Flory: A Miraculous Story of Survival
Oct 2009 · Harper Collins
4.8star
16 reviewsreport
Ebook
260
Pages
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About this ebook
“Horror is real; the Nazis insisted on it, sponsored it even. But decency is real, too, and sometimes it prevails. This book bears witness to that.” —The Washington Post
Only a teenage girl when the Nazis invaded her neutral homeland of Holland, Flory A. Van Beek watched the only life she had ever known disappear. Tearfully leaving her family, Flory tried to escape on the infamous SS Simon Bolivar passenger ship with Felix, the young Jewish man from Germany who would later become her husband. Their voyage brought not safety but more peril as their ship was blown up by Nazi planted mines, sending nearly all of its passengers to a watery end. Miraculously, both Flory and Felix survived.
After recovering from their injuries in England, they returned to their homeland, overjoyed to be reunited with their families yet shocked to discover their beloved Holland a much-changed place. As the Nazi grip tightened, they were forced into hiding. Sheltered by compassionate strangers in confined quarters, cut off from the outside world and their relatives, they faced hunger and the stress of daily life shadowed by the ever-present threat of certain death. Yet they also discovered, with the remarkable and brave families who sacrificed their own safety to help keep Flory and Felix alive, a set of friends that remain as close as family to this day.
A tribute to family, faith, and the power of good in the face of disparate evil, this gripping account captures the terror of the Holocaust, the courage of those who risked their lives to protect their fellow compatriots, and the faith of those who, against all odds, managed to survive.
Only a teenage girl when the Nazis invaded her neutral homeland of Holland, Flory A. Van Beek watched the only life she had ever known disappear. Tearfully leaving her family, Flory tried to escape on the infamous SS Simon Bolivar passenger ship with Felix, the young Jewish man from Germany who would later become her husband. Their voyage brought not safety but more peril as their ship was blown up by Nazi planted mines, sending nearly all of its passengers to a watery end. Miraculously, both Flory and Felix survived.
After recovering from their injuries in England, they returned to their homeland, overjoyed to be reunited with their families yet shocked to discover their beloved Holland a much-changed place. As the Nazi grip tightened, they were forced into hiding. Sheltered by compassionate strangers in confined quarters, cut off from the outside world and their relatives, they faced hunger and the stress of daily life shadowed by the ever-present threat of certain death. Yet they also discovered, with the remarkable and brave families who sacrificed their own safety to help keep Flory and Felix alive, a set of friends that remain as close as family to this day.
A tribute to family, faith, and the power of good in the face of disparate evil, this gripping account captures the terror of the Holocaust, the courage of those who risked their lives to protect their fellow compatriots, and the faith of those who, against all odds, managed to survive.
Ratings and reviews
4.8
16 reviews
Maggie Smith
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March 27, 2020
Flory is very good at describing the events. God must have been with her, her husband and her entire family. They are very blessed.
Roberta Petersen
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November 25, 2015
Written by a holocaust survivor. Very interesting and shows the bravery of all involved to survive.
4 people found this review helpful
Ruciana Pollard
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September 27, 2019
Touching
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