5.0 out of 5 stars heartbreaking but a must read

j.m.f. · 28 April 2025

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } This book is an incredibly heart breaking read. To hear lily’s life story of love of her family and loss so so profound. Of losing so much to bringing the world her story tp make sure her family and friends are never ever forgotten. The holocaust should never be forgotten we should learn !! I wish the world would learn.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read

J.N. · 11 May 2025

What an excellent book to read regarding how she Survived Auschwitz. This book starts off in Hungry well before the war and what their life’s were like in Hungry where they were born until when the Nazi’s took over their life’s and the awful journey to the death camps.Great information to ensure that it never happens again under any circumstances.

5.0 out of 5 stars what an inspiring individual

J.H. · 1 February 2022

This is an intensely moving and inspirational memoir by a Holocaust survivor, the now 98 year old Lily Ebert (nee Engelmann), survivor of Auschwitz, of one of the Buchenwald satellite camps and of a forced death march across Germany before being rescued by US soldiers in April 1945. The work was written in cooperation with her great grandson Dov Forman, who helped to her her story out there on social media and help with gaps in her memories.Lily was born in Hungary where she lived in the small town of Bonyhád with her three sisters and two brothers and their parents. They were a very close knit, but liberal and tolerant family, and their upbringing was idyllic, despite the occasional spectre of long term historical anti-semitism in Hungary. Life continued largely as normal for the family, until the death of the father from natural causes in 1942. The Holocaust in force came late to Hungary, after the Germans overran the country in March 1944. The elder son was conscripted into a labour service, while Lily, her three sisters and younger brother, and their mother were sent to a ghetto and, along with the rest of the Jewish population of their town, kept in increasingly stringent conditions until they were deported to Auschwitz in early July. On arrival, Lily's mother and her youngest sister and younger brother were immediately sent to the gas chamber, while Lily and her other two sisters Rene and Piri survived to go through months of work, exhaustion and starvation. Lily and her sisters and some others whom they befriended essentially survived by having a mutual support network and being determined to stay together to maintain a small oasis of sanity amid the madness and horror. Lily kept her mother's jewels hidden in her shoe and, later, in successive pieces of daily bread throughout her experiences.After some four months in Auschwitz, the group were moved to a munitions factory attached to Buchenwald where the treatment was a little better as the Holocaust had destroyed so many lives of slave workers that even the Nazis realised they had to keep their workers alive to keep their flagging war machine going. As the allies advanced into German territory in early 1945, Lily and her group were sent on one of the notorious death marches across the territory ahead of the advancing liberators, before they were eventually saved by stumbling across some American soldiers. Meanwhile at Yom Kippur 1944, Lily had promised that, if she survived, she would never let the world forget what she and her fellows suffered.After liberation, Lily and her inseparable sisters moved to Switzerland - a country for which she nevertheless felt some resentment, as they has closed their borders to Jewish refugees in 1942, and to where children over the age of 16 were even now prevented from emigrating, thus driving 21 year old Lily to take six years off her age. Later she moved to the new state of Israel where, after briefly and unsuccessfully trying life on a kibbutz, she settled in Tel Aviv and married a confident young man Shmuel who had lived in Israel since before the war, with whom she had three children. Later on Shmuel suffered poor health and needed a cooler climate so the family moved to Britain and settled in north London, leaving Rene and Piri back in Israel.For decades Lily could not talk about her experiences in the Holocaust, her fellow citizens in Israel being divided essentially into two categories, fellow survivors with whom it was felt there was no need to talk about it, and those, like Shmuel, who had not been through those experiences and who could never understood what the survivors had been through. She found it easier to talk when she had grandchildren; and in addition society became more interested in hearing from Holocaust survivors in the years after the Eichmann trial in 1961 had allowed survivors for the first time to recount their experiences to a public willing more now to listen than they had been in the immediate post-war years. Thus Lily could at last carry out her Yom Kippur 1944 promise that the would let the world know what happened and she now continues to do so, working with schoolchildren through the Holocaust Educational Trust and other organisations. Her great grandson Dov has helped by publicising her experiences on social media and using Twitter, for example, to identify a particular US soldier who wrote her a message of hope for the future in 1945. A remarkable and inspiring story.

