Summary Of All But My Life By Gerda Weissmann Klein

Gerda Weissmann Klein’s perspective of the Holocaust, which she describes in her memoir, All But My Life, detailed the experience of a young Jewish woman surviving the Holocaust, of which she says “Survival is both an exalted privilege and a painful burden” (247). Weissmann Klein’s account of her experience began on September 3, 1939 at her home in the town of Bielitz, Poland, just as Germans enforcing the new Nazi policies began to arrive. Prior to that night, which was only the beginning for Weissmann Klein, Jews within Nazi Germany had already been feeling the effects of Adolf Hitler’s ideals for almost five years. From 1933 until 1939, when Weissmann Klein’s recount began, German Jews were subject to the passing of many racist and genocidal laws prohibiting them from everything from finding work, to

Weissmann Klein’s experience of the Holocaust was influenced by many factors, some long-standing, including racism, gender, history, and even economics. Not detailed in Weissmann Klein’s memoir were the earliest of the Nazi laws and ideals, which eventually led to the development of the Holocaust, and her experiences up to that point. Even before Hitler was made sole ruler of Germany, “the new Nazi government initiated a two day boycott of Jewish businesses” (Spielvogel, 832). A series of laws followed soon after which excluded those of non-Aryan descent “from the legal profession, civil service, judgeships, the medical profession, teaching positions, cultural and entertainment enterprises and the press” (Spielvogel, 832). The Nuremberg Laws in 1935 took citizenship from German born Jews and outlawed relationships between German Citizens and the