All But My Life: Daniel Leon

The second part of All But My Life (pages 134-246) had a much larger impact on me than the first half. The death march that Gerda went on with thousands of other Jewish women was probably the most eye-opening thing that I had ever read about the Holocaust. Women who were caught trying to escape were lined up and shot in front of the entire group, massive piles of bodies were either buried or just left behind, and Gerda even writes about witnessing a woman snap off her frost bitten toes on this death march which lasted several months. I am almost incapable of comprehending some of the things that I read, especially that out of the thousands of people that began the march, only about one hundred women survived. The part that I find most sad is that within the week of her liberation, her three closest friends who had marched for months with her died. I can't believe how physically, mentally, and emotionally strong Gerda was to withstand a two month long death march, and the deaths of her family and closest friends. I know that I would not have been able to endure it; I would have certainly lost all hope and given up.