One of the oldest living Holocaust survivors recounts her family's imprisonment at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen in this moving memoir of love, loss, courage, and hope.
"I only survived because of my mother's love."
When German soldiers invaded Poland in September 1939, it began a six year journey for then-ten-year-old Renee Salt and her mother Sala. Until their liberation in 1945, Renee and Salla were imprisoned in ghettos and concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen. The only light in the darkness and brutality for Renee was the unwavering grasp of her mother's hand in hers–enduring, against all odds.
It was this unbreakable bond, along with a few miracles, that kept Renee alive. Salla's staggering courage to defy the will of SS guards saved both her and her daughter from the gas chambers, and the pair survived the deadliest days in Auschwitz's history.
After suffering the nightmarish conditions at Bergen-Belsen, Renee and her mother were liberated in April 1945–but Salla died soon after they were saved. To this day, Renee attributes her survival to the love and bravery of her beloved mother.
Do Not Cry When I Die is an incredibly moving and deeply crucial book that tells the shocking story of one of the oldest Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen survivors–and the mother's love that saved her life. Kate Thompson is a journalist, ghostwriter, and bestselling writer based in London. Kate is the author of the novels The Little Wartime Library and The Wartime Book Club. You can find Kate on Instagram @Katethompson author, Facebook at KateThompsonAuthor, and X at @katethompson380. Learn more about her at www.katethompsonmedia.co.uk.
Renee Salt was born Rywka Ruchla Berkowitz in Zduńska Wola, Poland, in 1929, and is a Holocaust survivor. Renee and her mother survived both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. After the Holocaust, Renee returned to her hometown to try and find any surviving members of her family and found an aunt who was living in Łódź, who she moved in with. From there they moved to Paris, where Renee met her husband Charles, who was a British soldier who helped to liberate Bergen-Belsen. They married in 1949 and had two children. Renee lives in northwest London and has 5 grandchildren. She regularly speaks in schools about her experiences during the Holocaust.
