Sabina

In the Eye of the Storm

By: Bella Kuligowska Zucker

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

This is the memoir written by Bella Kuligowska Zucker, the only person in her family to survive the Holocaust. In September 1939, Bella was a carefree teenager living in Poland when the German army struck. She was rounded up with her friends and family and sent to a series of grim Jewish ghettos. After loved ones were separated and lost through the war years, Bella survived by changing her identity.

Narrowly escaping death each time, she moved from place to place, odd job to odd job, new name to new name. After finding the birth certificate of a Catholic girl five years her senior, she became Sabina Mazurek. Then she went into the eye of the storm, Germany, where she believed she might be safest. Sabina is her story.

As in Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Night by Elie Wiesel, Bella Kuligowska marshaled unexpected resources to manage as a teen during the horrors of World War II. Sabina offers a different perspective on how many Jews survived outside of the concentration camps, in more familiar yet infinitely hostile settings, with the help of others along the way.

©2018 Bella Kuligowska Zucker (P)2019 Tantor

Strength and Spirit and Family

Every time I experience survival stories of WWII, I am amazed by the endurance of people. Love of others is almost always the driver, and the volume of tales only increases my astonishment because they aren't exceedingly rare, yet each is incredibly phenomenal. I was moved once again by the will to live, bravery in the face of evil, ingenuity, and the love of family and strangers alike. Thank you for sharing!

Wonderful story of survival!

This book astonished me with it’s authors fight for survival. It also reminded me of the importance of family and the importance of kindness and love towards or fellow humans. It reminded me that it is not “us or them” it is just “us” human beings struggling to get along in this world. It also reminded me of the importance of being kind and loving in the face of immeasurable cruelty and hate.

Excellent

Very raw and honest portrayal of a Jewish girl hiding in plain sight in Germany.

A different tale of the Holocaust

After listening to many, many stories of this horrible time in history, this one was different. It centered on one girl. Her trials and very tough life in the cities and countrysides, and not in a concentration camp. I really like the narrator's voice. Heartfelt, soothing, expressive and true. A story of survival.

Alone without family

As I read this in 2025, there are many days in the US and things that are happening that threaten our lives here. The resemblance is striking.