The Diary of Mary Berg

MARY BERG WAS ONLY FIFTEEN YEARS OLD WHEN SHE TRAVELLED TO LODA ALONG WITH HER FAMILY, AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR WAS DECLARED ON 29TH AUGUST 1939. WHEN THEY REACHED THERE, THE SITUATION WAS CHAOTIC AND GERMANS HAD STARTED BOMBARDING THE TOWN. LIKE OTHER THOUSANDS OF JEWS, BERG FAMILY ALSO DECIDED TO GO TO WARSAW. IT WAS A TERRIBLE JOURNEY AND THEY WITNESSED VILLAGES ENGULFED BY THE FIRE, PEOPLE DYING ON THE ROAD, CLOUDS OF DUST AND SMOKE, DIRTH OF FOOD AND WATER, AND NO MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. AFTER THE FAMILY REACHED WARSAW, BOMBING WAS STILL GOING ON. THE SUPPLY OF FOOD GRAINS TO THE TOWN OF WARSAW WAS GETTING OVER, AND FINALLY THE TOWN WAS BESIEGED. ON NOVEMBER 15 TH 1940, GERMANS TRANSFORMED WARSAW INTO A GHETTO, PREVENTING JEWS TO MOVE FREELY. WALLS WERE CONSTRUCTED AND ALL THE MEANS OF COMMUNCIATION WITH THE WORLD WERE MADE UNAVAILABLE. THOSE JEWS WHO SMUGGLED FOODSTUFF BY GOING TO THE "ARYAN`` SIDE BESIDES GHETTO BOUNDARIES, WERE KILLED ON THE SPOT IF CAUGHT BY THE GERMAN GUARDS. MARY BERG AND HER FRIENDS ORGANISED CULTURAL AND MUSIC ACTIVITIES BY FORMING LZA CLUB EVEN UNDER SUCH ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES. JEWISH PEOPLE WHO WERE PHYSICALLY FIT, HAD TO ENROLL AS POLICE, OR WORK FOR THE SITES FOR CONSTRUCTION, TRAFFIC CONTROL ETC. THEY ALSO HAD TO TIE ARMBANDS FOR IDENTIFICATION. THOSE WHO WERE INCAPABLE OF ANY PHYSICAL LABOUR, WERE DEPORTED. BRUTAL MASS KILLINGS OF INNOCENT JEWS WERE CONDUCTED BY NAZIS. FINALLY, BY WAY OF EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS, MARY BERG, WHO WAS SHIFTED TO THE PAWIAK PRISON ALONGWITH HER FAMILY, AND ALSO ALONGWITH OTHERS, SUCCEEDED IN REACHING NEW YORK IN A SHIP TITLED "GRIPSHOME`` MARY BERG`S DIARY IS A VERY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, SENSINTIVELY RECORDED WITH MINUTE OBSERVATIONS AND MATURITY, EVEN AT HER VERY YOUNG AGE. SHE WAS VERY TALENTED AND HER DIARY ALSO INCLUDED HER DRAWINGS, OF HER TEACHERS, HER FRIENDS, AND SOME GRAPHIC EVENTS LIKE DESTITUTE CHILDREN SEARCHING FOR FOOD IN THE HEAP OF GARBAGE ETC. S. L. SCHNEIDERMAN, ASSISTED BY SUSAN PENTALIN, WORKED ON MARY BERG`S DIARY, MADE RESEARCH, EDITED IT, AND THEN IT WAS PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH, AS WELL AS MANY OTHER LANGUAGES.THE BOOK HAS RECEIVED AN OVER-WHELMING RESPONSE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. , : , . , , , ; , : ? , . . ' ' ,