Adam Kirsch marvels at the just-published diary of the concentration camp survivor, Helga Weiss. Kirsch writes that some “of the most heartbreaking writing in the book comes in Helga’s description of the slow decimation of her class, as first one Jewish child and then another gets selected for transportation”:
No one knows where they are going, or whether they will ever return: As each family is called, friends and relatives help them pack their belongings and cook food for a journey whose end none of them know. Helga’s best friend Eva is preoccupied with deciding which of her dolls to take with her: “Eva will carry the dolls themselves in the pocket of her coat, in their own sleeping bags and clothing with transport numbers. What if the handbag were to get lost? Then at least the dolls would be saved.”
The Dish 