Tatae's Promise: Based on the true story of a young woman’s escape from Auschwitz

This never-before-told true story of a young woman's escape from Auschwitz with her sister is a remarkable tale of unimaginable courage, family, faith and enduring love.Winner of the 2025 Hemingway Award Grand Prize, for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, and multiple other awards. "...readers will admire Hinda's devotion to her family and her determination to resist her Nazi captors as they attempt to dehumanize her. There's also a remarkable love story at the heart of this novel—a relationship that will surprise and delight readers for its ability to withstand the most terrible of circumstances... A moving work..." ─Kirkus ReviewsHinda was eighteen years old when an axe crashed through the front door of her home in Poland. Nazi soldiers swarmed inside and herded the family into an army truck and hauled them away for one lone reason: They were Jews. World War II and the Hitler-induced Holocaust was in full swing."With its added value of emotional and atmospheric richness, Tatae's Promise is a 'must have' acquisition for any library looking at high-quality fiction and nonfiction accounts of Polish Jewish history, concentration camp experience, and the power of survival. These explorations will also attract book clubs interested in selecting and contrasting a few quality titles on all these subjects, powered by an oral history that comes to life through solid literary excellence and collaborative determination. ─Midwest Book Review"Hinda Mondlak's story is nothing short of extraordinary... Inspired by her father's promise and last words to her just before his execution—'You will live; you will tell'—this riveting adaptation urgently demands only one thing from us: we must listen!"─Eli Rubenstein, religious leader, Congregation Habonim Toronto; National director, March of the Living Canada; director, International March of the Living; Appointed to the "Order of Canada" by the Governor General of Canada"This moving and suspenseful book tells the story of Hinda Mondlak, who escaped from Auschwitz with her sister. Based on hours of her taped testimony, it describes in rich detail every phase of the persecutions she endured—Nazi occupation, the village ghetto, the death journey to Auschwitz, beatings, illness, starvation, escape, and then a harrowing flight from Russian troops. Saved occasionally through the unexpected kindness of others and always by her own courage, Hinda is vividly alive in this reweaving of her memories. A memorable story of resilience and enduring love."─Betty Sue Flowers, PhD, Professor Emeritus UT-Austin; former director, Johnson Presidential Library, Editor, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth"As a student of the Holocaust and one who interviewed Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah History Foundation, I thought I had heard it all. Now, I know I was wrong. This is not your ordinary Holocaust story. Do yourself a favor. Find out for yourself."─Mike O'Krent, Founder and CEO, LifeStories Alive; Holocaust survivors interviewer for Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah History Foundation"Reading Tatae's Promise was a captivating and a perspective altering experience for me. The authors skillfully wove together several personal, historical, psychological, medical, political, cultural, and religious threads into a meaningful whole. This book should be on every recommended reading list.─Dr. John Horn, Former Superintendent (Retired) Mesquite Independent School District, Mesquite, TexasIf you were captivated by the New York Times #1 bestseller The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, or, the Pulitzer Prize Winner All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, you will love Tatae's Promise. Read more