Bitter Freedom by Jafa Wallach

A gripping read that should remind everyone that the right of every human being is to have a life free of oppression and one of respect for others. 

Beautifully written from Jafa Wallach's notes and spoken to her daughter, Rena.  The pain and the horror the Jewish people went through will again be very evident to the reader.  This book was not about a concentration camp, but about being in hiding.  The Wallach family....five of them at one point....lived and hid in a hole that they had dug themselves under a friend's home.  A hole that was so cramped they couldn't even stand up.  A hole that they shared with vermin and insects and one that was either too hot or too cold and one with barely any air and a life filled with daily starvation and no water.  

Enduring those 22 months below ground was a horrible nightmare that was shared by many more Jewish people than the five that lived there.  I was counting the seconds and the days until liberation as I was reading their story of the terror of fearing for your life every day and the dread of living in that horrific space.

The person who made their survival possible was a wonderful person named Jozio.  He lead a seemingly normal, but stressful life during the day and helped the Wallach family by giving them food and water at night whenever he could. 

As difficult as their lives were, the human spirit is one thing that the Germans couldn't break or take from Jafa and her family.  They survived with the knowledge that their little girl was safe and that they would be reunited with her after the war.  These thoughts kept them going even though it was not easy.

As the book ends, you will hear the other side of the story from Rena and how she lived those 22 months without her mother and father.

Being aware of the Holocaust atrocities and the lives it changed forever should hopefully be more than enough to have the human race strive to not let this  happen again.  This wonderfully written book is a book about love, family, surviving, heartbreak, and compassion.  The publisher also included photos in the back of the book.  .  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge by the publisher for an honest review.  All opinions are mine.