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly moving book of importance, survival, strength and family.

S.D. · 3 February 2022

This book is such an incredible one. Written with words so beautifully put together. It's so important that we know about this part of history. It's such a powerful, moving book full of memories, history and family. Lily and Doc have put together a lifetime into pages for everyone to read and it's something I'll treasure forever. With lily's promise, we can carry out the same promise too for her. We must all try and delve further into the past so that the truth can never be forgotten. I've now run out of words myself to describe what an incredible book this is. Thank you for going back to a time and places that you wish you'd never even had to go. Thank you for letting us in and try and learn along with you Lily.

5.0 out of 5 stars Ten words of hope

T. · 31 May 2022

I don't really know how to comment on this amazingly special, moving book. Everybody should read it. Lily had and has such an amazing spirit. The generosity of Lily sharing her harrowing, unbelievable experiences is a true gift. An important testimony. I learned such a lot. "The truth is, nobody was prepared for what happened. Relatively speaking, you could say we lived in cloud cuckoo land." And "How could you believe the unbelievable." The unbelievable cruelty of man against man. But we must. History can and does repeat itself. The generosity of Lily for me is that she is determined to tell us about things, even when there are "some things my mind no longer wants to recall." She shares details that are so intimate, personal: the moment her mother removes her shoes and passes them over to Lily. "The warmth of my mother's body was still in her shoes." Lily's mother has an inkling of the dreadful separation that is about to take place... I was reduced to tears so frequently whilst reading this book. I have no more words than thankyou, Lily and your amazing young grandson. Everybody should read this memoir.

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational moving account of the holocaust

K.C. · 15 October 2023

I liked how Lilly has allowed us to walk this journey with her and her family. It's a privilege to be able to do this. It's raw,painful and shows two very different sides of humanity. Also shows a mothers love and protection. Being in the worst place in the world Lilly shows huge strength of will.This is real. I felt the pain and fear. Lilly writes in a very open and honest way. There is still so much for us to learn.Thank you Lilly and Doc for allowing us in to your life.

5.0 out of 5 stars Lest we forget

N. · 13 June 2022

I liked the format of this book, which in addition to Lily's story of survival and her subsequent activism to do her part to ensure that the Holocaust is never repeated, has sections written by her great grandson, Dov. Horrific though much of the contents inevitably are, the style is engaging. What is particularly outstanding is Lily's lack of bitterness and her gratitude that she remained with two of her sisters throughout her internment. I really admire her positive attitude, her resilience and her willingness to befriend other prisoners to make their lives just that tiny bit more bearable. I loved all the photos - it felt like meeting her family.If you have read other survivors' accounts, read this one, too. If you haven't read a Holocaust memoir, this is a good place to start.5 well deserved stars

Beautiful book!

E. · 7 August 2022

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } Lily’s Promise is a powerful read. An important story that must continue to be told. I’ve read many books on the holocaust and each one brings new insight. Lily and Dov have created something truly special.

Excelente libro :)

S. · 15 December 2022

I'm really grateful to be able to read this book, I've only read a few pages and I'm touched, thank you for sharing the story through a survivor. God bless her.

Exceptional, heart-wrenching and informative story,! What courage!!

K.C. · 11 May 2025

Wonderful book by an apparently courageous and blessed woman. Very inspirational!. God bless you, Lily!! Read and always remember the history!

Promesse accomplie

o. · 26 April 2025

Anglais accessible, belle écriture, les émotions sont réelles et nous atteignent. De la barbarie à l'espoir, à lire pour ne pas oublier...

Livro lindo

L.R. · 29 March 2023

A entrega foi rápida e o cuidado com o livro tem que ser extremo porque chegou ainda com pedacinhos da cola da capa e qualquer força pro outro lado já deixa marcado a página que você estava. Fora isso, o livro é ótimo em todos os sentidos!