Renia's Diary by Elizabeth Bellak

Renia's Diary by Elizabeth Bellak

A New York Times bestseller
A USA Today bestseller

The long-hidden diary of a young Polish woman's life during the Holocaust, translated for the first time into English

Renia Spiegel was born in 1924 to an upper-middle class Jewish family living in southeastern Poland, near what was at that time the border with Romania. At the start of 1939 Renia began a diary. "I just want a friend. I want somebody to talk to about my everyday worries and joys. Somebody who would feel what I feel, who would believe me, who would never reveal my secrets. A human being can never be such a friend and that's why I have decided to look for a confidant in the form of a diary." And so begins an extraordinary document of an adolescent girl's hopes and dreams. By the fall of 1939, Renia and her younger sister Elizabeth (née Ariana) were staying with their grandparents in Przemysl, a city in the south, just as the German and Soviet armies invaded Poland. Cut off from their mother, who was in Warsaw, Renia and her family were plunged into war.


Like Anne Frank, Renia's diary became a record of her daily life as the Nazis spread throughout Europe. Renia writes of her mundane school life, her daily drama with best friends, falling in love with her boyfriend Zygmund, as well as the agony of missing her mother, separated by bombs and invading armies. Renia had aspirations to be a writer, and the diary is filled with her poignant and thoughtful poetry. When she was forced into the city's ghetto with the other Jews, Zygmund is able to smuggle her out to hide with his parents, taking Renia out of the ghetto, but not, ultimately to safety. The diary ends in July 1942, completed by Zygmund, after Renia is murdered by the Gestapo.


Renia's Diary has been translated from the original Polish, and includes a preface, afterword, and notes by her surviving sister, Elizabeth Bellak. An extraordinary historical document, Renia Spiegel survives through the beauty of her words and the efforts of those who loved her and preserved her legacy.

Reina Spiegel naciü¾Œ¶˜¼ en el este de Polonia en 1924, en el seno de una familia judü¾™†”¼a. Durante el verano de 1939, justo antes de que los alemanes invadieran su paü¾™†”¼s, Renia y su hermana Ariana (que mü¾Œ–”¼s tarde se cambiü¾Œ¶˜¼ el nombre a Elizabeth) habü¾™†”¼an ido a pasar una temporada con sus abuelos en Przemysl mientras su madre vivü¾™†”¼a en Varsovia. Sin embargo, la invasiü¾Œ¶˜¼n rusa de 1940 complicü¾Œ¶˜¼ la reunificaciü¾Œ¶˜¼n familiar y las hermanas tuvieron que quedarse con sus abuelos. En 1942 fueron obligadas a trasladarse al gueto de Przemysl. Unas semanas mü¾Œ–”¼s tarde, el novio de Renia encontrü¾Œ¶˜¼ un lugar donde esconderla, en un intento de salvarla de la liquidaciü¾Œ¶˜¼n del gueto, pero a los pocos dü¾™†”¼as los nazis la descubrieron y la asesinaron. Acababa de cumplir dieciocho aü¾Œ–˜¼os.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781250244024
ISBN 10	1250244021
Title	Renia's Diary
Author	Elizabeth Bellak
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	St Martin's Press
Year published	2019-09-24
Number of pages	336
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.