Book Talk | Survival

Ita Dimant’s gripping diary is a detailed account of her experiences during the Holocaust. She describes the chaotic living conditions in the Warsaw ghetto and her dramatic escape to the ‘Aryan’ side. She wrestles repeatedly with the burden of losing close friends and family, revealing her emotional responses to the unfolding tragedy. As one ghetto after another is liquidated, she becomes a courier carrying vital information and supplies between Polish cities. Ita must rely on her wits, skillful deception, and a few trusted friends, as she seeks to evade the noose closing around her. 

Ita Dimant (née Rozencwajg) was born in Piaseczno, Poland in 1918. She ran a kindergarten in the Warsaw ghetto, from which escaped in 1942, before being deported to Germany as a forced laborer. After the war she lived in Israel and the United States. The diary records her experiences during the Holocaust.

Martin Dean holds a PhD in History from Cambridge University. He worked previously as a war crimes investigator and is now a historical consultant. He has edited and translated several books and is the author of four monographs, including Robbing the Jews (2008), which won a National Jewish Book Award.

Professor Avinoam Patt is the Director of NYU’s Center for the Study of Antisemitism and the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies at New York University.

Host or Publisher NYU Center for the Study of Antisemitism