Flory: A Miraculous Story of Survival

By Flory A. Van Beek and Flory Van Beek

Book Overview

As the Nazi occupation of Holland grew from threat to reality, Flory, a teenage girl, tried to escape with Felix, the man who would later become her husband. Their story vividly captures the terror of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061176141
• ISBN13: 9780061176142
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.9" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Flory is a wonderful Jewish WWII survivor account

Growing up in The Netherlands, Flory and her family were close-knit. When everything started to happen with the war, Flory was a bit naive and didn't really know what was going on until her family started to befriend Felix (her eventual husband) and his family. He knew so much information and started to let her family know that things would start to get bad, as his Jewish family was from Germany and now started to live in The Netherlands to escape the situation in Germany. Flory and Felix end up surviving not only the war in The Netherlands, but also a crazy situation from a ship they were on that hit mines. Flory tells the experience of getting through that as well as what it was like to live in people's homes, being dependent on strangers who were in the resistance and hid them. It was an excellent account. Part of the only reason why I did not give this five stars is that there was a slight repetition, including talking about people eating cats calling them "roof rats." I did enjoy knowing what Flory had felt in her time in captivity, but I think she still hid some of her emotions just as she had done while trying to be brave and strong living through it, and I understand that. It was still very good. It was really beautiful to me how much their neighbors cared about the people around them, even knowing they were being hidden and where without giving up that information. So many people protected them.

Any library strong in first-person Holocaust memoirs needs this.

In 1939 as Nazi forces became a reality, the Jewish population through Europe faced options to flee and lose all or go into hiding. The author, a Holocaust survivor, faced this choice and her story follows her dark journey as she relates her teen years spent in terror when the Nazis invaded her neutral homeland of Holland. Any library strong in first-person Holocaust memoirs needs this.

Worth reading

This is a gripping true life memoir of a young Dutch girl named Flory and her life in German occupied-Netherlands. I listened to the unabridged audio edition of this novel, and it was very compelling. I found Flory to be a remarkably resilient and likeable woman. Her observations were insightful and pertinent. The Dutch Christians who hid her and tended her and her family through the war were quite brave. The only thing missing was more about the relationship between Flory and her husband. I admit I am curious how their relationship fared under such harsh circumstances, especially after such a quick marriage.. I understand why the author did not include details, but I admit, that I am curious a bit about their situation, especially since they both seemed so young and married under duress. I would recommend this to persons who are interested in educating themselves about wartime events and life in occupied Europe.

Hidden From Nazis

Flory A. Van Beek has written this memoir of the time she spent hidden from the Nazis. It is inspiring to read of her survival during World War II. I also am amazed by all the help various people gave her even though they were risking their own lives by helping her. After reading the book I saw on the internet that there may or may not be a television mini-series based on the book. I do so hope someone will make sure this story is told as widely as possible. A TV mini-series would be one way to do it. There are others. I just would like to see it done and the sooner the better while the author is still alive. Brenda Foust.