Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1426896 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 258 pages

Customer Reviews

Behind Barbed Wire Fences
Behind Barbed Wire Fences

I read I am Rosemarie because I wanted to know what it was like to be in a camp, from a twelve-year-olds view. It turned out to be a very interesting and fast read. It was about a twelve-year-old girl, Rosemarie, and her family. Rosemarie and her family are forced to go from one camp to the next. Here is a summary of I am Rosemarie:
The book starts off taking place in a quiet neighborhood in Amsterdam. But right after Rosemarie's 12th birthday Amsterdam was invaded by Germany. Rosemarie's family was forced to live in a ghetto with many other people (all Jews). Rosemarie made one friend, a blind and deaf girl who taught her never to despair.
One afternoon, a person came and told them to go to a camp called Westerbork. Of course they go. Westerbork is horrible! Rosemarie hates it there. She wants to leave. She gets her wish except one tiny factor. They're going to another camp called Bergen-Belsen. If at all possible it had worse conditions than Westerbork! Two years later, they moved again to yet another camp. Rosemarie only spent about a year or a little longer at Biberach, the last camp. Biberach wasn't all that bad compared to the last camps. It had good food, real food. They had more freedom there, but they weren't free.
The whole time Rosemarie was at the camps Rosemarie and her family never gave up hope. Read I am Rosemarie to find out if Rosemarie can survive through the rest of the war. Will she ever be free again?

A Lesson in Suffering and Hope
I first read this book many moons ago when a was a wee lassie of eight years. To say it struck a chord is to make a profound understatement. More than twenty years later, the story haunts me. This story is not limited to chillingly opening the reader's eyes to the horror and injustice of the holocaust. The remarkable strength of ordinary people to survive is also a compelling theme giving hope for the future. I particularly recommend this book for young adolescents.

Ultimate Survival
I Am Rosemarie is a fascinating tale of a Jewish girl who survives the Holocaust, and finds the true meaning of life while in a concentration camp. This book is of the wonderfully unusual sort for she unlike most Polish Jews was never sent to a death camp. The tale sent chills of bitter reality up my spine. It Shows the true life in a Nazi camp, where your fingers run cold with blood, your stomachs perpetually growl, and your life is forever affected. Rosemarie was a very naturalistic character, not all strong and brave , but scared and selfish because her life was so awful. The gawking 14 year old grows strong and learns to make friends though she is boiling with hurt. She lived in Poland, and did all the things we do. She had special toys, belongings and so on. But all that was taken away from her when she left for Westerbork. The camps she lived in were realistic in each describing sentence dramatic horror was conveyed. This book is not too exciting or suspenseful but the history it represents cannot be praised enough. I have to say my favorite part in this book is when she realizes herself and says, "Suddenly it didn't matter that I didn't have a state or a home at that moment . It didn't matter that I didn't Know what life lay before me." Then I yelled to the butterfly " I am Rosemarie." I love this part because it shows after maturing she really has found the meaning of life and her true self. The theme of this story has to be that through hardship , suffering , and pain thy inner self shall be made. "a long time ago I looked in front of a bathroom mirror and didn't know who I was but now I do."

The writer's style was steady throughout the book presenting no true climax but making you realize the truth about the Holocaust. Overall this book was wonderful, and filled with true meaning . " who am I, I am Rosemarie!"