Battling for survival, she believed she was the sole surviving Jew

Book: Mala’s Cat

Author: Mala Kacenberg a”h

Publisher: Penguin Random House / Pegasus Books

Book in five lines

This is a moving Holocaust memoir by a child survivor. Mala’s entire family was rounded up and killed, while she concealed herself in the forest. She was on her own — a Jewish child among hostile Poles and brutal Nazis. Brave and resourceful, Mala realized that she could survive by doing domestic labor inside Germany itself. With only the companionship of a loyal cat, Mala endured many close shaves and emerged safely from the darkness.

Author in three lines

Mala Kacenberg, nee Szorer, had a happy childhood in the Polish village of Tarnogrod until the age of 12, when the Holocaust upended her world. After her miraculous survival, she moved to London, where she married and raised her family. Mala passed away at the age of 90 in 2017.

The following is an interview with Mala’s daughter, Mrs. Bella Lebel.

Why my mother wrote the book

Once, after the Germans had conquered Poland, my mother overheard one of Hitler’s rants on the radio. In it, he expressed his confidence about the success of his Final Solution: “If I [Hitler] were to meet a Jew still alive in 1944, I will salute him!” As the years progressed, my mother became convinced that she was that one sole surviving Jew and, if she didn’t somehow record the atrocities that took place, many people might never know. It took many years until she actually wrote her memoir — married life and raising her children filled my mother’s days — but the determination to memorialize her lost family and document those horrific experiences never wavered.