Journel Entry 2: What a painful reality to endure.

The second part of All But My Life impacted me immensely. The bond Gerda formed with so many of the girls in the labour camps made their painful deaths even more heartwrenching. All the characters that Gerda introduces into the story add to the realness of the tragedy. Gerda is such a skilled writer. She is able to take the painful experiences she underwent and weave a beautiful tale of love, suffering, and hope. The Nazis attempted to break the Jews of all hope. Gerda never lost hope. Though at times hope was masked by a cloud of helplessness and fear Gerda prevailed through hardship after hardship. During the later part of the march Gerda even lacked the will to pray. Reading that I was able to grasp how dehumanised the evil visions she had witnessed had made her become. The powerful imagery and breathtaking analysis Gerda used deem this one of the most passionate books I have ever read. I look forward to the class discussion about the book so that I may hear others opinions on the book.