Rescued from the Ashes Audiobook By Leokadia Schmidt, Oscar E. Swan - translator cover art

Rescued from the Ashes

The Diary of Leokadia Schmidt, Survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto

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Rescued from the Ashes

By: Leokadia Schmidt, Oscar E. Swan - translator
Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
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The diary of a young Jewish housewife who, together with her husband and five-month-old baby, fled the Warsaw ghetto at the last possible moment, and survived the Holocaust hidden on the "Aryan" side of town in the loft of a run-down tinsmith's shed.

Rescued from the Ashes documents the incredible life story of Leokadia Schmidt and her small family and their daily struggle to survive the Warsaw Ghetto. Her memoir brings to life the vilest and most righteous qualities that people are capable of as she depicts the horrific living conditions in the ghetto and her family's harrowing escapes from the Nazi furnaces.

©2018 Heirs of Leokadia Schmidt (P)2022 Tantor 20th Century Military Modern Wars & Conflicts World War II Survival War Holocaust Marriage
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I enjoyed this story and the narrating immensely. Sometimes narrators can ruin the story with their intonations or syllable emphasis. But this narrator did not disappoint. And the story was interesting.

Great Story and Good Narrating.

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I had this as an audio book and stopped at about chapter 9. Although I was interested in the story I could not listen any longer. Being read by a woman with a solid American accent took away from the story.

I think I heard “my husband” 500 times!!
Give the husband a name. It was annoying.

Heartbreaking story

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The narration wasn't good and made it hard to listen to the book especially in the beginning. The story is captivating and detailed. It's really sad for human life to be lost in unnecessary war.

The story is captivating

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WAY TOOooo MUCH descriptions of the street names and addresses. What does a ST Name have to do with the ability to buy a needed food? Also I grew tired of her always saying “My husband” instead of just speaking his name! Her reading as a cadence that always ended on a slight up note and had not much Polish accent until she spoke the names of a street or a business and then ‘over exaggerated’ the polish pronunciation. Not my favorite book regarding the plight of the Jewish people during the war! Listen to another author and stay away from this reader!

The determination of the characters

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I have listened to many accounts of the Holocaust and this is the most detailed account by survivors of the horrific experience during the war in Poland.

Amazing details

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This was a very interesting book. I've read other books about the holocaust, but nothing like this story, of someone in the Warsaw ghetto, then escaping and being on the run, it's quite fascinating. There are parts where this lady is really judgemental of others and flat out annoying, but I actually appreciate that since it comes off as very authentic. People in a situation like this aren't always going to be the most likeable 24/7, it's something I wish more books like this contained.

The only issue with this book is the reader, who seems to think this is a kids book or a teenage fantasy book or something. AWFUL inflections, totally inappropriate for the content. I do think, by maybe hour 13 or so, the reader finally figures out that she should just be doing a straight read, it was that or I just was so beaten down by her poor reading I no longer noticed it. But in any case, the reader here is terrible for the majority of the book.

But the awful reader shouldn't put you off buying this. I've read a ton of WW2 history, and this fills in an area where I haven't seen a lot of content, at least not in audio.

Good book, interesting story

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Heartbreaking, Gripping, and Tragically Beautiful

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t think I’ll ever stop consuming stories about WWII—each one is so different, so personal, and so devastating in its own way. Rescued from the Ashes is no exception. It’s a tragically beautiful story, made bearable only by the fact that it ends in survival. But the fear and anxiety it provokes? It’s intense.

Reading about the desperate strategies families used to survive—like couples splitting up or handing off their children to strangers—was gut-wrenching. As a mother, the thought of giving my child away, not knowing where they were or if I’d ever see them again… it’s unimaginable. Yet, for many women in this book, that was the only hope. Babies were almost always a death sentence.

My heart broke multiple times, my anxiety was through the roof, but I couldn’t look away. I kept reading because I knew there was survival at the end—and even that sliver of hope was worth it. A powerful read.

Heartbreaking, Gripping, and Tragically Beautiful

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It was poorly written never gave a sense of reality for what occurred In the Warsaw ghetto.

This was supposed to be a true story?

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