A Life Rebuilt with Sylvia Ruth Gutmann
Sylvia Ruth Gutmann's memoir A Life Rebuilt—The Remarkable Transformation of a War Orphan is the awe inspiring story of a woman who defies all of the odds and survives in spite of harrowing experiences which leave her with almost no memory of the first seven years of her life. This memoir spans sixty years, three countries, and thousands of miles. Born in Belgium in 1939 to Jewish parents, Sylvia Ruth Gutmann spent the first three years of her life in hiding with her family in the south of France. In the summer of 1942 Sylvia, her two older sisters, and her young mother, were arrested by the Vichy police and shipped to the French internment camp in Rivesaltes. Shortly thereafter, her mother was deported to Auschwitz, leaving her three children behind. Six months later, Sylvia’s bedridden father was deported to Auschwitz. Sylvia and her sisters would never see their parents again. Sylvia arrived in New York City at age seven, where a wel...