ABML: Neal Callahan

After reading All But My Life i was stunned to see how Gerda had inspired so many people during the duration of the Holocaust to live on and believe. Gerda always seemed to be looking at the glass half full when expressing her feelings to her peers even though when she was internally not completely positive. For instance when Gerda was at the camp Marzdorf where she had to pick the flax and shovel the coal at night. When at this camp Gerda was internally unstable and contemplating suicide, even though she was dealing with this she was still able to provide emotional support to her fellow prisoners. Gerda was also able to keep spirits during the dreaded death march that kept some of her friends alive with hope much longer than they would with out her. Even though Gerda was able to supply hope and encouragement to many during the Holocaust she relied on the encouragement of others to recover after the Holocaust. I find this to be very odd that once she was through the worst parts she had to rely on the will and love of Captain Kurt to pull through in the end. All But My Life has been a great read and has taught me a couple of lessons that i will never forget and has forever changed my out look on life. Last year in Mr. Giles class we had to read the novel Night and after reading both of them it shows me how pure perseverance can help a person overcome almost anything. I think that every student should have to read both Night and All But My Life just because of the raw emotion and life lessons that are included in these great novels.