YLA Book Club

Chair: Rachel Shnay

Book Description:

When Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert was liberated in 1945, a Jewish-American soldier gave her a banknote on which he’d written ‘Good luck and happiness.’ When Lily’s great-grandson, Dov, decided to use social media to track down the family of the GI, Lily found herself making headlines around the world. Lily had promised herself that if she survived Auschwitz, she would tell everyone the truth about the camp.

Through the book, Lily describes her happy childhood in Hungary, the death of her mother and two youngest siblings upon their arrival in Auschwitz in 1944, and her determination to keep her other two sisters safe. She describes the inhumanity of the camp and the small acts of defiance that gave her strength. After leaving the camp, Lily and her sisters became slave laborers in a munitions factory, and soon after faced a death march which they barely survived.

Despite Lily’s losses and hardship, she built a new life for herself and her family–first in Israel and then in London. It wasn’t easy; the pain of her past was always with her, but this extraordinary woman found the strength to speak out in hopes that such evil would never happen again.

Now, at 98 years old, Lily has fulfilled her promise, relaying the details of her harrowing experiences with candor, charm, and an overflowing heart. Dov knows that it is up to younger people like him to keep Lily’s promise. He and Lily bridge the generation gap to share her experience, reminding us of the joy that accompanies the solemn responsibility of keeping the past – and our stories – alive.