"Without qualification, this reviewer recommends Mary Berg's diary to everybody"
The Diary of Mary Berg
Growing Up in the Warsaw Ghetto - 75th Anniversary Edition
Mary BergMary Berg was fifteen when the German army poured into Poland in 1939. She survived four years of Nazi terror, and managed to keep a diary throughout.
This astonishing, vivid portrayal of life inside the Warsaw Ghetto ranks with the most significant documents of the Second World War. Mary Berg candidly chronicles not only the daily deprivations and mass deportations, but also the resistance and resilience of the inhabitants, their secret societies, and the youth at the forefront of the fight against Nazi terror.
Above all The Diary of Mary Berg is a uniquely personal story of a life-loving girl’s encounter with unparalleled human suffering, and offers an extraordinary insight into one of the darkest chapters of human history.
Reviews
The New York Times
"A moving record of terrorism"
Kirkus Reviews
"Berg’s powerful record of those terrible times is astonishingly lucid. The strength of her memories and the intensity of her experiences are naturally heart-breaking. This extraordinary, chilling memoir is essential reading for everyone"
Independent
"One of the most important documents in the age of Hitler"
San Francisco Chronicle
"What makes her account stand out is her novelist's eye: this is not just a crucial historical document but a classic read."
Scotsman
"Mary Berg’s diary records the dignity of man, his moral consciousness. Once again we are reminded that amid blazing homes, flame-swept streets and mass murders there were human beings who admitted no defeat."
The New York Times
"Direct, sharp-eyed and full of compelling detail, this Diary is both a major resource for historians and a richly compelling human document"
The Times Literary Supplement
"What makes her account stand out is her novelist's eye: this is not just a crucial historical document but a classic read"
Scotsman
"Mary Berg’s diary records the dignity of man, his moral consciousness. Once again we are reminded that amid blazing homes, flame-swept streets and mass murders there were human beings who admitted no defeat."
The New York Times
"Direct, sharp-eyed and full of compelling detail, this Diary is both a major resource for historians and a richly compelling human document."
The Times Literary Supplement
"This powerful testament documents Nazi brutalities. Berg is a remarkably clear-eyed, skillful and heart-breaking recorder of thos terrible years."
Publishers Weekly
"this is not just a crucial historical document but a classic read."
Scotsman
