Relli Robinson (F / Poland, 1939), Holocaust survivor
Relli Robinson (F / Poland, 1939), Holocaust survivor
- KEYWORDS : <Warsaw Ghetto> <Hidden Children>
- MEMOIRS : Raking Light from Ashes (2017)
Biography
Relli Robinson was born in 1939 in Warsaw. Living under an assumed identity with her Polish rescuers, she was the only member of her family to survive the Warsaw Ghetto. She immigrated to Israel in 1950, where she lives today, in the city of Haifa. She is the mother of two and a grandmother of six.
Robinson studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and in Los Angeles, California at UCLA. For over thirty years, she held senior academic administration positions at the University of Haifa in Israel, the last of which was administrative head of the Welfare and Health Sciences Faculty. Her first novel, Raking Light from Ashes was published in 2011 and printed in three editions. It was awarded a translation into English grant by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and has been covered extensively in Israeli media. From the time of its publication, Relli Robinson has been touring the country non-stop, giving talks and running seminars about the book at universities, colleges, high schools, and cultural centers across the country.
Book : Raking Light from Ashes (2017)
"Grandma, how is that possible? Such a little girl, without a mother or a father?" my granddaughter, Shahak, asked me when she was four years old. This book is my attempt to answer Shahak's question. As I weave my personal story into a patchwork of documented facts, painful memories of a deprived childhood and the recounting of core-shaking events, I too reflect Shahak's question, "How is that possible? Such a little girl, without a mother or a father?" In this book I translate the reality of the Holocaust into emotions and then through those emotions I echo the reality of the Holocaust. I try to widen the horizon of the memory of the Holocaust while focusing on the human aspects rather than on the evil and the suffering and the cruelty. I believe in the importance of carrying the torch of memory of the Shoah (Holocaust) in different ways - not only the tragic and cruel facts which are beyond human understanding and even belief, but also in focusing on the human aspects: humanism, bravery, courage, love, determination to survive, to fight for life, to help others. I hope that some of the messages in my book will touch the readers and inspire the younger generations to carry the torch of memory when we, the survivors, will not be around to tell and retell. As it says in the Bible, Psalms, chapter 78, verse 6: "So that the final generation may know; children yet to arise will tell their own children."
"Lala, a young Jewish girl, loses her entire family during the dark days of the Holocaust in the Warsaw Ghetto. Thanks to the kindness of a Polish family, Lala manages to survive the war, taking on an assumed identity. By a twist of good fortune and unbelievable coincidence, she is found after the war and eventually immigrates to Israel in 1950 to live with her Israeli relatives."--Back cover.
"A young girl holding a false identity. Two families. And an incredible tale of survival… When Relli Robinson was just a baby, the Nazis occupied Poland and she, together with her parents, were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto, a final stop before death ... Her parents correctly assessed the new situation and decided to commit a heroic act to save their only child’s life. They succesfully smuggled her out of the ghetto and entrusted her to a Gentile Polish couple who agreed to hide her for the duration of the war under a false identity ... Overnight, Relli became Lala ... Yet hope did not remain alive for long ... Destruction and devastation engulfed Poland and soon little Lala was forced to escape and hide along with her new parents, struggling to survive ... This is the amazing story of Relli Robinson, who, thanks to kindhearted, courageous people and a tenacious capacity for survival, was able to get through the most difficult times in the history of humankind. An orphan girl, she is the sole survivor of her entire family."--Publisher description.