On September 18, the diary of a Polish girl named Renia Spiegel which narrates the fate of Jews at the time of the Holocaust was publsihed. The diary was unlocked from a bank vault. It is the first-hand narrative by the young girl which is also compared to the diary of Anne Frank.

The secret diary of Renia Spiegel

The girl is identified as Polish-born Jewish teenager. The girl was murdered by the Nazis in 1942. Her secret diary describes her day to day life, the harsh reality of Nazi Germany and the struggles to be born a Jewish. The diary is to be published after 70 years lying locked in a bank vault. Its discovery will further put light on the Shadows of the Holocaust. The diary is released by the family members of the Renia Spiegel's. 

The Polish girl resided in south-east Poland, Przemyśl. She started writing a diary when she was 15 years old. The diary narrates the events witnessed by her. It describes the bombing raids, how Jews were forced into hiding in order to save themselves from concentration camps, and the sudden disappearance of most of the Jewish families from Przemysl ghetto which was set up by the Nazis in 1942. The diary also accounts for her personal life. Renia writes that she aspired to be a poet. The diary beautifully captures her emotions and feelings. She also describes her falling in love for the first time with a boy named  Zygmunt Schwarzer. She narrates her first kiss hours before the Nazis invaded her hometown. 

Elizabeth, who is her sister said told the international media that she could not read the entire diary, it would make her cry every time. Elizabeth described her sister as someone who was a very quiet and pensive girl. The discovery of the diary has brought back many memories for the family. Elizabeth in her interview to international media revealed that  Renia was very intelligent and thoughtful, she was the head of the literacy program in her school. The elder sister was like her surrogate mother said Elizabeth. 

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Spiegel describes the Shadows of the Holocaust

Renia Spiegel was only 18 when she was shot dead by the German soldiers in July 1942. The soldiers found her place of hiding after she escaped from the ghetto. She was hiding in the attic of her home. In her diary, she expresses her desire to live and pray to the almighty to save her from the catastrophe. One of the passages from the diary entered on 7 June 1942 she writes, 

‘Wherever I look, there is bloodshed. Such terrible pogroms. There is killing, murdering. God Almighty, for the umpteenth time I humble myself in front of you, help us, save us! Lord God, let us live, I beg You, I want to live! I've experienced so little of life. I don't want to die. I'm scared of death. It's all so stupid, so petty, so unimportant, so small. Today I'm worried about being ugly; tomorrow I might stop thinking forever.’

 

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The story of a beautiful soul

This book was the project of Elizabeth's daughter Alexandra Bellak who took the responsibility to translate the book from Polish to English in order to be able to read. Alexandra was curious to discover more about the events are written in the book and to understand the depth with which the writer has written. She said that after reading the diary she was able to understand the depth and the maturity of the beautiful soul. She believes everyone should know about her and her story. 

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