredmile death march toCzechoslovakia.

falling action Gerda is liberated by American troops, one of whom, Kurt Klein, willeventually become her husband.

themes The sustaining power of hope; the importance of bearing witness; morality is a choice

motifs The beauty of nature; home; chance; kindness

symbols Flowers; shoes

foreshadowing Gerda does not use foreshadowing in the traditional sense by hinting at eventsto come. Rather, she often relates a persons fate as he or she is introduced to us.

How to Cite This SparkNote

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Their conversation is awkward, especially when she mentions Wickham, a subject Darcyclearly wishes to avoid (SparkNotes Editors).

APA

Their conversation is awkward, especially when she mentions Wickham, a subject Darcyclearly wishes to avoid (SparkNotes Editors, 2006).

Footnote

The Chicago Manual of Style

Chicago requires the use of footnotes, rather than parenthetical citations, in conjunction with alist of works cited when dealing with literature.

1 SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on All But My Life. SparkNotes LLC. 2006.http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/allbutmylife/ (accessed August 1, 2013).

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Table of Contents

in-depth analysis of Gerda Weissmann Klein.in-depth analysis of Ilse Kleinzhler.in-depth analysis of Abek Feigenblatt.in-depth analysis of Kurt Klein.

in-depth analysis of Gerda Weissmann Klein.in-depth analysis of Ilse Kleinzhler.in-depth analysis of Abek Feigenblatt.in-depth analysis of Kurt Klein.