They Never Left Me A Holocaust Memoir of Triumph and Maternal Courage

by Kahn, Evelyn

• ISBN13: 9781553807322
• ISBN10: 1553807324
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-11-07
• Publisher: Ronsdale Press

Summary

The dramatic story of nine-year-old Evelyn’ s survival of the Holocaust through the determination, bravery and ingenuity of her mother and grandmother as they hid in the dense forests of Belarus. Evelyn is a cherished only child in a loving family in a small shtetl in Eastern Europe. With evocative and rich detail of rituals, foods, and the rhythms of daily life, she brings to life the textures of her early childhood. Then came WWII and Evelyn and her family are launched on a harrowing eight-year odyssey of survival that will change them forever. After her father is rounded up and murdered in Zhetel, Belarus, her remaining family survive two ghetto liquidations and a week hiding in a bunker under a kitchen floor. They flee into nearby forests and live there for two years, constantly on the move to avoid capture, while battling hunger, disease and cold. Post war, continuing anti-Semitism will drive the family west, to a displaced persons camp in Berlin and eventual emigration to New York. Evelyn’ s memoir is a testament to the resilience and courage of women - mother, grandmother and aunt— without whom Evelyn would have been a victim, not a survivor.

Author Biography

Evenly Kahn was born in Vilna, Lithuania, in May 1933. She moved to Canada in 1953 with her husband Leon, a Jewish partisan fighter. Evelyn and Leon had four children. Evelyn lives in Vancouver, BC.

Table of Contents

Introduction Eishyshok: May 1933 – September 1939 Lida: September 1939 – June 1941 Zhetel: June 1941 – February 1942 Zhetel Ghetto: February 1942 – August 1942 The Forest: August 1942 – September 1944 Liberation: September 1944 – June 1945 Ló dz: June 1945 – August 1946 Berlin: August 1946 – August 1948 Jordanbad: September – November 1948 Gailingen-Landsberg-Bremerhaven: November 1948 – November 1949 New York: December 1949 – May 1953 Epilogue Afterword Glossary